BREAKING: Parts of Kilkenny recommended to join new Tipp North constituency as Carlow-Kilkenny to remain a five-seater

The Dáil Constituency Review has recommended that Carlow-Kilkenny remains a five-seater constituency however it has also recommended that parts of north-west Kilkenny be subsumed into a new three-seater Tipperary North constituency.

According to the constituency review report, submissions for the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency included proposals to respect the county boundaries of Carlow and Kilkenny.

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"Some submissions called for the county of Carlow to form the basis of a new constituency with transfers in from other counties, and the Commission did consider dividing the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency into two 3 seat constituencies based on their respective counties," the report reads.

"However, Co. Carlow’s population of 61,968 is insufficient to support a standalone constituency, and this approach would give rise to breaches of the boundaries of adjacent counties.

"The Commission considered the current constituency population as requiring a change to its current form, and recommends the transfer of 13 EDs, with a population of 6,431, from the western part of Co. Kilkenny to the newly formed Tipperary North constituency.

"These EDs are in the general area of the town of Urlingford. This transfer allows for the constituency to remain otherwise unchanged with a relatively high variance of 7.93%.

"The Commission, conscious of its approach to county boundaries generally, considered at some length a number of possible alternatives to reduce the extent of this variance. However, the Commission ultimately decided on this option to minimise the number of breaches of county boundaries in the area and to provide for the highest level of continuity.

"The continuation of the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency maintains the historical electoral link between the two counties since 1948."

The 13 Kilkenny EDs (that have been recommended form part of a new Tipperary North constituency) include Baunmore, Galmoy, Glashare, Urlingford, Johnstown, Lisdowney, Balleen, Clomantagh, Tubbridbrittain, Freshford, Rathealy, Ballybeagh and Tullaroan.

The Waterford constituency is also recommended to remain unchanged, coming as a relief to many in South Kilkenny.

Ms Justice Marie Baker, Chairperson of the Report, acknowledged the challenge of altering the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency in a presentation to the news media this morning.

The Commission recommends that the next Dáil would see 174 TDs representing 43 Dáil Constituencies, up from the current 160 TDs in 39 Constituencies.