Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I have already spoken on this matter but I wish to add further that I am disappointed with the commission's report. Being primarily a Celtic race, we in Ireland identify very much with parishes and counties. When that principle is breached, certain situations obtain which are not consistent with what I would consider the keeping together of communities. In Leitrim a very bad job was done. As I have already said, it is one of the smallest counties in Ireland and has seen mass emigration over the years. To sever the county in two, as has been done, does not make any sense and flies in the face of the concept within the terms of reference of the commission of trying to ensure that, where possible, county boundaries should not be breached.

No one has explained to me how cutting Leitrim in two made sense. If that is sense, I would like to know what nonsense is, because it makes no sense. It is no surprise there is not a Dáil Deputy for County Leitrim. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to work out why. It is consistent with what one would expect. As the ninth beatitude of the wise man said, blessed are those who do not expect, they shall never be disappointed. No one expected a Dáil Deputy to be elected in Leitrim and that is precisely what we got — no one.

There is a similar situation in north Westmeath, where a portion of the area went into making a three seat constituency in Meath. Part of Meath has been put into the Louth constituency, while people in Limerick have been put into a Kerry constituency. I do not know from where the rationale for that came. Perhaps I am out of step and wrong, but I do not think so. If I am wrong, so is the rest of the nation as the same opinion has been expressed by anybody I have spoken to about this matter.

Everybody knows what it means to keep a community together, and we know what it means when a community is severed. The cohesion of a community is extremely important. We know what happened with the redrawing of the electoral areas and the adverse reaction to it at local and constituency levels. Towns have been divided in two. Mullingar, for example, has been divided into Mullingar east and Mullingar west by a railway line. Was sense employed in that? No, it was not. As the old adage says, by their deeds shall you know them. It is not a question of what people say but what they do.

This redrawing is a bad job. The commission has not fulfilled the expectations of those who charged it with that responsibility. As I said previously, when politicians redrew constituencies or electoral areas, it was called gerrymandering. This is commission-mandering or commie-mandering. It makes absolutely no sense. I fail to see how it could justifiably find its way onto the Statute Book. I support the view expressed by Senator Ellis regarding its constitutionality. I have serious doubts about it. I am no lawyer but would one want or need to be? If one employs the concept of commonsense, this makes no sense. Commonsense in this report appears to have been a scarce commodity. I am not trying to denigrate the characters of the people who produced it but, at best, poor judgment was employed. At worst, it is a disaster for democracy. It does nothing to conserve communities or to keep intact communities in Leitrim or north Westmeath.

North Westmeath is one of the few areas in County Westmeath which experienced a population decrease in the good times. There are no marks for guessing that it is a disadvantaged area. Severing it to make up the constituency of Meath West was not the best thing to do to conserve that community. It is an area where a number of parishes must join forces to produce a football or hurling team, whereas in the old days each parish could field such teams in their own right. I am not saying there is a panacea to resolve those difficulties but it gives an indication of the situation.

To echo the words of Senator Ellis, I urge the Minister to consult with his colleagues in Government and to seek a view from the Council of State on this matter. It should be referred to the Supreme Court. I doubt it has a legal basis. I could be wrong but if so, I will stand corrected. I cannot add more to what was said by Senator Ellis and others. I am disappointed with this for the reasons I have stated. I hope that at some stage a chink of light will emanate from behind a cloud to confer some degree of commonsense on this report, which at this point it lacks.