Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is extraordinary to think that we are having this discussion this evening as the constituency review has came out, which I can only describe in terms of my own constituency of Roscommon-Galway as brutal butchery. I really feel sorry for the people of the Boyle area tonight, that famous village of Keadue and right up to the area of Carrick-on-Shannon, who are now going to be thrust into Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. We were all in agreement with Cavan being taken out of that arrangement because it did not suit, but now they have put Roscommon into that area. What is happening is simply outrageous in terms of local democracy. There is no local democracy in this scenario. I welcome the fact that we have places like Aughrim, Kilconnell and Ballmacward coming into the constituency from east Galway. Deputy Rabbitte would know that many of the people there would have been quite unhappy with how they were left, and hopefully this will be better for them.

We have to practice what we preach in terms of local democracy. That is why it is great to see Deputy Cassells bring this Bill forward. A commitment was given by Fianna Fáil that this would be revisited. What was done to local democracy by former Minister Hogan was simply outrageous. At the time there was much smirking and sneering at the town councils. Some of those town councils had given a profile to their areas that nobody else could give, and Ballinasloe is a case in point. It has a population of close to 7,500 people. Those people feel completely lost since their town council was taken away, simply because Galway County Council, based in Galway city, is not giving those people a good enough service. It is a great community with huge ideas and has fantastic plans for going forward, but it has no support.

The reality here is that town council, for places with populations of around 5,000, 6,000 or 7,000 people, had a very important role to play. They gave a national profile to their locality. In this country we decided that town councils were only talking shops that do not achieve anything. The reality is that those larger town councils created quite a lot for their towns, such as Ballinasloe.

The pride they had in their locality was second to none.

I am very delighted with what Deputy Cassells has done and with the almost unanimous support across the House for this Bill because it is necessary to ensure that they come back. We have the town councils in the bigger towns. We are going to have to revisit the review of the constituencies in this Chamber if we are true democrats.

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