Dromiskin likely to vote in Dundalk South next year, says report

Dundalk has emerged largely unscathed from the new Local Electoral Area committee boundary review report that has been published today. 

The report, which was commissioned to review and make recommendations on the division of local authority areas across the country, sees little change to the Dundalk Muncipal District and electoral areas - bar a change thats sees Dromiskin move from the Ardee Rural Electoral Area to Dundalk South.  

Elsewhere, Clogherhead moves from the Ardee area to Drogheda while Mullary moves in the opposite direction, being shifted into the Ardee Local Electoral Area, which will form the make-up of the Ardee Municipal District. 

There are currently 29 seats for Louth County councillors across four electoral areas - Dundalk Carlingford, Dundalk South, Ardee and Drogheda. That figure will not change, with 13 councillors remaining in situ across Dundalk while six councillors will preside in Ardee. 

However, there are now five electoral areas with the 10 councillors in Drogheda set to be split into two Electoral Areas - Drogheda Urban and Drogheda Rural, the latter of which will include Clogherhead.

For voters - and politicians - in the affected areas, this means a change. Voters in Dromiskin will now be voting for candidates in the Dundalk South area next year, while Clogherhead locals will be choosing from candidates running in the Drogheda Rural area. 

Voters in Mullary towards the south of the county will be voting to elect a total of six councillors in the Ardee Municipal District. 

Current Ardee Municipal District councillors Liam Reilly and Tom Cunningham are based in Dromiskin and Clogherhead respectively. They will now have a decision to make as to what electoral area they will run in, if they do so, in 2019. 

If the duo were to run in neighbouring Municipal District's, that would open up the field with two new positions in Ardee available.

The recommendations published in the report by Minister for State John Paul Phelan will now be considered by the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy and are likely to be in place in time for the next local elections, next Spring.