From: Caoimhe Archibald To: Review (BCNI) Subject: Boundary Commission Revised Proposals 2018 consultation response Date: 26 March 2018 Attachments: Submission to Boundary Commission Review Revised Proposals 2018 - Caoimhe Archibald MLA.docx

A chara,

Please find the attached response to the consultation on the Boundary Commission Revised Proposals 2018

Le meas, Caoimhe Archibald MLA East Sinn Féin East Derry Sinn Féin Submission to Boundary Review Revised Proposals 2018

Sinn Féin broadly welcomed the Boundary Commission’s Provisional Proposals of September 2016.

I considered the 17 proposed constituencies to have been created in a fair, equitable and balanced way and without applying Rule 7. This is to be commended as was the Commissions' efforts to meet its objectives while considering a number of factors and requirements, in particular:

Boundary Commission Provisional Proposals 2016 Approach adopted 1. The Commission has decided to use local government wards as the building blocks for the proposed constituencies. 2. Subject to the absolute requirement of the quota range, the Commission has taken into account: • special geographical considerations • any local ties that would be broken by its proposed changes • the boundaries of the 18 existing constituencies. 3. The special geographical considerations include the size, shape and accessibility of proposed constituencies; mountains, passes, lakes and main rivers; and the integrity of built- up areas.

The Commission has sought to: • create manageable shapes • include at least one significant town in each constituency • respect organic communities.

Revised Proposals 2018 I do not accept that the Provisional Proposals 2016 required such extreme modification as has been presented in the Revised Proposals 2018.

The 2016 proposal of the Glenshane constituency which accommodated the majority of my constituency of East Derry has been scrapped. In its place is a proposal for the East Derry constituency area to be split between three new constituencies. This preposterous proposal results in the division of town across three constituencies and the townlands of and Ballerin between two constituencies.

The Revised Proposal Report 2018 states: Towns and their hinterlands “4.8 Many respondents called for natural hinterlands to be retained around key towns across . All of the main political parties made this point as did Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Mid Ulster District Council. 14 people made similar comments at the public hearings. They referred to the need to protect local ties; the identification of rural villages with their associated towns; and the need to avoid locating rural towns on the edges of constituencies.” (BC Revised Report 2018) It is clear in abandoning their original proposals The Boundary Commission has applied neither this rationale nor their own Rule 5 to Dungiven, Drumsurn and Ballerin.

In the Revised Proposals, Dungiven and its hinterlands would be located on the edge of three constituencies with one side of Main Street of the town located in West Tyrone and the other in Mid Ulster. The school estate would be spread across the three constituencies of West Tyrone, Mid Ulster and Causeway with the ludicrous scenario of St Patricks College being in West Tyrone and the school canteen in Mid Ulster.

Drumsurn and Ballerin are small rural villages/townlands with strong tight-knit communities and identities. Division like this for electoral purposes is wrong and unnecessary. Electoral boundaries should create strong geographical links between constituents and representatives, these proposals do not.

The Revised Report 2018 concludes “These Revised Proposals significantly improve the retention of hinterlands around key rural towns.”

This is concerning given the many townlands and hinterlands that would be decimated in the Altahullion, , Park, , Dungiven and wards under these revised proposals.

To address the points above, I propose that the Boundary Commission returns to the 2016 Provisional Proposals with some minor adjustments, as outlined below:

Dalriada To completely include in the Dalriada constituency, I propose that the ward (2,389) is moved in from Glenshane.

Glenshane Move Macosquin ward (2,389) to Dalriada and Glenshane will still remain compliant with 71,966 electors.

Le meas, Caoimhe Archibald MLA