Seats 4 Seat 4 | EP constituency Midlands–North-West | |
TDs Tony McLoughlin (FG)
Martin Kenny (SF)
Eamon Scanlon (FF)
Marc MacSharry (FF) County council Sligo County Council
Leitrim County Council
Donegal County Council
Cavan County Council Abolished Irish general election, 2007 Created Irish general election, 2016, Irish general election, 1948 | ||
Sligo–Leitrim is a parliamentary constituency that has been represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas, from the 2016 general election. The constituency elects 4 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election is the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (PR-STV). Another constituency of the same name existed from 1948 to 2007.
Contents
1948–2007
The Sligo–Leitrim constituency was created under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, and first used for the 1948 general election. It replaced the two previous constituencies of Sligo and Leitrim, which had been created for the 1937 general election.
The constituency was abolished for the 2007 general election, when it was replaced by two new constituencies: Roscommon–South Leitrim and Sligo–North Leitrim.
Since 2016
The Constituency Commission proposed in its 2012 report that at the next general election a new constituency called Sligo–Leitrim be created. The report proposed changes to the constituencies of Ireland so as to reduce the total number of TDs from 166 to 158.
It was established by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013. It will replace the constituencies of Roscommon–South Leitrim and Sligo–North Leitrim, and will comprise all of County Sligo; all of County Leitrim; nine electoral divisions of southern County Donegal and thirty-six electoral divisions of western County Cavan.
The 2013 Act defines the constituency as:
"The county of Sligo; and the county of Leitrim; and, in the county of Donegal, the electoral divisions of: Ballintra, Ballyshannon Rural, Bundoran Rural, Carrickboy, Cavangarden, Cliff, in the former Rural District of Ballyshannon; Ballintra in the former Rural District of Donegal; and the towns of Ballyshannon and Bundoran; and, in the county of Cavan, the electoral divisions of: Ballyconnell, Ballymagauran, Bawnboy, Benbrack, Bilberry, Carn, Diamond, Doogary, Kinawley, Lissanover, Pedara Vohers, Swanlinbar, Templeport, Tircahan, in the former Rural District of Bawnboy; Ardue, Arvagh, Ballintemple, Bruce Hall, Corr, Crossdoney, Drumcarban, Kilconny, Killashandra, Killykeen, Milltown, Springfield, in the former Rural District of Cavan; Derrylahan, Derrynananta, Dowra, Dunmakeever, Eskey, Killinagh, Teebane, Tuam, in the former Rural District of Enniskillen No. 2; Loughdawan, Scrabby, in the former Rural District of Mullaghoran."Boundaries
The constituency originally existed from 1948 to 2007, initially electing 5 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs), and covering the entire area of the County Sligo and County Leitrim in Connacht. Its boundaries were significantly revised in 1961, 1969 and 1977 when the number of seats was reduced to 4 and then 3. From 1977 to 1981 it included parts of County Donegal, but from 1981 until its abolition in 2007 it was again a 4-seat constituency, covering the whole of both counties including the towns of Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon and many other areas. For the 2016 general election, it was recreated as a 4-seater with the full territory of both counties, plus part of County Donegal and part of County Cavan.
Its size and representation were revised on several occasions, summarised in the following table:
TDs 1948–2007
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.
TDs since 2016
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.
November 1982 general election
John Ellis topped the poll on the first count, but unusually he was not elected.
1961 by-election
Following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Stephen Flynn, a by-election was held on 1 March 1961. The seat was won by the Fine Gael candidate Joseph McLoughlin.