NEW TOWN ELECTION BOUNDARY CONFUSION
Next-door neighbours will be voting for different candidates in May’s showdown
THERE is growing confusion in relation to the upcoming local elections in May with residents on the fringes of Drogheda unsure who they’ll be voting for.
Prior to this year, Drogheda was one area, consisting of 10 seats. Now it has been split into Rural (four seats) and Urban (six seats) and large parts of Drogheda will be voting in the rural district.
Some of the hopefuls seeking election live in areas where they can’t even cast a vote for themselves.
The main features are that part of Rosehall and Whitethorn on the northside will be rural, along with the likes of Castlemanor, part of Forest Grange, Matson Lodge, one third of Brookville, half of College Rise, Newtown Meadows, Harmony Heights, and Boyne Hall.
The ‘ boundary line’ runs around the town, cutting through the likes of Brookville and right across the St Joseph’s Secondary School playing pitches.
These areas will group with the likes of Clogherhead, Termonfeckin and Tullyallen.
NEXT door neighbbours living in Drogheda face the prospect of having to vote for a range of different candidates at the next local elections in May.
One area will be in Drogheda Rural - where four councillors will be elected - and those on the other side of the boundary line, will vote in six councillors in Drogheda Urban.
Unlike the last local elections when 10 councillors were elected to represent the population within the borough and the fringes of the town, 2019 will be a totally new ball game.
The town will be split by a boundary line that will seea number of areas divided up.
It is also likely to make canvassing very interesting.
The main features are that part of Rosehall and Whitethorn will be rural with the likes of Castlemanor, part of Forest Grange, Matson Lodge, one third of Brookville, half of College Rise, Newtown Meadows, Harmony Heights, and Boyne Hall.
The ‘ boundary line’ runs around the town, cutting through the likes of Brookville and right across the St Joseph’s Secondary School playing pitches. These areas will group with areas such as Clogherhead, Termonfeckin and Tullyallen.
The Census town of Drogheda has a population of 40,956. However, this population is split between Louth and Meath – the population of Drogheda in county Louth is 34,508, which represents 26.8% of the total population of the county.
With a population of 128,884 and 29 members, the individual average population per council member in Louth is 4,444. The terms of reference require a variance from individual average local authority representation within the range of plus or minus 10%. For Louth, this represents a range of between 4,000 and 4,888.
That means more people need to be addded to the Drogheda Rural area to make up four seats as the population is 17,876. The area is made up of Clogher, Monasterboice, St. Peter’s and Termonfeckin.
Drogheda Urban has 27,656, resulting in six seats. It’s key areas are Fair Gate, St Lawrence Gate, St. Mary’s and West Gate.
Part of Forest Grange, one third of Brookville and half of College Rise will be split between Rural and Urban candidates.