The first reactions on the electoral commission report are in from those set to contest the next general election locally.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan show this morning in the hours after the release of the report, Sitting TDs and Senators addressed the changes to their home constituencies.
The news that North Roscommon is set to be reunited with the majority of the rest of the county in the Roscommon Galway Constituency has been met with mixed reaction.
Sligo/Leitrim Sinn Fein TD Martin Kenny described his reaction to the loss of the electoral divisions from his constituency:
"I am somewhat disappointed to lose north Roscommon to be honest. I worked very well with many people there and they're great people from Boyle, Arigna, etc.. I'm sure at the same time they were disappointed that Roscommon was seperated but we'll still be fighting to take two seats in Sligo-Leitrim and we're pretty comfortably positioned to do that, we believe. But, again, that'll be up to the electorate when the time comes".
That was not the view of Roscommon based Senator Eugene Murphy, who welcomed the decision.
The former TD described the move as good news for the people of Roscommon:
"It's very good news for the people of North and North East Roscommon and I think a piece of gold has been left in close to the Roscommon border. I think this will work out well. In my view, it's a good day for the new 3 seater Roscommon-Galway region. I've kept in contact with a lot of the people who left the Roscommon area and gone into Sligo-Leitrim. I've even worked for communities there along with Frank Feighan and others. I think this will place me in a very strong position".
Meanwhile, Longford Westmeath is one of the constituency set to get an extra TD in the next election.
Minister of State and Local Fine Gael TD Peter Burke believes the decision not to increase the number of new TDs further could result in challenges down the line:
"You're a little over 29,000 in Longford-Westmeath. So, it is very tight and it's very tight nationally. You'd have to say that they did opt for a very conservative level in terms of the 14 additional seats because they could went up as far as 181, but they chose 174".
