Swords, along with Donabate, Malahide and Portmarnock, will now be part of a new 3-seater constituency called Fingal East.
This comes as the Electoral Commission have completed their review and added 14 new Dáil seats.
Fingal had been earmarked for an extra seat following the recent census which showed north Dublin to be one of the fastest growing areas in the county. If the government continues to its full term the general election will be in early 2025.
Cllr Ian Carey said:
“It was clear that the old Fingal constituency needed to be split but I’m surprised that they have not gone further. Based on the numbers one of the new Fingal constituencies could have been a 4-seater.
“It is a shame that at least one larger constituency has not been created as 3-seaters are generally less representative. There is no doubt that this configuration will favour the larger parties with the smaller ones being squeezed out. However it is essential that fast growing areas like Fingal continue to expand its representation in the Dáil. In my submission to the Electoral Commission I called on them to futureproof decisions but I see that this is outside of their terms of reference. I think we might need to adjust that so that areas which are targeted for growth can have the representation to meet that. It is critical that area such as Fingal have the political clout to push for the infrastructure and services need to meet its expanding population – rather than being in a constant state of ‘catch up’.”
