Maura Hopkins vows to battle against prime land grab

It’s an unusual tactic for a Government party candidate to adopt but vowing to vote against the Government seems to be working for Maura Hopkins.

The 30-year-old Roscommon county councillor is waiting, like the rest of her county, to see if a Government appointed boundary review commission will recommend the transfer of a chunk of prime business and industrial land, complete with around 7,000 inhabitants, to neighbouring Westmeath on the basis that it is essentially a spillover from Athlone.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly put the process in train, leaving Taoiseach Enda Kenny at pains to say whatever recommendations are made will not be legally binding and will be “dealt with politically”.