Constituency Commission recommends the amalgamation of west Cavan into the Leitrim-Sligo constituency.

Damian McCarney

West Cavan will be amalgamated into neighbouring Leitrim-Sligo, while Cavan-Monaghan would lose a TD, if the recommendations of a report published by the Constituency Commission are approved.

These are just some of a host of proposed changes at a nationally, contained within the report submitted to the Dáil today (June 21). Aside from the boundary changes, the net result would see a reduction in the number of TDs in the Dáil reduced by eight from 166 to 158.

If the report's recommendations are accepted, 36 electoral divisions from the western part of County Cavan will join with the neighbouring Leitrim-Sligo constituency, along with nine electoral divisions from south Donegal, to form a four-seat constituency.This would see 13,183 people currently in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency being transferred to Leitrim-Sligo.

With the reduction in constituents, Cavan-Monaghan would lose a TD and become a four-seat constituency.

The five-person commission who authored the report was chaired by High Court judge Mr Justice John Cooke.

For full coverage on the implications, and reaction, see next week's Anglo-Celt newspaper.