Mitchell nostalgic about the break-up of Dublin South constituency

 Reacting to the Constituency Commission boundary recommendations, Fine Gael TD for Dublin South Olivia Mitchell has said she feels nostalgic about the break-up of the Dublin South constituency as we know it.

 

“Not alone was Dublin South a butchering, the wiping out of the Dublin South name is a real shock. ‘Dublin Rathdown’ will take some getting used to.

 

“Dublin South always had a very strong presence as a constituency. It brought together communities which both identified with each other and which identified with the Dublin South name.  Nonetheless, the remaining core of the constituency €”the areas of Dundrum and Glencullen €”still identify closely with each other.

 

“From an electoral perspective, 5 sitting TDs now know there are only 3 seats for them at the next election and it is always more difficult to get elected in a 3-seater. The next election is going to be extremely difficult both for sitting and emerging TDs.”

 

“From my own perspective, I represented both the Stillorgan and Glencullen wards as a councillor as far back as 1985, so the new constituency is well known to me. Of course I also live in Dundrum and have represented it as a TD in the Dail since 1997.

 

“I certainly welcome the coherence of the new boundaries, which ensure that one constituency is served by one county council, such as is the case in the rest of the country.  Previously, the Dublin South Constituency was split between Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council.

 

“In this context, losing all of Rathfarnham to Dublin South West is not all that surprising. Losing the parts of the constituency in and around Foxrock might have been necessitated by the fact that population growth in the Dun Laoghaire constituency has stagnated and it needed these areas back in order to remain as a 4-seater.

 

“However, overall the three constituencies have only lost one seat between them, with the former Dublin South constituency effectively giving one seat to Dublin South West.