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IN IRELAND WHERE we come from is very important to us. Our local village, town and county identify us for our lifetime.
In recent years the government, in an attempt to “streamline” administration at local authority level, sought to propose changes to some county boundaries.
There have been a few around the country, most notably in Waterford and Kilkenny.
Changing boundaries
In my locality a proposal to extend County Westmeath into County Roscommon caused a lot of anger and a huge public campaign.
It was proposed that an area of approximately 30 square kilometers of south County Roscommon would become part of County Westmeath. Once that proposal became known there was a huge public outcry in County Roscommon and a protest group was set up.
But there is far more at stake than just identity.
The financial consequences
The area at the centre of the proposal is on the outskirts of the town of Athlone. It’s made up of Monksland and its hinterland, and it is a thriving industrial and commercial centre.
It yields huge commercial rates payments to Roscommon County Council and it is also the fastest growing area in County Roscommon in terms of population.
So, there are big financial implications too.
Too many unanswered questions
But apart from the finances, the possible implications of this change would reach into almost every area of society. There are so many unanswered questions.
Would it mean the redrawing of the county boundaries? Would it mean the redrawing of the provincial boundaries?
There are implications for the HSE areas, and many other aspects of administrative, social and cultural life. For instance, what would happen to the Roscommon GAA clubs in the area proposed for change? These were just some of the questions that people were asking.
The Commission asked for submissions and over 30,000 were submitted from County Roscommon alone objecting to the proposals. Thousands of people attended a series of public meetings.
The report
The Commission, in a report published last November, said that the boundaries should be left as they are, but there is a major proviso that Roscommon and Westmeath County Councils “co-operate on joint initiatives where an expanding Athlone is concerned.”
The big worry for those connected with the campaign is that the report also says that:
Should this not happen within a four-year period then the committee recommends that the boundary be extended in order to achieve coherent sustainable development for Athlone.
This means that the committee can re-ignite this proposal if it feels that the co-operation between the local authorities has not been satisfactory. So it certainly has not been put to bed.
What we need is certainty on this issue. The people of Roscommon have made it crystal clear how they feel. It is up to the government and the Minister to allay their fears.
Michael Fitzmaurice is an Independent TD for Roscommon-Galway.
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Can Wicklow get the northern part of its border expanded into Dublin so we can get a decent Gaelic football team together
@Donnacha Bhoicaire: And could a small chunk of Lanzarote, even half an acre, be declared as Kerry, so the weather forecaster can say “Kerry can expect some sunshine today”.
@Michael Doyle: be magic Michael. Although I’d take a bit of rain to have a decent run in the All Ireland like your fellas will have
@Donnacha Bhoicaire: any chance we could transfer a few TD’s up to you? I don’t even want a trade, you can keep them.
@Donnacha Bhoicaire:
If wicklow got rid of its rediculouse planning resteictions youd have more chance.
Just saying.
@Stephen Maher: dublin or wicklow? I know where I’d prefer to spend my time!
@Donnacha Bhoicaire: Getting a section of South co Dublin is likely to bag you good hurling players more than football or rugby these days
@Alan Lawlor: very true Alan
Does Michael FitzMaurice TD not understand the concept of a zero-sum gain? Why should only Roscommons view be shown in the article? It is not like there is a loss of GNP to the country, but the way it is presented, you would think there was.
This area on the edge of Athlone may be be the most financially-contributing part of Roscommon, but this is because of it’s cohesion and use of facilities provided by the majority Westmeath-based part of the town
By MFM TD’s logic, Limerick should be split down the middle and half given to Clare, a chunk of Dublin city should be assigned to Leitrim in order to balance out the cash flow. It might even reduce Leitrim’s average unemployment, without moving a single job!
This is the small-minded parochial nonsense that we get by voting for Independents.
@Michael Doyle:
Why did I think that Deputy Fitzmaurice was a just one issue TD ,amazed that he never mentioned the Bog in his concerns or is it his hidden agenda trying to steal more bog from Westmeath.
@Michael Doyle: Zero sum gain? Sounds like a damp squid. Come down off your peddlestool.
@Michael Doyle: if you take the logic to a sensible conclusion, you would merge Roscommon in to Westmeath, which might not be a bad idea. Also do the same with Leitrim being merged in to Sligo.
Any administrative district (GAA can keep their counties for sport – nothing stopping them) should have a balance of urban/rural or at least poor vs revenue-generating to ensure better balance in sustainable local services – not based on the Jersey you like to wear on Sundays.
But this should not be along the lines of splitting (or leaving them split) towns or cities. A council needs to be able to cohesively plan and service an urban area as one unit.
@Gene Parmesan: As they say in Holland, “dam”.
@Michael Doyle: yeah we dont care what they say in “The Netherlands”
Given that Dublin property tax props up county councils across Ireland, I’d say it makes no difference to Dublin what parts of other counties get amalgamated or not; we dubliners will still be paying out on any merger.
@The Throwaway: you pay higher property tax as your property is more valuable due to the amenities close to you: UCD, DIT, superior transport available to you, national gallery, museum etc. Roscommon people have to travel/move to attend university etc. Many people in rural roscommon have no footpaths or street lighting. You pay for what you get! (I am not from roscommon)
The GAA issue is irrelevant – how the GAA runs it’s internal business is nothing to do with how the state runs it’s administration. Administratively, Co. Dublin no longer exists (Fingal, etc instead). How did the GAA cope? – it ignored it, which is fine by me as I am unconcerned with how they do things. I am concerned however with efficient and effective running of the country.
@Conall: Yes, he GAA is irrelevant – it’s games are played only here, and by a few emigrants!
@Conall: Ballaghderreen was part of Co.mayo until the 1890′s when it was moved into Co.roscommon
The GAA club in the town was already set up before the move so they decided to stay playing in Mayo championship hence reason Andy Moran plays with Mayo
Parish Pump at its best.
Just a thought, why do the county boundaries need to align with the county council boundaries? Can the part of Athlone in Roscommon be put under the Westmeath county council for adminstrative purposes (planning, urban development etc.) And leave the county boundary where it is. We already do this with several constituencies.
@Kevin J Cahir: Enough of that common sense approach Kevin, get out of here!!..GAA boundaries are already set and should have nothing to do with county councils operating efficently!.Gombeenism in all its glory!
@Kevin J Cahir: athlone on west side of river Shannon is in co westmeath since 1899 to enable athlone to grow and for some of reasons you set out makes good sense
@James Walsh: I don’t think that’s true James. At most points when you cross the river to go west in Athlone there are numerous signs stating you are entering Roscommon.
@David Hickey:
Why would Westmeath County Council provide services for Co. Roscommon?
From Wikipaedia:
However, seven townlands, or sections of the town, lie west of the Shannon: Athlone and Big Meadow, Bellaugh, Bogganfin, Canal and Banks, Doovoge, part of Monksland, and Ranelagh. Although surrounded by County Roscommon in the province of Connacht, they are designated as part of County Westmeath to preserve the integrity of the town.
We have been having this debate all our lives in Westmeath.
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WM®no=15001016
This site is west of the Shannon in Battery Heights but its address is Co. Westmeath.
@Joe: I stand corrected.
Our town identifies us for a lifetime!¡ Nobody in Los Angeles (that I know) has heard of Tulsk.
Leave very well alone. However the G.A.A should observe the county boundaries in Dublin which should have four G.A.A. county teams.
@John J. Smith . The GAA can do whatever the hell it wants. As should those organising local govt. The obsession with british made shire boundaries in this country is ludicrous. Dublin split years ago. Cork city should be expanded as should waterford. No urban area should be run by 2 councils for any reason other than scale, which only applies to Dublin… we need to snap out of it and lose the inherited system…
The actual issue is using the county boundaries as administrative areas, ie county councils. Do away with the ‘county’ councils and redraw their areas in a fashion logical to the services and infrastructure they support, and then you can leave county boundaries as they are.
Simple solution would be to reinstate Athlone Town Council to administer the urban area across both counties. Phil Hogan’s Local Authority *reform* exposed as nothing more than a badly thought out cost saving exercise.
@Ciarán Ferrie: Like everything else Phil Hogan had his hand ie, water and household charges.
Can’t believe that this proposal is still on the table! Given the overwhelming objections to it already. If the commission is that worried about both Councils cooperating, why was it not proposed to move 30 square kilometres of Athlone over to Roscommon? This county boulder is no different than every other county boulder throughout Ireland.
@Mark Gilleran: All of the town of Athlone should be allocated to Roscommon. Would the Westmeathers agree? I don’t think so. The rest of Westmeath should then be merged with Meath where it originally belonged. The counties of Ireland were a British invention called shiring so the GAA can thank her majesty’s government for providing them with their organizational framework. County Councils were a British initiative. Meath could then be the fifth Irish Province or Cúige (which literally means a Fifth). The real reason Westmeath wants the Roscommon bit is entirely to do with the enhanced income it will get, nothing else.
Historically most of Athlone was in Roscommon and the castle and historic part of town is West of the Shannon, which is Connacht and Roscommon but now considered Westmeath. Incidentally Westmeath county council tried to flatten the castle for a car park and only one vote saved it. What’s west of Shannon should all be designated Roscommon again.
It would make more sense to join them both into a greater athlone, whatever about the county they are in. They merge into one another seamlessly as it is.
@Richard Keogh: Administratively they have, and it has it’s own town council.
Cavan is also divided East -West and it is time that the TD’s representing West Cavan woke up to that fact. We haven’t seen or heard from them since the last election, which goes to show just how relevant they really are for local politics when the county councils make all the decisions.
It only got all the objections when all the gaa heads got involved, the boundary of Athlone should always have been extended when developments occurred, but with too many councils involved it never happened.
Roscommon Co Co only care about the loss of funding to them and not the residents involved, it’s funny how infrastructure improvements are occurring now when there is a threat to their funding!
the GAA have new york in connaght,galway and antrim in leinster,so they shouldnt have a problem with this suggestion !! i cant comment on london,im not sure where they have them this year !!!
Elizabeth I drew these county boundaries. Its ironic Irish politicians wanting to keep them.
@Rosa Parks: You are right, most of the counties were drawn up during the sixteenth century to facilitate sending representative stakeholders by horse to attend parliament. In those days of course there were not elections and the reps were wealthy (sometimes absent) landlords.
What makes counties these days unworkable is the cost of public servants to administer them and to many TD’s in the Dail. Pity we don’t set them up as District administations like they have done in the north and bring local politics out of the dark ages.
The country is to small to have all these birders and the resulting duplicating of services.
@kevin: Cavan could be looked at as a small county but it still takes most people two hours to drive from Blacklion to Kingscourt. Dividing it east-west should have meant that West Cavan be part of the Wild Atlantic Way tourist region instead of Irelands Ancient East. The pity is that people were never asked before these decisions were made affecting business and peoples lives.
” For instance, what would happen to the Roscommon GAA clubs in the area proposed for change? “. GAA boundaries have nothing to do with it. Do you imagine that County Fingal as such plays GAA ? Get a grip. I would add that without boundary changes towns like Athlone, Drogheda, Waterford face very unbalanced development.
Calling all counties adjacent to Tipperary-WERE Not Giving an INCH to those premier ba@€E¥$.
Hope it happens as we were thinking of annexing kerry for the scenery anyway
@Stiofán Ó Cearnaigh: I thought that it already was annexed on north-south lines. Except that Dingle is in a world of its own.
Can’t comment on the Roscommon/Westmeath case, but the Waterford/Kilkenny one certainly has caused some controversy in recent months. To be fair, historical maps show that the land in question did originally belong to Waterford. Public facilities on that side of the Suir, which fall under Kilkenny County Council’s jurisdiction, have consistently been neglected, with Waterford City & County Council promising to invest money should the boundary extension pass. The independent review recommended that the boundary be extended, given Waterford’s growth potential in the next decade, but, surprise, surprise, the government haven’t backed it.
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