County Kerry – An Overview
From a Castleisland point of view the big and welcome change recommended by the 2018 report of the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee is that Castleisland is to return to the Tralee Municipal District.
As a Local Electoral Area the town will be at the centre of a huge expanse which will border Duagh to the north, the tip of the Dingle peninsula, Castlemaine to the west, with Rathmore and Kilcummin hemming us to the south.
Broadly Welcomed
The recommendation by the committee are being broadly welcomed in the area and a staggering set of permutations are being put forward as to the list of candidates likely to throw their hats into the ring.
Bloodbath is another word being widely used in anticipation of the struggle ahead. With so many pockets of political allegiances awaiting a figure head, it’s going to be a spectator sport in earnest.
The next local elections will be held on Friday, 24 May 2019, on the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election.
Makes Perfect Sense
Sitting Councillor, Bobby O’Connell believes that the change makes perfect sense for Castleisland and its hinterland.
“The town and the electoral area will have four voices at the table and we’ll all have to step up to the mark. Since I entered politics 33 years ago, Castleisland has been shifted from post to pillar,” said Cllr. O’Connell this afternoon.
Cutting a Rod
“I could be cutting a rod to beat myself here, but I believe that the parish was savaged by electoral boundaries reviews in the past and putting Castleisland in the Killarney electoral area never made sense,” he said.
Fleming, Farrelly, Healy Rae
Now the names of former TD Tom Fleming in Scartaglin, Charlie Farrelly in Castleisland and a member of the Healy Rae political dynasty are all being put in the mix as politics and the next local election threatens to knock the world cup off the hot topics list here at present. It will be interesting – to say the least.
Charlie Confirms
Charlie Farrelly confirmed today that he will run and he’s the first to do so given that it’s taken for granted that Cllr. O’Connell’s hat is already in the ring anyway.
Declining to make a prediction on the outcome of the election Mr. Farrelly said: “You can’t select a man-of-the-match until you see how the players performed – but it will be interesting”
Looking at Kerry – As a Whole
Looking at Kerry – as a whole the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee reported as follows: Kerry is a western seaboard county, and is dominated by its geographical conformation.
It covers the Dingle peninsula, the Iveragh peninsula and part of the Beara peninsula. It has large areas of mountains and has the highest mountain in the country, Carrauntoohill.
The 2016 Census
Distances by road in the county may be very long in comparison to its size due to its topography.
Its population based on the 2016 census is 147,707. This represents an increase of 2,205 or 1.52% on the 2011 census population of 145,502. The largest settlement is the county town of Tralee with a population of 23,691. This represents some 16.0% of the total population.
Other Larger Towns
Other larger census towns are Killarney, Listowel, Castleisland, Kenmare, Killorglin, An Daingean and Ballybunion.
Kerry County Council has 33 members elected from four local electoral areas (LEAs). It has four municipal districts.
The Committee recommends that the Municipal Districts in Kerry are constituted as follows:
Listowel Municipal District – comprising Listowel local electoral area;
Kenmare Municipal District – comprising Kenmare and An Daingean local electoral areas;
Tralee Municipal District – comprising Tralee and Castleisland local electoral areas and Killarney Municipal District – comprising Killarney local electoral area.
Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No.1 Report 2018.
The following is a description setting out the electoral divisions that comprise the Castleisland local electoral area: Arabela, Ballyegan, Brosna, Carker, Castleisland, Coom, Cordal, Crinny, Currans, Derreen, Gneeves, Kilfelim, Killeentierna, Kilmurry, Kilnanare, Kilshenane, Knocknagashel, Lackabaun, Millbrook, Molahiffe , Mount Eagle, Nohaval, O’Brennan and Scartaglin.
Read the Report in Full
If you’d like to read the report you can do so with a click on the link here: http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/local_electoral_area_boundary_committee_no.1_report_2018.pdf
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