WHAT WAS THE most exciting thing to happen to you this week? It’s a silly question, because we’ve obviously all got the same answer. It was, of course, the Electoral Commission’s publication of their Constituency Review 2023.
Across the land we stockpiled fireworks, got the beers in, sent the children to their grandparents. Days like this don’t come along very often.
Politicos have spent the week speculating as to how the redistricting will impact the hopes of prospective TDs at the next election, but for many others, the fun comes from imagining a world of new possibilities. A world where we could conceivably have 250 TDs. A world where Tipperary can be split in half by the stroke of a pen. A world in which it is all of a sudden incredibly important to be popular in Arklow and Gorey.
County lines define most important source of identity in the psyche of each Irish person, but this week the oldest GAA club in Kilkenny was transferred (after many sleepless nights apparently) out of the county for electoral purposes. That’s to say nothing of the people in Terenure who will now share TDs with the people of Tallaght, like a subplot in a Ross O’Carroll Kelly novel. Essentially, the occasional constituency review reminds us that things we think are set in stone are actually a tad more gelatinous.
My own idea for how to improve Ireland’s electoral system is what some would charitably call ambitious. Others might call it diabolical. Insane. Crazy. But so crazy it just might work.
I think what we should do is instead of pairing constituencies by geographical proximity, each constituency should involve a twinning of two areas at random – thereby forcing all TDs to focus on things other than parish pump parochialism. Instead of Sligo-Leitrim, we would have Sligo-North Kerry. Instead of Wicklow-Wexford, it would be Wicklow-Limerick City. Donegal-Dublin Bay South. All TDs would have to concern themselves with the priorities of Irish people miles away, thereby pulling more focus to matters of national interest.
Are there problems with this method? I suspect so. Should anyone listen to me when it comes to the shape of Ireland’s democracy? Perhaps not. But it’s all part of the excitement of Constituency Review week. Lose the run of yourself a little. Be the change you want to see in PR-STV.
In sporting news, this week has seen a reboot in one of our favourite genres, that is the World Cup scandal. Vera Pauw’s tenure as Ireland manager is officially over after a spell as Ireland manager that has yielded exceptional results on the field of play.
Off the field of play, it appears that the relationship had broken down between Pauw and the players, as well as Pauw and the FAI. In a statement following her sacking, Pauw said: “Trust broke down between me and certain people in the FAI. I believe that the review process which the Association has carried out was flawed and that the outcome was pre-determined.”
Pauw also spoke of the FAI having conversations with staff and players that undermined her position, but said the details of this undermining was “perhaps for another day”. It seems undoubtable that we will indeed get into some other day, and that the saga will likely eventually be fodder for an RTÉ documentary – though we may never know, seeing as this week RTÉ decided not to do an official season launch, which is sort of akin to not showing up to work anymore because you embarrassed yourself at the Christmas party.
Either way, it’s a case we can look forward to relitigating if results begin to go awry once the Nation’s League kicks off later this month — and even if they don’t go awry then, we can look forward to relitigating it whenever they do. It’s not quite Saipan, but it’s good to know that we can still pull drama from the jaws of stability whenever we need to.
Unfortunately, much Irish news over the past seven days has been desperately sad. Two separate car crashes in Tipperary claimed four and three lives, respectively. The first crash, in Clonmel, claimed the life of four young people on the way to celebrate receiving their Leaving Cert results. The second, in Cashel, two grandparents and their young grandson.
In Laois, a three-year-old girl was killed when knocked down by a car. On Thursday night, a man died in Dublin after being hit by a bus.
Road deaths are up 25% on the same time last year, which is a pretty staggering increase. It’s also a 45.8% increase on 2019 figures, with 39 more deaths than the equivalent time period for that year.
When beset by such tragedy, it is impossible to avoid asking questions of whether there is some structural fault in our society that is facilitating such awful outcomes. We do not have a definitive answer, of course. If we did then these things wouldn’t happen anymore.
Road safety is one of those strange things that we are all directly and collectively responsible for whenever we are behind the wheel. As with public health, it is also true that it is an area where, in the name of convenience, a certain level of tragedy is expected, if not tacitly accepted. This week will have tested the boundaries of that acceptance.
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