Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I thank Senator Ellis for his contribution. He has done the Oireachtas a great service in the amount of work he obviously has put into this debate. I agree with many of the points he raised. I am especially concerned with some issues, not just areas such as Limerick, Leitrim and elsewhere but also the north east, specifically the constituencies of Louth, Meath East and Meath West.

The last constituency commission report expanded the five-seat Meath constituency because of the population growth experienced in the county over the past ten years. I concluded from a demographic study I conducted last year that the population of the county doubled between 1996 and 2007. Significant increases also occurred in County Kildare, the seats of which were increased from six to seven by the report. Meath was transformed into the two three-seat constituencies of Meath East and Meath West. To boost the population of the latter so that it met the criteria set out in legislation, the Coole electoral area of Westmeath was transferred to it.

Louth has been a four-seat constituency for many years but for some reason the Constituency Commission decided to move across county boundaries to include Louth with Meath East and Meath West in the mix of constituencies. The population of Louth has also increased over the past ten years, not only due to people moving there from Dublin but also through natural growth and immigration. When the population of Louth, Meath East and Meath West is added together, the need for an additional seat can be justified. Indeed, many of us called for an extra seat for the region. However, we expected the commission to take account of the legislation, which clearly states that respect must be paid to county boundaries.

The county boundary between counties Louth and Meath has always been defined by the River Boyne, which flows from Mornington and Baltray as far as Newgrange before the boundary moves across the river. That reflects the historic ecclesiastic boundary between the Diocese of Meath, which is bounded by the River Boyne in Drogheda, and the Diocese of Armagh. As a southsider, I tend not to cross the river often. Although the 10% of Drogheda which lies on the south bank of the river is part of the Diocese of Meath, it is included in the constituency of Louth. The reason for this is because the 800 year-old town of Drogheda cannot be split merely by the presence of the river even though it straddles it.

However, as one moves further from the town to the countryside of east Meath, a clear green belt exists between the town's boundaries and settlements such as Laytown, Bettystown, Julianstown and Gormanston. These areas possess different characteristics and the people and families who have grown up in them consider themselves part of County Meath. During the time of Jimmy Tully, who represented Meath as a Deputy for almost 40 years from the early 1950s to the 1980s and who was a deputy leader of my party, the cry was "not an inch of Meath will go to Louth". People were concerned about the potential loss of representation and did not align themselves with Louth in their daily lives. They took pride in being constituents of Meath, their football team and their land. They have always fought to retain their distinctiveness from Louth. I do not mean to detract from Louth, which is a fantastic place. It has a good football team which last won the all-Ireland a mere 52 years ago. That is not a long time in the overall scheme of things.