Report with recommendation on future of Kilkenny constituency to be published

A crucial report recommending possible changes to constituency boundaries, which may have significant implications for Carlow-Kilkenny, is to be published on Wednesday.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s Independent Electoral Commission will, on Wednesday at 8am, publish its recommendations on Ireland’s Dáil and European Parliament Constituency Review 2023. An Coimisiún will lay its independent recommendations before the Oireachtas on the make-up of Ireland’s electoral constituencies for the next Dáil and European Parliament elections.

In recent months, the Electoral Commission had invited written submissions in relation to matters which should be considered in reporting on constituencies.

Moving Kilkenny’s boundary with Waterford, separating Carlow entirely from Kilkenny, moving parts of Wexford into Kilkenny and splitting up Kilkenny into ‘North’ and ‘South’ and latching them onto other constituencies were just some of the suggestions made to the Electoral Commission during that consultation process. READ MORE HERE

After every census there is a review of the composition and boundaries of the Dáil constituencies. 

The Constitution provides that there should be, on average, one TD to represent every 20,000-30,000 people. Electoral laws also set out further criteria for Constituency Reviews:  

that each constituency will be comprised of 3, 4 or 5 members; 
that the breaching of county boundaries should be avoided if possible; 
that each constituency must be composed of adjoining areas; 
that we must consider significant geographic, population density and physical features, 
and finally, that in carrying out this work, the Electoral Commission should try to maintain as much continuity of electoral areas as possible. 

The Oireachtas directed that there should be between 171 and 181 TDs following the next General Election, however the final census figures published in May 2023 means that actually the possible Constitutional range runs from 172 to 181.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin received a record number of submissions (556) from elected representatives, political parties, academics, sports and community groups and interested individuals. All submissions are published on the Commission website www.electoralcommission.ie. 

For the European Parliament, the Commission will also be making its recommendation. This will be based on the current number (13) of MEP seats rather than the proposed but still unconfirmed additional seats for Ireland.