As I pointed out last night, I am opposed to the amendment put down by Deputy Hogan and I am opposed to the part of the Bill that proposes to leave the Galway constituency as one constituency. It would be much more practicable to divide Galway into two areas, one returning five Deputies and the other returning three Deputies or, if necessary, to divide it into two equal areas, each returning four Deputies. As regards the proposal to include part of Galway constituency in Clare, I am very much opposed to that. My opposition is based, not on sympathy or on prejudice, but on solid grounds, economic, historic and practical. From the economic point of view. I pointed out on the Second Reading that the 21 electoral areas in Galway, proposed by the Bill to be included in the Clare constituency, have nothing whatever in common with Clare. On the Galway side we have intensely agricultural areas, where the farmers derive their main source of income from agriculture, and in Kinvara, Dooras, Kilmacduagh and Ardrahan there is intensive wheat and barley growing. On the Clare side pasture and dairying are the principal sources of employment and of income for the farmers. If the Minister in charge of the Bill only attended a market in Gort on any Saturday he would find that the dairying and pasture farmers in Clare go there to get their supplies of agricultural produce. Economically, there is nothing in common between the two counties. Historically, there is an ancient boundary between Galway and Clare. Not alone is it proposed to transfer part of a county to another county, but it is proposed to transfer part of a province to another province. Historically, that boundary is as old as our annals, and from the earliest times anybody acquainted with the history of the two counties will find how the O'Heidhins and the O'Shaughnessys preserved with zealous care the boundary between their well-defined territories. They prevented the O'Briens and the Dalcassians encroaching on Connaught. That may be a source of amusement to some Deputies, but it is a matter of very serious importance for the people for whom I speak. Even though they guarded their boundary on both sides with jealous care, whenever the occasion arose the people of Clare and Galway marched together under a common banner, as they did under the banner of Brian at Clontarf, to guard the national interests.
I can assure the House, speaking for the people of the 21 electoral areas in Galway that it is proposed to include in Clare, that if the two counties are left as they are, the people will continue in the future, as in the past, to march under a certain banner, and to support a certain policy which, I think, appeals to the Minister. I know how important it is for every Deputy to keep in close touch with the people he represents, and not only with the people, but with the representatives of bodies like county councils, if he is to give good and faithful service to the people who sent him here. Within the area proposed to be included in Clare there reside four members of Galway County Council. These four members should have an opportunity of doing the work for which they were elected, to look after the sick poor, and the infirm, to attend to the making of roads, bridges, and drainage. They should keep in touch with the Dáil representatives so that they may be able to make representations to the Ministers and to the Departments, and to get schemes of work passed. What will be the result if part of Galway is included in Clare? The result will be that these members of the county council will have to travel long distances every week-end, if they wish to meet their Dáil representatives. That is one reason why I am opposed to this amendment. We know from experience that old age pensioners wish to meet their Parliamentary representatives, so that the Departments may be interviewed to see if claimants are entitled to the pension. If an old age pensioner from the electoral area of Derrylaur wishes to see one of his Parliamentary representatives, and if that representative lives in an electoral division in Clare, the applicant will have to travel at least 20 miles from the adjoining electoral area in Galway.
As Deputy Brodrick pointed out, there is an almost impassable mountain barrier separating Galway and Clare. From the Shannon to Galway Bay an unbroken line of mountains divides the two counties, and clearly marks the boundary between them. I listened with care to the reasons advanced in support of the proposal in the Bill, and the only reason I saw for it was on the grounds of population. The population of Galway is 169,323.
Under the Constitution of this State we should have one representative for not less than 20,000 and not more than 30,000 of the population. While that principle stands in the Constitution, Galway with eight representatives would have one representative for each 21,171 of the population and clearly we come within the provisions laid down for us in the Constitution. The Minister for Industry and Commerce, speaking on this measure yesterday, said that he tried to strike an average and to come as near to the average as possible. I accept his word for it that the average population, comparing the representation for the whole State, is a little bit higher than the average we would have in County Galway. He hopes on that principle that this measure will go through. To my mind, that is one of the flimsiest of reasons. There is a very much greater principle that should apply and should be followed by any Government. That is the principle which would try to provide for the desired and expressed wishes of the people concerned. On more than one occasion the people of Galway, in a very emphatic way, have dissented from the proposal that the 12,000 odd of the population of Galway should be included in Clare and, as a matter of fact, all the Deputies who have spoken have expressed their opposition to this measure in no unmistakable way.
There is one principle I should like to see adopted in every measure of legislation—that is the principle that reason and logic should guide us in meeting the desired wishes of the people concerned. It is unwise to carry on legislation against the desires of the people. It is folly to flout the wishes of the people and I think it is unwise to proceed with a measure that is directly and violently opposed by the people concerned. Those are my reasons for opposing this proposal to incorporate part of Galway in Clare. What I would wish to have done in this case is, that on the Report Stage of this measure the Vice-President would introduce an amendment whereby the Galway constituency would be divided into two electoral areas, one of which, if desired, would return five Deputies and the other three Deputies. That is a very easy way out of the difficulty; it is a proposition that it is very easy for the Minister to meet. I would ask him to accept it. It is useless for me to press the point raised on my speech on the Second Reading—one amendment that would apply to every other constituency in the Free State—and that is that proportional representation should be abolished and that we go back again to single-member constituencies.
