Decision rules out locals running for Dáil, says Cllr 

One of the two county councillors from Bundoran and Ballyshannon on Donegal County Council, Cllr Barry Sweeny has said that this week’s decision to keep a 9,000+ population within the constituency of Sligo Leitrim, has effectively ruled out the possibility of him running for higher office in the Dáil. 

It also would not encourage locals to run for office, with little chance of success, Cllr Michael McMahon added. 

In a review of the constituency boundaries, the Electoral Commission announced on Wednesday that there would be no re-integration with the rest of the county, as a six seater constituency was not allowed for the next Dáil Éireann elections. 

They also ruled out two three-seater constituencies within the county, despite the Donegal constituency itself having a population of 157,700, as of 2022, an increase of 4.67% on the previous census and the county population itself, now standing at 167,084.

Fine Gael’s Cllr Barry Sweeny, along with Sinn Féin’s Cllr Michael McMahon both said they were “extremely disappointed”.

Cllr McMahon said: I would be very disappointed as are the constituents that we are being left in thai limbo. All the TDs in Sligo Leitrim would agree as well, as far as I recall.”  

CLLR MICHAEL MCMAHON 

But Cllr Sweeny, who is Ballyshannon based, went one step further and said that while he would certainly have considered seeking a nomination from his party to run in a future Dáil election, the decision effectively rules this aspiration out in the intermediate, if not entire future.       

He also added that because of the situation, there would be few locals interested in running for the Dáil.

“Overall, I am disappointed for the people of Donegal. The vast majority of people whom I have spoken to, wanted to be included and recognised in their own county. 

“Personally, if anyone should have an ambition to progress a political career, that has certainly happened to me. It certainly is not a possibility that I would have thrown out, even if such a decision was ultimately not made by me,” he said. 

“It means that south Donegal will continue to be unrepresented, although I have to also say that we are being represented by the TDs who serve us in Sligo and Leitrim, so I don’t want to convey a wrong narrative. 

“I am disappointed. I think there is a natural affiliation and inclination to be part of your own county and people want that. From a political point of view we can be served ok by another constituency, but from a practical point of view, it makes things more difficult,” he added.

The Electoral Commission presents recommendations to the Oireachtas on Wednesday. Pic shows Chairperson of The Electoral Commission Ms Justice Marie Baker with on left Art O’ Leary CEO Electoral Commission and on right Tim Carey head of Electoral Operations which recommended 14 more TDs and the Reinstatement of County Boundaries, but no changes to Donegal Pic Maxwell’s 

“As a local representative, we are dealing with two sets of TDs and most of my work is with Donegal TDs, even though I am not in Donegal, most of my concerns and county wide communications are with the Donegal TDs. 

“I have never been to a Sligo Council meeting,” he said. 

Cllr Sweeny also pointed out that the division included a provincial as well as county divide and that while south Donegal had lost its constituency boundary to Sligo/Leitrim, two years earlier, both town councils, the second tier of democracy in the county, were also abolished. 

“We are definitely under-represented from that viewpoint, losing out on an Urban Council and Town councillors. And there are times, we are something seen with Donegal, south of the Gap, as not really being in Donegal and beyond that we have to fight our corner on a county wide basis, for funding and resources in south Donegal and I am always talking about the necessity of a geographical spread. But this is another challenge that we are now also continuing to face.     

Meanwhile, Bundoran based Cllr McMahon added his disappointment to the decision, which he said was counterproductive in terms of local people’s aspirations in running for Dáil Éireann from the south of the county.

“I thought that the Commission would see this for what it was and do the right thing. Bringing south Donegal into its natural hinterland would have been the right thing to do. We will have to deal with it for the time being but it has already been a cause of concern for many years. He said: “The TDs of Sligo will come in and serve us but it is totally off the wall stuff. It is not democratic, when people in Donegal have to depend on a TD from either Sligo or Leitrim.”

He suggested that a Donegal person would not succeed, if they went up for election and it was “discrimination towards that section of Donegal”.

He added that even all of Donegal voting as one with the same number of seats on offer would have been “more satisfactory” than the current situation”.