This article is from page 4 of the 2008-07-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
MINISTER for the Environemnt and Local Government John Gorm- ley (GP) has admitted that the new electoral boundaries in the county have put his own Green Party county councillor at a disadvantage. Speaking in Clare during the week the minister said, “I know on the
ground here in Clare my own coun- cillor Brian Meaney feels that his area has been cut in half. That is putting him at a disadvantage.
“Nevertheless I do know he is up to the challenge and he is recognised for his hard work on the ground, and I am sure that will be taken into ac- count by the voters when they come to vote in June,” he said.
The Green Party minister was re- acting to criticism of the new elec- toral boundaries proposed by the boundary commission.
The new boundaries have been crit- icised for their urban bias.
In Clare the division of the county town into Ennis East and Ennis West has been described as “ridiculous” by councillors.
The new division runs up O’Connell Street and many other major streets.
The minister said, however, that he would not interfere in the drawing of the boundary lines.
“This is an independent commis- sion and you just have to go back to the boundary redrawing for the general election where there was dis- appointment in some quarters,” he said.
“These are difficult for the politi- cians to deal with and I am sure the people in the area find it an incon- venience, but they have arrived at their conclusion independently, I am the minister, but I cannot interfere in those decisions nor would it be prop- er to do so,” he added.
“You tend to get mixed feedback generally even in my own party there are some councillors that are quiet glum and feel they have been disad- vantaged through the redrawing of boundaries and others have got an extra seat.
“It 1s very much a mixed bag,” he SrnGe
He said that the terms of reference for drawing up the boundaries did not change much from the last time they were drawn.