Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is only right to highlight other distinguished Deputies who have been elected to Dublin North East over the years. Pat McCartan, now a justice of the Circuit Court, was a Deputy for the Workers Party in Dublin North-East in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Richard Mulcahy was a Dublin North-East Fine Gael Deputy in the 1930s.

The only occasions on which two Labour Deputies were elected to Dublin North-East in the same election occurred in 1992 and again in the most recent general election in 2011. I remember both occasions very well indeed and I pay tribute to all of the members of the Dublin North-East Labour Party who campaigned for all of the Labour Party candidates who were elected to Dáil Éireann, as well as those candidates who stood for election under the Labour Party banner.

It is worth mentioning that Dublin North-East was abolished once before. In the 1970s, the Dublin constituencies were completely rearranged and parts of Dublin North-East were allocated to Dublin-Artane and Dublin-Clontarf constituencies. This arrangement existed only for the 1977 general election and Dublin North-East was then restored again as a Dáil constituency. I believe the proposed abolition of Dublin North-East may be more permanent.

The new Dáil constituency of Dublin Bay North, which is an amalgamation of Dublin North-East and Dublin North-Central, is a much larger five-seat constituency, spreading from the fringes of inner city of Dublin to Howth Head and to the edges of the more rural parts of north County Dublin. As a large geographic area, it will one of the largest urban constituencies in the State. The Deputies elected to represent the constituents of Dublin Bay North in the years to come will have a challenge to ensure they represent their constituents effectively.

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