The debate, on this website and elsewhere, concerning the proposed extension of Waterford Corporation into County Kilkenny, demonstrates the inability of Irish society to deal with fairly simple matters of public interest in a rational and mature manner. This is reflected in both the fact that the “problem” has arisen in the first place, and in how people have responded to the problem.

The Irish counties were a medieval creation of the invading Anglo-Normans. It is rather ironic that they should be defended with great vehemence by many people of a nationalist orientation, mainly because of their close identity with the GAA (another irony). Originally, they were the territory ruled over by a feudal count. They bear no relationship to the needs of modern local government, and in other countries they have largely been rendered defunct as administrative units.

In most European countries, the boundaries of local government embrace both towns and cities and their surrounding hinterlands. This makes sense, since if you are planning transport systems, school networks, shopping facilities or medical services, it makes sense if all the users have a say in the process. The 19th century Poor Law Unions were a unique case of the application, in Ireland, of this simple and sensible administrative principle. However, when the Irish local government system was recast in 1898, the Poor Law Unions were done away with. Instead, the archaic counties became the main administrative unit, while at the urban level, administrative boundaries were defined by the extent of the built up area at the time.

In most European countries, the system of local government was completely recast at least once during the course of the 20th century to take account of new developments in transport and communications, population distribution, etc. Ireland is still stuck with a 19th century system which was even unsuitable when it was first introduced. Urban growth has meant that towns and cities have long outgrown their original boundaries, but attempts to have these boundaries extended are routinely opposed by the neighbouring jurisdictions, and rarely accepted by governments more concerned with avoiding trouble than with acting rationally.

The main problem here is that the principal source of independent funding for county councils is commercial rates. With most commercial development nowadays occurring in suburban areas, it means that the areas which expanding town and city councils are seeking to bring within their boundaries are key sources of funds for the neighbouring counties. Hence their opposition to boundary extensions. So you end up with a situation where, for example, two thirds of Navan’s built-up area is now administered by Meath County Council. It clearly makes little sense to have the administration of the Navan urban area split between two separate local authorities, but making sense has never carried much weight in political decision-making in Ireland.

Paralleling the fears of county councils about losing commercial rates, there are popular concerns about being “absorbed” by alien jurisdictions. The use of terms such as “land grabbing” serves to inflame such concerns. The fact that this issue has generated such a lively debate in An Fear Rua demonstrates that county loyalties related to Gaelic games are a key factor in this debate. This is as apparent in the opposition in County Clare to the extension of Limerick City as it is in County Kilkenny to Waterford City’s expansion plans. Indeed, in the run-up to the last local elections, the commission which decides on electoral boundaries wanted to tidy up a new housing estate in Rosbercon, most of which was in County Wexford and some in Kilkenny. However, their proposal to place the entire estate in Wexford led to uproar.

An Moltóir has never fully understood why the county became such a central element in the organisation of Gaelic games in Ireland. By building its premier competitions around the county unit, the GAA ensured that there would be a fundamental inequality in access to competitive success, due to massive variations in the size of counties. Frank Murphy was hardly around when these decisions were being made, was he? The development of the All-Ireland club championships has given weaker counties greater prospects of success, which shows that it would have been preferable, from an equity point of view, to build competitive structures around local clubs rather than counties (as with rugby and soccer).

However, the fact is that there is now an unprecedented level of county identity in Ireland today, and we have to live with this. But why should this conflict with the administrative boundaries of local government units? In England, administrative reform means that most counties are no longer coherent units of local government. Yet the premier cricket competition is the county championship, based on the old county units. In other words, people have kept their old county identities, regardless of where they are in the administrative structure of local government.

So why should Kilkenny people have to play hurling for Waterford, just because they come within the administrative area of Waterford Corporation? Ditto for the people of East Clare who fear having the green jersey imposed upon them. All the GAA has to do is to declare that, administratively, they will be sticking to the old county units around which people have built their sporting identities (at least as far as Gaelic games are concerned). This strikes An Moltóir as being a simple and obvious solution to the current “problem”. But it appears that Irish society has as much difficulty grasping the simple and obvious as it has with grasping the sensible.

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