Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[Syferus]

The hate filled bigoted cnuts just can't help themselves.

Leo's playing a blinder with the north.

[Owen Brannigan]

Erm.....there are now 11 local councils since 2015.

Thanks.

[red hander]

The leaked proposals follow a Secondary Consultation carried out on the 2016 proposals during the period between 5 September 2017 and 2 October 2017

Again, did SF make a written contribution to the Secondary Consultation of the 2016 proposals consultation carried out by the Boundary Commission?

The difference between the 2016 and 2018 leaked proposals is that the 7 current SF constituencies are left safe for them in the 2018 proposals whereas the 2016 proposals ripped up the constituencies in the West held by SF.
The leaked 2018 proposals have the major changes to boundaries being applied to the safe DUP seats. 

The main losers with the 2018 proposals are SDLP and Sylvia Hermon as South Belfast will remain unionist and North Down takes in Strangford but S Hermon may not stand again in 2022.  So, the removed seat is taken from DUP but they know that they regain it at the expense of S Hermon.  The constituencies electorates are being brought into line with the requirements of the Cameron legislation on electoral boundaries and all are being equalised in electorate size.

How is this gerrymandering by an 8 person independent commission?

The Deputy Chairman of the Commission is a judge of the High Court appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. The other two Commissioners are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland through a public appointments process. The Commission is supported in its work by a small Secretariat.

Chairman:   The Speaker of the House of Commons
Deputy Chairman:   The Hon Madam Justice McBride, DBE, QC
Members:   Dr William Smith
Ms Sarah Havlin
Assessors:   
Mr Alan Bronte, Commissioner of Valuation for Northern Ireland
Ms Siobhan Carey, The Registrar General in Northern Ireland
Mr Jim Lennon, Chief Survey Officer of Land & Property Services
Ms Virginia McVea, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland
Secretary:   Mr Eamonn McConville

The bigger issue is not the Westminster boundaries, it is basing the Assembly constituencies on the Westminster boundaries which will be redrawn every five years under the Cameron legislation to keep constituencies up to date with population shifts.  With 17 constituencies, there will be a reduction from 90 MLAs to 85 MLAs - a good idea given the over representation we currently have but it will through everything in the air again when trying to work out how many DUP and SF can return to the Assembly and who will come out ahead. 

The answer if this is a problem is to have a proper reduction in MLAs and move to the boundaries of the 11 local councils thereby creating a link between Councils and the Assembly for proper local government. With 8 MLAs per council area, almost 90 MLAs could be maintained.

You really are completely naive if you think a commission set up under the auspices of the NIO is 'independent'. FFS wise up.

I don't believe the Assembly constituencies will be of any relevance as that farce up in Stormont is a dead parrot

[Owen Brannigan]

The leaked proposals follow a Secondary Consultation carried out on the 2016 proposals during the period between 5 September 2017 and 2 October 2017

Again, did SF make a written contribution to the Secondary Consultation of the 2016 proposals consultation carried out by the Boundary Commission?

The difference between the 2016 and 2018 leaked proposals is that the 7 current SF constituencies are left safe for them in the 2018 proposals whereas the 2016 proposals ripped up the constituencies in the West held by SF.
The leaked 2018 proposals have the major changes to boundaries being applied to the safe DUP seats. 

The main losers with the 2018 proposals are SDLP and Sylvia Hermon as South Belfast will remain unionist and North Down takes in Strangford but S Hermon may not stand again in 2022.  So, the removed seat is taken from DUP but they know that they regain it at the expense of S Hermon.  The constituencies electorates are being brought into line with the requirements of the Cameron legislation on electoral boundaries and all are being equalised in electorate size.

How is this gerrymandering by an 8 person independent commission?

The Deputy Chairman of the Commission is a judge of the High Court appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. The other two Commissioners are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland through a public appointments process. The Commission is supported in its work by a small Secretariat.

Chairman:   The Speaker of the House of Commons
Deputy Chairman:   The Hon Madam Justice McBride, DBE, QC
Members:   Dr William Smith
Ms Sarah Havlin
Assessors:   
Mr Alan Bronte, Commissioner of Valuation for Northern Ireland
Ms Siobhan Carey, The Registrar General in Northern Ireland
Mr Jim Lennon, Chief Survey Officer of Land & Property Services
Ms Virginia McVea, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland
Secretary:   Mr Eamonn McConville

The bigger issue is not the Westminster boundaries, it is basing the Assembly constituencies on the Westminster boundaries which will be redrawn every five years under the Cameron legislation to keep constituencies up to date with population shifts.  With 17 constituencies, there will be a reduction from 90 MLAs to 85 MLAs - a good idea given the over representation we currently have but it will through everything in the air again when trying to work out how many DUP and SF can return to the Assembly and who will come out ahead. 

The answer if this is a problem is to have a proper reduction in MLAs and move to the boundaries of the 11 local councils thereby creating a link between Councils and the Assembly for proper local government. With 8 MLAs per council area, almost 90 MLAs could be maintained.

I don't believe the Assembly constituencies will be of any relevance as that farce up in Stormont is a dead parrot

And yet a 'dead parrot' that Mary Lou needs SF to be part of to show that SF can be a party of government and not just a protest movement. 

You really are completely naive if you think a commission set up under the auspices of the NIO is 'independent'. FFS wise up.

Go ahead and set out how the leaked proposals are gerrymandering, very easy to fire stones but much more difficult to back up hysteria with evidence.  All out of Trump's playbook, tell the big lie, keep repeating it and play to the core vote.

[Applesisapples]

I don't know about gerrymandering, but 59% of the seats of about 47% of the votes roughly seems not quite democratic.

[Rossfan]

That 1st past the post nonsense is always undemocratic unless you have only 2 candidates.

[seafoid]

I don't know about gerrymandering, but 59% of the seats of about 47% of the votes roughly seems not quite democratic.

It is very poor

[red hander]

The leaked proposals follow a Secondary Consultation carried out on the 2016 proposals during the period between 5 September 2017 and 2 October 2017

Again, did SF make a written contribution to the Secondary Consultation of the 2016 proposals consultation carried out by the Boundary Commission?

The difference between the 2016 and 2018 leaked proposals is that the 7 current SF constituencies are left safe for them in the 2018 proposals whereas the 2016 proposals ripped up the constituencies in the West held by SF.
The leaked 2018 proposals have the major changes to boundaries being applied to the safe DUP seats. 

The main losers with the 2018 proposals are SDLP and Sylvia Hermon as South Belfast will remain unionist and North Down takes in Strangford but S Hermon may not stand again in 2022.  So, the removed seat is taken from DUP but they know that they regain it at the expense of S Hermon.  The constituencies electorates are being brought into line with the requirements of the Cameron legislation on electoral boundaries and all are being equalised in electorate size.

How is this gerrymandering by an 8 person independent commission?

The Deputy Chairman of the Commission is a judge of the High Court appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. The other two Commissioners are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland through a public appointments process. The Commission is supported in its work by a small Secretariat.

Chairman:   The Speaker of the House of Commons
Deputy Chairman:   The Hon Madam Justice McBride, DBE, QC
Members:   Dr William Smith
Ms Sarah Havlin
Assessors:   
Mr Alan Bronte, Commissioner of Valuation for Northern Ireland
Ms Siobhan Carey, The Registrar General in Northern Ireland
Mr Jim Lennon, Chief Survey Officer of Land & Property Services
Ms Virginia McVea, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland
Secretary:   Mr Eamonn McConville

The bigger issue is not the Westminster boundaries, it is basing the Assembly constituencies on the Westminster boundaries which will be redrawn every five years under the Cameron legislation to keep constituencies up to date with population shifts.  With 17 constituencies, there will be a reduction from 90 MLAs to 85 MLAs - a good idea given the over representation we currently have but it will through everything in the air again when trying to work out how many DUP and SF can return to the Assembly and who will come out ahead. 

The answer if this is a problem is to have a proper reduction in MLAs and move to the boundaries of the 11 local councils thereby creating a link between Councils and the Assembly for proper local government. With 8 MLAs per council area, almost 90 MLAs could be maintained.

I don't believe the Assembly constituencies will be of any relevance as that farce up in Stormont is a dead parrot

And yet a 'dead parrot' that Mary Lou needs SF to be part of to show that SF can be a party of government and not just a protest movement. 

You really are completely naive if you think a commission set up under the auspices of the NIO is 'independent'. FFS wise up.

Go ahead and set out how the leaked proposals are gerrymandering, very easy to fire stones but much more difficult to back up hysteria with evidence.  All out of Trump's playbook, tell the big lie, keep repeating it and play to the core vote.

Mary Lou doesn't stand for election in the occupied six, and SF knows its voters in the north will not, in any way, shape or form, accept a return to the oft quoted status quo. DUP won't do a deal for the same reason as regards its supporters. Mary Lou will have to accept the reality that if the party goes back to Stormont without its wishlist fulfilled, it will be electorally damaged, perhaps for ever. Ergo Stormont is finished and Mary Lou will just have to accept that fact, despite the abuse she will get in the Dail from the Blue Shirts and Fianna Fail-ure.

And I don't know WTF Donald Trump has got to do with the obvious DUP-inspired shenanigans of the boundary commissioners. You're way too trusting, way too trusting, of our British overlords.

[Owen Brannigan]

The answer if this is a problem is to have a proper reduction in MLAs and move to the boundaries of the 11 local councils thereby creating a link between Councils and the Assembly for proper local government. With 8 MLAs per council area, almost 90 MLAs could be maintained.

A little flaw in that idea - Fermanagh and Omagh have the least populated council with around 113,000 while Belfast City is the most populated with nearly 334,000. It would mean that a voter in F&O would have almost three times the voting power compared to a voter in Belfast City at Stormont. It would probably help redress bias against the west of the Bann though! 

Thanks for that.  However, that it easily overcome by using the electorate size to decide the number of MLAs per council area and create a slimmed down assembly with direct connections to the local councils.  We are currently over-represented and there needs to be a change in the governance of a population of just 1.8m. 

[Rossfan]

"Irish"Independent all excited as they discover Dessie Ellis keeps all his TD salary in a "secret deal".

[AQMP]

"Irish"Independent all excited as they discover Dessie Ellis keeps all his TD salary in a "secret deal".

I thought the Shinners had done away with the industrial wage nonsense???

[Avondhu star]

At least someone in Sinn Fein has a bit of cop on. Good man Dessie. Tell those gobshites that want to follow the average industrial wage shit to get a bit of sense. Anyone on the average industrial wage would jump at a chance of getting a TD's packet.
It will be fun seeing the usual crew trying to defend the Shinners about turn or is it one rule for the newbies and another for Adams old soldiers

[Il Bomber Destro]

"Irish"Independent all excited as they discover Dessie Ellis keeps all his TD salary in a "secret deal".

Odd that you are never to be seen bumping the FG or FF threads.

[Rossfan]

You bump them up if you're that concerned about them

[Avondhu star]

All quiet from the Shinnerbots. They'll accept Scapaticci being on the British payroll but are gobsmacked that Dessie the TV repairman has got away with getting the full monty from the Free State payroll