Foyle to absorb all of Slieve Kirk; East Derry and West Tyrone to be abolished in boundary shake-up

The Foyle constituency will absorb the entire ward of Slieve Kirk, while East Derry and West Tyrone will be abolished under new proposals published by the Northern Ireland Boundary Commission today, Tuesday, September 6.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Sep 2016, 09:32 BST
Updated 6th Sep 2016, 11:36 BST

The commissioners have recommended that “for the existing constituency of Foyle, no change is necessary other than the inclusion of the entire 2014 ward of Slievekirk.”

Outside Derry, which will remain the Foyle constituency, it also proposes three major constituencies for the whole of West of the Bann

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“The Commission proposes dividing most of the rest of the region west of the Bann into three: a successor constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone; a new constituency, provisionally called North Tyrone, comprising most of the rest of County Tyrone; a new constituency provisionally called Glenshane, comprising County Londonderry except for (a) the Coleraine area; and (b) that part of the County included within the proposed Foyle constituency,” the commissioners recommend.

Referring to the proposed new Glenshane constituency the commissioners state: “Two major changes are proposed which would in effect create a new constituency: extend the southern boundary to Lough Neagh, broadly matching the County boundary; transfer the Coleraine area out to the proposed new constituency of Dalriada.

“The southernmost wards in the constituency would be Draperstown, Lissan and The Loup. The main towns would include Limavady, Maghera and Magherafelt.

“Glenshane would have an electorate of 74,355, which is 0.6 per cent below the UK quota and 1.7 per cent above the Northern Ireland average.”

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The proposals follow a review by the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland which began on February 24, 2016.

“As a result of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (as amended), the number of constituencies in Northern Ireland has reduced from 18 to 17 and this has required a redrawing of the existing constituency boundaries.

“The publication of the Commission’s proposals triggers a 12-week public consultation period which will include four public hearings,” the Boundary Commission stated.

Copies of the Commission’s Provisional Proposals Report and the accompanying map can be viewed at http://www.boundarycommission.org.uk/2018-review

Related topics:Foyle