Meath West (Dáil constituency)

Meath West is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

Meath West
Dáil constituency
Location of Meath West within Ireland
Major settlements	Athboy Enfield Navan Trim
Current constituency
Created	2007
Seats	3
TDs	Damien English (FG)   Johnny Guirke (SF)   Peadar Tóibín (Aon)
Local government areas	County Meath County Westmeath
EP constituency	Midlands–North-West

History and boundaries

The constituency was created under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005 when the previous 5-seat Meath constituency was divided into two 3-seat constituencies of Meath East and Meath West.^[1] It was first used at the 2007 general election to the 30th Dáil. The town of Kells was moved to Meath East at the 2011 general election.

It spans the western portions of County Meath, including the towns of Trim and Navan, along with the north-eastern part of County Westmeath.^[2]

The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 defines the constituency as:^[3]

"The county of Meath, except the parts thereof which are comprised in the constituencies of Cavan–Monaghan, Louth and Meath East, and the county of Westmeath, except the part thereof which is comprised in the constituency of Longford–Westmeath."

The Constituency Review Report 2023 of the Electoral Commission recommended that at the next general election, Meath West remain a three-seat constituency with the transfer of the part in County Westmeath to Longford–Westmeath.^[4]

For the next general election, the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023 defines the constituency as:^[5]

"The county of Meath, except the parts thereof which are comprised in the constituencies of Louth and Meath East."

Changes to the Meath West constituency 2007–present

Years	TDs	Boundaries	Notes
2007–2011	3	County Meath, except that part in the constituency of Meath East, and County Westmeath, except that part in the constituency of Longford–Westmeath.[1]	Created from Meath and Westmeath[6]
2011–2020	3	County Meath, except the parts in the constituencies of Louth and Meath East, and County Westmeath, except that part in the constituency of Longford–Westmeath.[7][8]	Transfer to Meath East of[9][10] Ceanannas Mór Urban, and of Ceanannas Mór Rural, Maperath and Staholmog in the former Rural District of Kells.
2020–	3	County Meath, except the parts in the constituencies of Cavan–Monaghan, Louth and Meath East, and County Westmeath, except that part in the constituency of Longford–Westmeath.[3]

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Meath West 2007–
Key to parties   Aon = Aontú   FF = Fianna Fáil   FG = Fine Gael   SF = Sinn Féin
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
30th	2007[11]		Johnny Brady (FF)		Noel Dempsey (FF)		Damien English (FG)
31st	2011[12]		Peadar Tóibín[lower-alpha 1] (SF)		Ray Butler (FG)
32nd	2016[13]				Shane Cassells (FF)
33rd	2020[14]		Peadar Tóibín (Aon)		Johnny Guirke (SF)

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.

1. Left Sinn Féin 15 November 2018; formed Aontú 28 January 2019.

Elections

^ *: Outgoing TD

2020 general election

2020 general election: Meath West^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Sinn Féin	Johnny Guirke	30.5	12,652
	Aontú	Peadar Tóibín[*]	17.6	7,322	8,249	8,616	9,075	9,714	11,410
	Fine Gael	Damien English[*]	13.2	5,499	5,604	6,513	6,802	8,699	9,558
	Fianna Fáil	Shane Cassells[*]	16.2	6,742	6,926	7,117	7,311	7,644	8,224
	Social Democrats	Ronan Moore	5.7	2,376	2,931	3,045	4,141	4,569
	Fine Gael	Noel French	7.1	2,952	3,006	3,361	3,534
	Green	Séamus McMenamin	4.7	1,935	2,224	2,380
	Fine Gael	Sarah Reilly	4.4	1,817	1,897
	Renua	John Malone	0.5	209	290
Electorate: 67,982   Valid: 41,504   Spoilt: 320   Quota: 10,377   Turnout: 61.5%

2016 general election

2016 general election: Meath West^[19][20][13]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Shane Cassells	27.4	10,585
	Sinn Féin	Peadar Tóibín[*]	24.5	9,442	9,713
	Fine Gael	Damien English[*]	21.0	8,123	8,333	8,376	8,785	8,880	10,371
	Fine Gael	Ray Butler[*]	11.5	4,432	4,519	4,552	4,853	4,904	5,841
	Independent	Trevor Golden	4.5	1,718	1,844	1,984	2,137	2,616
	Green	Séamus McMenamin	3.7	1,421	1,519	1,587	1,807	2,178
	Direct Democracy	Alan Lawes	3.3	1,279	1,310	1,380	1,440
	Labour	Tracy McElhinney	3.0	1,166	1,229	1,241
	Independent	John Malone	1.1	439	486
Electorate: 64,600   Valid: 38,605   Spoilt: 315   Quota: 9,652   Turnout: 38,920 (60.25%)

2011 general election

2011 general election: Meath West^[12]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fine Gael	Damien English[*]	23.1	9,290	9,609	10,122
	Sinn Féin	Peadar Tóibín	17.4	6,989	7,421	7,711	8,155	9,112
	Fine Gael	Ray Butler	13.1	5,262	5,414	5,574	7,879	8,926
	Labour	Jenny McHugh	13.5	5,432	5,852	6,040	6,794	7,798
	Fianna Fáil	Johnny Brady[*]	9.4	3,789	3,874	6,065	6,437
	Fine Gael	Catherine Yore	9.7	3,898	4,072	4,208
	Fianna Fáil	Shane Cassells	8.7	3,496	3,631
	Green	Fiona Irwin	1.2	479
	Independent	Stephen Ball	1.2	475
	Independent	Dáithí Stephens	1.0	387
	Independent	Ronan Carolan	0.6	258
	Christian Solidarity	Manus MacMeanmain	0.6	234
	Workers' Party	Séamus McDonagh	0.5	189
Electorate: 62,776   Valid: 40,178   Spoilt: 413 (1.0%)   Quota: 10,045   Turnout: 40,591 (64.7%)

2007 general election

2007 general election: Meath West^[11]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Noel Dempsey[*]	29.7	12,006
	Fianna Fáil	Johnny Brady[*]	21.9	8,868	10,178
	Fine Gael	Damien English[*]	17.9	7,227	7,427	7,566	7,856	8,527	9,548	12,934
	Sinn Féin	Joe Reilly	11.3	4,567	4,697	4,803	5,024	5,187	5,588	6,015
	Fine Gael	Peter Higgins	8.0	3,234	3,335	3,424	3,534	3,960	4,379
	Labour	Brian Collins	4.0	1,634	1,663	1,734	2,097	2,181
	Fine Gael	Graham Geraghty	3.2	1,284	1,326	1,360	1,420
	Green	Brian Flanagan	2.5	1,011	1,047	1,194
	Independent	Phil Cantwell	1.3	506	544
	Fathers Rights	Paul Coleman	0.3	127	130
Electorate: 56,267   Valid: 40,464   Spoilt: 388 (0.9%)   Quota: 10,117   Turnout: 40,852 (72.6%)

See also

• Elections in the Republic of Ireland
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005, Schedule (No. 16 of 2005, Schedule). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 August 2022.
2. "Dáil Constituency Map Meath East and Meath West 2018" (PDF). Government of Ireland. 18 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
3. Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017, Schedule (No. 39 of 2017, Schedule). Enacted on 23 December 2017. Act of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 August 2022.
4. "Constituency Review Report 2023" (PDF). Electoral Commission. pp. 64, 132. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
5. 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.
6. "Report on Dáil Constituencies, 2004" (PDF). Constituency Commission. pp. 26–27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
7. Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, Schedule (No. 4 of 2009, Schedule). Enacted on 24 February 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 August 2022.
8. Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, Schedule (No. 7 of 2013, Schedule). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 August 2022.
9. "Report on Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies 2007" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 23 October 2007. p. 64. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
10. "Constituency Commission Report 2012: Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 21 June 2012. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
11. "General election 2007: Meath West". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
12. "General election 2011: Meath West". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
13. "General election 2016: Meath West". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
14. "General election 2020: Meath West". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
15. "General Election 2020 Results – Meath West". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
16. "Meath West: 2020 General Election". Irelandelection.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
17. Walsh, Louise (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Meath West results: Surprise at Fianna Fáil loss as seismic shift to left". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
18. "Election 2020: Meath West". The Irish Times. Dublin. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
19. "Meath West Results 2016". Irelandelection.com. Irelandelection.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
20. "Meath West Results 2016". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.