Johnny Brady (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I am glad to speak on this Bill but I, like many others, have been badly affected by the change. Although I welcome two three seat constituencies in County Meath, I am disappointed some of the areas of north Meath, particularly my home area of Kells which I have served for almost 30 years as a county councillor, has been divided. It is unfair to the people of what is a quite rural area. My colleague and friend from County Louth sitting in the benches opposite, Deputy O'Dowd, would be familiar with much of that area which is close to Ardee and includes Drumconrath and part of the Slane area as far as Monknewtown, close to Drogheda. It is a very rural area whose inhabitants tried for years to get a real rural Deputy who could serve them. Eventually, in 1997 they got a Deputy who knew what rural life was all about and who had worked for the people of the area.

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