Intern Wanted!

Posted January 11th, 2012

Hey folks,

We are again looking for an intern to give a hand in the constituency office, as well as help with research tasks for the committees that I sit on (Public Accounts and Transport, Sport, Tourism, Arts, Gaeltacht and Heritage Affairs) . If you know anyone who might be looking for 3 months of experience in a political environment, please let them know. Description and responsibilities below. As a note of encouragement, our previous intern is now in full time employment in Brussels (thanks to his own hard efforts of course).

Cheers,

Eoghan

Job Description
The position will involve supporting the existing team in the areas of research, administration and general support and back up. The position will be office based Tuesday to Thursday 9.30am to 5.30pm. This position is open immediately. The successful candidate will be based primarily in the Ranelagh constituency office.

The ideal candidate should have:

• Proven research skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Good computer skills to include Excel, Word processing and internet.
• Knowledge of online social media outlets
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Excellent organisational and people skills

The ideal candidate should be:

• Interested in Politics and current affairs
• A team player
• Highly motivated

To Apply:

All CV’s with a cover letter to be sent to eoghan.murphy@oireachtas.ie .This is not a salaried position and the successful candidate will not be able to apply for this position under the Jobsbridge scheme. However lunch expenses will be covered. While the position cannot be made permanent, it can be extended.

The successful candidate will need his/her own laptop.

Applications should be received on or before next Tuesday 17^th January 2012.

My Submission to the Constituency Commission

Posted January 9th, 2012

20.12.11

To whom it may concern,

I wish to make a submission to the Constituency Commission in respect of the constituency of Dublin South-East.

The Dublin area south of the River Liffey that falls under Dublin City Council jurisdiction is effectively divided between the Dáil constituencies of Dublin South-Central and Dublin South-East, 5-seat and 4-seat constituencies respectively. For historical, planning and practical reasons, I believe it to be sensible to consider both constituencies together for the purposes of any possible redrawing of constituency boundaries or changes in seat allocation.

As it stands, there are 25,355 people per TD in Dublin South Central and 25,791 people per TD in Dublin South-East. This means that there is a population of 126,775 in Dublin South-Central and 103,164 in Dublin South-East. In line with constitutional provisions, it is clear that both constituencies when taken together warrant 8 seats in total. 

The Commission’s review presents an opportunity to better arrange these two constituencies and bring about greater balance. If a seat were lost from Dublin South Central, it would bring the total number of seats in each constituency to parity. This would also require the ‘transfer’ of territory from Dublin South Central to Dublin South East to balance the number of people represented by each seat. If Terenure A, Terenure B, Terenure C, Terenure D and Kimmage C (approx. 12,500 people in total) were transferred from Dublin South Central to Dublin South East, there would be an almost equal population in both constituencies of roughly 114,000.

Apart from this balancing of the two constituencies in terms of population and seats, there would also be a practical element to such realignment in that the Terenure area would no longer be divided between two electoral areas. For local residents and businesses alike, there can be tremendous confusion about which TD to contact or which official is responsible for the area.

If the above measure was implemented we would see the removal of an unnatural and problematic border through Terenure and the equal distribution of 4 seats apiece for both constituencies, across similar population sizes.

Yours Faithfully,

Eoghan Murphy TD