Govt votes down Ó Cuív proposal for renaming of Galway West constituency

Published on: 28 February 2013


Galway and Mayo Government TDs have voted down a proposal by Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív to rename the newly drawn Galway West constituency to Galway West – Mayo South.

Deputy Ó Cuív tabled an amendment to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2013, which came before the Dáil this morning, but it was voted down by the Government.

Speaking afterwards, the Fianna Fáil Deputy expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the vote.

“It is very disappointing that Minister Hogan and his Fine Gael and Labour colleagues have rejected this simple proposal,” Deputy Ó Cuív said.

“I find it hard to understand how Governments TDs in both Galway and Mayo voted against this amendment, despite the fact that it is the will of the people in South Mayo to be recognised in the newly drawn constituency. It was also noteworthy that 3 Mayo TDs, including the Taoiseach, were absent from the vote. I can understand how the Taoiseach may be busy, but the absence of Deputies O’Mahony and Ring from the vote is quite surprising.

“There was only one simple amendment proposed to this legislation, which related to Galway West. Minister Hogan accepted that the naming of constituencies was not part of the terms of reference of the Electoral Commission. Therefore, renaming the constituency would have been a simple process, which only required the backing of the Government parties. However, despite this, the Minister and the Taoiseach still refused point blank to consider the wishes of the people in South Mayo.

“I had previously raised this issue at committee stage with the Minister and hoped that having had time to consider this, the Fine Gael and Labour Deputies across Mayo and Galway would have done the right thing for the people of South Mayo and ensured they were recognised in the naming of this new constituency.”

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