LABOUR PARTY TD Sean Sherlock has said he will run in the Cork North-Central constituency or not run at all in the next election, following an overhaul in Dáil constituencies this week.
The new Electoral Commission published a report on Wednesday recommending that 14 more TDs be added, ,bringing the total number to 174, to represent the growing population.
Cork North-Central is to get an extra seat, to make a total of five representatives.
Three divisions in the Mallow area, which Sherlock currently represents, with a population of 14,408 will transfer from Cork East.
Speaking to Patricia Messinger on C103′s Cork Today Show, Sherlock said: “The decision is not whether I run in Cork East or Cork North Central, I think the decision now is whether you run at all or run in Cork North Central, and I’d be pretty honest about that.
“What I’m trying to grapple with at the moment is whether or not there is actually a future for me in politics, and I’ll just be very honest with people about that.”
Sherlock said it feels like “years and years of work” put in by himself and his late father “is just literally gone in one fell swoop”.
“I could never run in a constituency that I don’t live in, I live in the town of Mallow, my family home, my family is in Mallow, I would have to stay with Mallow no matter what,” he said.
“There is that sense of loss of the Cork East part of the constituency,” the Labour TD said.
“I’m just outlining it in very human terms that … I’m in the middle now of trying to grapple with the enormity of the decision, but I have to put things into perspective, perspective means that there are so many people out there who have to grapple with far more challenges than I have to grapple with.”
Sherlock said he had not considered not running in the next election prior to the Electoral Commission report.
“The fire was in the belly and the fire is still in the belly to keep going,” he said.
However, noting that he has a young family, Sherlock said: “What it would mean is literally starting out again in a whole new territory where you’re trying to form relationships, build up a body of work in such a short space of time, and that challenge is a massive undertaking.”
He said that would mean being out “all hours” to try to do that.
The Labour TD said he will consult with his colleagues and again with his family, adding that “family is the biggest component of this”.
Sherlock said he hasn’t thought about what he would do if he leaves politics.
“There’s just a little bit of time to be taken to consider all of the options. We’ve a long way to go before any decision is made.”
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