Sir, – When my wife and I moved to Portarlington, Co Laois, in 2006, little did we think how much our political representation would be chopped and changed over the next 18 years.
Back then we were in the Laois-Offaly Dáil constituency, and in the East constituency for European Parliament elections.
In the 2016 general election, Laois-Offaly was split into its separate counties, splitting the town between the two, but with our neighbours from Monasterevin and surrounding areas joining us in Laois from Kildare South.
By 2020, Laois-Offaly was brought back into being, but this time all of Portarlington had moved to Kildare South. This despite the facts that the Laois component of Portarlington is the second largest town in the county, and the town in its entirety is the only major one that straddles the Laois-Offaly border. The Electoral Commission recommended earlier this year that Laois and Offaly regain their status as stand-alone constituencies, and Portarlington will again be split between the two.
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In 2014, as part of Laois, we voted in Midlands North-West for the European Parliament election. Five years later, we had been shifted to the South Constituency for that year’s European Parliament election. Now we hear that we’re heading north again for 2024.
I realise that constituency borders have to be fluid in order to cater for changing populations, but would somewhere else mind doing the changing in the next round? Constantly shifting the same town or county around is not fair on either the constituents or the people who are elected to represent us in the Dáil and the European Parliament. – Yours, etc,
GERRY GUNNIGAN,
Portarlington,
Co Laois.