Meath East (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Meath East
Dáil Éireann Parliamentary constituency
Meath East shown within Ireland
Created	2007
Seats	3
TDs	Regina Doherty (FG) Dominic Hannigan (Lab) Shane McEntee (FG)
County/City council	County Meath
EP constituency	East

Meath East is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election is the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (PR-STV).

History

It was established by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005^[1] when the previous 5 seat Meath constituency was divided into two 3 seat constituencies of Meath East and Meath West. It was first used at the 2007 general election electing members of the 30th Dáil.

Boundaries

It spans the eastern portions of County Meath. It includes Nobber, Slane, Dunboyne, Kells and Ashbourne, the constituency's biggest town.^[2]

The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 defines the constituency as:

"In the county of Meath the electoral divisions of:

Drumcondra, Grangegeeth, Killary, in the former Rural District of Ardee No. 2;

Culmullin, Donaghmore, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Kilbrew, Killeen, Kilmore, Rathfeigh, Ratoath, Rodanstown, Skreen, in the former Rural District of Dunshaughlin;

Ardagh, Carrickleck, Ceanannas Mór Rural, Cruicetown, Kilmainham, Maperath, Moybolgue, Moynalty, Newcastle, Newtown, Nobber, Posseckstown, Staholmog, Trohanny, in the former Rural District of Kells;

Ardcath, Duleek, Mellifont, Stamullin, in the former Rural District of Meath;

Ardmulchan, Castletown, Domhnach Phádraig, Kentstown, Painestown, Rathkenny, Slane, Stackallan, Tara, in the former Rural District of Navan;

and the town of Kells."

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Meath East 2007–
Key to parties   FF = Fianna Fáil ·   FG = Fine Gael ·   Lab = Labour Party
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
30th	2007[3]		Mary Wallace (FF)		Shane McEntee (FG)		Thomas Byrne (FF)
31st	2011[4]		Dominic Hannigan (Lab)				Regina Doherty (FG)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

2011 general election

2011 general election: Meath East[4]
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4
	Labour Party	Dominic Hannigan	21.0	8,994	9,383	9,669	12,382
	Fine Gael	Regina Doherty	20.3	8,677	8,858	9,305	10,447
	Fine Gael	Shane McEntee	20.6	8,794	8,994	9,142	10,143
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Byrne	13.4	5,715	5,892	7,354	8,173
	Sinn Féin	Michael Gallagher	8.9	3,795	3,958	4,025
	Independent	Joe Bonner	5.8	2,479	2,866	3,074
	Fianna Fáil	Nick Killian	6.2	2,669	2,719
	New Vision	Sharon Keogan	2.7	1,168
	Green Party	Seán Ó Buachalla	1.1	461
Electorate: 64,873   Valid: 42,752   Spoilt: 346 (0.8%)   Quota: 10,689   Turnout: 43,098 (66.4%)

2007 general election

2007 general election: Meath East[3]
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Fianna Fáil	Mary Wallace	25.3	10,901
	Fine Gael	Shane McEntee	15.7	6,766	6,789	6,877	6,941	7,106	7,351	7,870	11,619
	Fianna Fáil	Thomas Byrne	18.2	7,834	7,866	8,267	8,469	8,628	9,079	9,770	10,077
	Labour Party	Dominic Hannigan	11.9	5,136	5,193	5,337	5,575	6,095	6,554	7,247	8,596
	Fine Gael	Regina Doherty	10.1	4,363	4,377	4,508	4,764	4,992	5,164	5,972
	Independent	Brian FitzGerald	6.0	2,586	2,617	2,659	2,816	3,008	3,334
	Sinn Féin	Joanne Finnegan	3.9	1,695	1,723	1,762	1,859	2,008
	Green Party	Seán Ó Buachalla	3.1	1,330	1,355	1,417	1,547
	Independent	Joseph Bonner	2.7	1,170	1,195	1,223
	Progressive Democrats	Sirena Campbell	2.2	957	983
	Independent	A. J. Cahill	0.6	269
Electorate: 67,443   Valid: 43,007   Spoilt: 359 (0.8%)   Quota: 10,752   Turnout: 43,366 (64.3%)

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in the Republic of Ireland
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland
• List of Irish by-elections
• Elections in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. ^ "Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005: Schedule". Irish Statute Book database. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/act/pub/0016/sched.html#sched. Retrieved 24 September 2010. 
2. ^ "Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009: Schedule". Irish Statute Book database. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2009/en/act/pub/0004/sched.html. Retrieved 29 September 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "General election 2007: Meath East". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2007&cons=731. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "General election 2011: Meath East". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=2011&cons=731. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 

External links

• Oireachtas Members Database