Sinn Féin challenges dilution of PR electoral system

BY CAOILFHIONN Ní DHONNABHÁIN

Sinn Féin has raised concerns about the continued dilution of the proportional representation system in 26-County elections and highlighted the apparent bias against working class constituencies in terms of Dáil representation.

Speaking in the Dáil last week, Sinn Féin spokesperson on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Arthur Morgan TD, raised the party's concerns regarding the government's announcement that it intends to fully implement all recommendations of the Constituency Commission. This includes a reduction in the numbers of five-seat constituencies and an increase in three-seaters.

Morgan asked if "the people of Finglas in three-seat Dublin North-West have the same opportunity for putting their chosen party or representative into Leinster House as the people in leafy Dundrum in Dublin South - a five-seat constituency?

"Is it merely a coincidence that there is a proliferation of three-seat constituencies north of the Liffey whereas the larger constituencies are more common south of the Liffey."

The appearance of Eamon Ryan and Fiona O'Malley on RTE's Week in Politics last Sunday reinforced Morgan's point. In five-seat Dublin South there is both a Green Party and a Progressive Democrats TD. The same situation pertains in Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown. Both these parties command a very small percentage of the vote statewide but benefit significantly from the proportionality offered by a five-seat constituency.

It is a valid question to ask whether five-seat constituencies are permitted in more affluent constituencies such as Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown and Dublin South, where the smaller parties are middle class in outlook and pose no real threat to the establishment, whereas they are practically non-existent in areas where there is a large working class population.

Morgan, alluding to the notorious redrawing of constituencies by Jim Tully in the 1970s, asked if "the legislation restricting constituency size to three, four- and five-seaters a deliberate attempt by the establishment to keep the marginalised, marginalised? Perhaps this would be best described as a more subtle form of Tullymandering which is being implemented over a longer timeframe."

The Louth TD also raised concerns regarding the decision to divide County Leitrim between the two proposed new constituencies of Sligo/North Leitrim and Roscommon/South Leitrim and emphasised the importance of maintaining the integrity of county boundaries.

Asking if "the people of Leitrim have any chance of ever electing another representative from the county to the Dáil", he called on the Minister Dick Roche to amend section 6(2)(b) of the Electoral Act 1997 to allow for the formation of six- and seven-seat constituencies and to reconvene the Constituency Commission to consider the possibility of establishing one six-seat constituency comprising the three counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon.

The Sinn Féin TD argued that allowing for larger seat constituencies would restore the positive attributes of the Proportional Representation Single Transferable Vote system (PR/STV). He dismissed government assertions that the method of constituency revision had "served the country well", saying that though they may have served the establishment well, there is every reason to believe the government's approach to constituency revision is driven by its desire to keep anti-establishment parties at bay.