Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know, but Mr. Pat The Cope Gallagher, MEP, will have a job getting around all of that. It will be difficult. MEPs will be remote. The area is huge. The same applies to the South constituency. At least the previous constituencies of Dublin, East, South and North-West had some kind of geographical coherence. It might be argued that the old provincial regions and Dublin no longer have much relevancy, and certainly not in the context of wider European representation, but I would argue that the new system of constituencies other than for Dublin, which is being retained, further dilutes the identity of the voter within the institutions to which he or she elects. Importantly, it is also arguable that this change further distances MEPs from those who elect them and who he or she represents. I remember when most people would have been able to roll the names of their MEPs off their tongues. Even with just 12 MEPs, however, a vox pop would show that most people in our towns would now find it difficult to name their local MEPs.

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