Cavan Monaghan to be retained as a five-seat constituency
Meath EDs to be returned to Meath West constituency
Cavan-Monaghan is to be retained as a five-seater constituency for the purposes of the next General Election, it has been confirmed this morning (Wednesday). Electoral districts from north Meath that were drafted into Cavan-Monaghan at the last review in 2017 are to return to the Meath West constituency.
The Electoral Commission has made its independent recommendations to the Oireachtas on the make-up of Ireland’s electoral constituencies for the next Dáil elections.
It will see 174 TDs representing 43 Dáil constituencies, up from the current 160 TDs across 39 Constituencies. It's the first increase in the number of TDs since 1981.
Each TD in a 174-seat Dáil will represent an average of 29,593 people, down from the current 32,182.
The recommendations also significantly reduce county boundary breaches - that see people voting in a constituency outside of their county. This previously happened to parts of west Cavan in 2012 when EDs were sliced from Cavan-Monaghan and added to a diverse constituency including Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal. Cavan, however, was reunited at the 2017 review following an extensive Reunite Cavan campaign run by the Celt in conjunction with local TDs and other organisations.
The number of county boundary breaches, this time around, has been minimised in a 174 seat Dáil. The Commission recommends the removal of seven of the 10 existing breaches of county boundaries, reductions in the size of two existing breaches, and proposes just three new county boundary breaches.
As per the recommendations, the number of three-seat constituencies will be 13 instead of the current nine, the number of four-seat constituencies will be 15 instead of 17 and the number of five-seat constituencies will be 15 instead of 13.
Only seven constituencies remain entirely unchanged since the last review (Clare, Cork South-West, Donegal, Dublin Central, Kerry, Limerick County, and Waterford).
Chair of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission, Supreme Court Judge, Ms. Justice Marie Baker stated: “Our recommendation for 174 TDs across 43 constituencies is the product of detailed analysis of constitutional and statutory limits. It arrives at a solution, which best fits the needs of the country as a whole, as our population expands.
She thanked those who contributed to the review.
“Thanks to all those hundreds of people, parties and organisations who shared their ideas and proposals with us. Each was considered in making our final recommendations,” said Ms Justice Baker.
In relation to the European Parliament Constituency Review, Ms. Justice Marie Baker stated: “The EU institutions have been deliberating for several months about the overall European Parliament composition, but no final decision on an additional seat has yet been confirmed. In this situation we have had to recommend the status quo while we await confirmation on a likely additional MEP seat for Ireland.”
The next General Election is due to take place in March 2025.
According to the most recent Census 2020 results, the population of Cavan grew by seven per cent to 81,704, up by 5,528 people between April 2016 and April 2022; and by 6% to 65,288 in Monaghan for the same period, up 3,902.
Based on those figures, between them, Cavan and Monaghan will have an average of one TD per 29,398.4 people - faring slightly better than the national average of one per 29,593.