Significant changes have been made to the local electoral areas in Clare.
A report published by the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee will redesign the geographic and political landscape in the county ahead of next year’s local elections.
At present all of Clare is served by four Municipal Districts; Ennis, Killaloe, Shannon and West Clare. There are eight councillors each representing Ennis and West Clare while the figure is six each in Shannon and Killaloe.
The report recommends that the twenty eight seats in the Council be retained and the district of North Clare reintroduced. This would be a four seat district and would take in areas of the West Clare and Killaloe District among them Ennistymon, Ballyea, Ruan, Corofin, Liscannor and Miltown Malbay.
West Clare’s Municipal District is to be renamed Kilrush and lose three seats. It comprises of the areas between Loop Head and Kildysart and now takes in the parish of Kilmaley.
Ennis will also lose a seat aswell as Clooney and Quin which now transfer to the Killaloe MD where there is one less elected representative. Clonlara is added to the Shannon Municipal District which gains an extra seat as a result.
Keep your eyes on The Clare Echo as our Political Columnist Eoin Neylon will be analysing the changes.
