Laois (Dáil constituency)
| Laois | |
|---|---|
| Dáil constituency | |
_2025.svg) Location of Laois within Ireland | |
| Future constituency | |
| Seats | 3 |
| Local government area | County Laois |
| Created from | Laois–Offaly |
| Laois | |
|---|---|
| Former Dáil constituency | |
| Former constituency | |
| Created | 2016 |
| Abolished | 2020 |
| Seats | 3 |
| Local government area | |
| Created from | Laois–Offaly |
| Replaced by | |
Laois was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas, from 2016 to 2020, and (per the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023) to again be used for future elections. The constituency will again elect 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
History and boundaries
[edit]The Constituency Commission proposed in its 2012 report that at the 2016 general election a new constituency called Laois be created.[1] The report proposed changes to the constituencies of Ireland to reduce the total number of TDs from 166 to 158.[2]
It was established by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013.[3] The constituency incorporated all of County Laois from the previous Laois–Offaly constituency, and six electoral divisions from Kildare South.
The 2013 Act defined the constituency as:[3]
"The county of Laois;and in the county of Kildare the electoral divisions of:
- Ballybrackan, Churchtown, Harristown, Kilberry, Kildangan, Monasterevin, in the former Rural District of Athy No. 1.
It was abolished at the 2020 general election, along with the Offaly constituency. They were replaced by a re-created Laois–Offaly constituency, with the transfer of four electoral divisions in County Offaly to Kildare South.[4]
In 2023, the Electoral Commission recommended the establishment of a three-seat constituency of Laois comprising the entire county of Laois.[5]
For the next general election, the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023 defines the constituency as:[6]
"The county of Laois."
TDs
[edit]| Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Laois 2016–2020 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Key to parties
| |||||||||||
| Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) |
Deputy (Party) |
Deputy (Party) | |||||||
| 32nd | 2016[7] | Brian Stanley (SF) |
Seán Fleming (FF) |
Charles Flanagan (FG) | |||||||
| 33rd | 2020 | Constituency abolished. See Laois–Offaly. | |||||||||
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
[edit]^ *: Outgoing TD
2016 general election
[edit]| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Seán Fleming[*] | 35.1 | 13,626 | |||
| Fine Gael | Charles Flanagan[*] | 21.5 | 8,370 | 9,298 | 9,525 | |
| Sinn Féin | Brian Stanley[*] | 21.2 | 8,242 | 9,562 | 10,092 | |
| Fine Gael | Thomasina Connell | 10.9 | 4,233 | 4,735 | 5,140 | |
| Labour | John Whelan | 7.3 | 2,856 | 3,394 | 3,896 | |
| Green | Sinead Moore | 4.0 | 1,541 | 2,161 | ||
| Electorate: 63,295 Valid: 38,868 Spoilt: 352 Quota: 9,718 Turnout: 61.96% | ||||||
See also
[edit]- Dáil constituencies
- Politics of the Republic of Ireland
- Historic Dáil constituencies
- Elections in the Republic of Ireland
References
[edit]- ^ "Constituency Commission Report 2012 – Waterford – Tipperary – Laois – Offaly – Kildare area" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ "Constituency Commission Report 2012 – Introduction and summary of recommendation" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ a b Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, Schedule (No. 7 of 2013, Schedule). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017, Schedule (No. 39 of 2017, Schedule). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Miller, Steven (30 August 2023). "Laois to return to a three-seater constituency as Dáil set to increase to 174 TDs". Laois Today.
- ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023, Schedule (No. 40 of 2023, Schedule). Enacted on 19 December 2023. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 February 2024.
- ^ a b "General election 2016: Laois". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- ^ "Laois Results 2016". Irelandelection.com. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Laois Results 2016". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.