21 January 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
“the change is small but will make a difference” says Green Party Cork City Cllr Oliver MoranThis general election will be the last time that voters on Grattan Hill in St Luke’s will have to walk past a polling station 200m from their homes to vote in one over 1.5km away.
Following correspondence from local Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, the City Sheriff’s Office and Cork City Council have agreed to move the Grattan Hill to a nearer polling station.
Voters on the hill will be moved from having to vote in Scoil Eanna on the Middle Glanmire Road, which is 1.5km away, to voting at St Luke’s National School on Mahony’s Avenue, which is just 200m away. Ironically, voters on Grattan Hill currently have to pass St Luke’s School to get to Scoil Eanna.
The change was agreed to too late to come into effect before the upcoming general election, but will be in place for all future elections.
Green Party Councillor & candidate for Cork North Central, Oliver Moran, says the change is small but will make a difference:
“This has been something that had been a bugbear for residents on Grattan Hill for a very long time. I’m glad to say it will finally be rectified in a common sense way, and it means that voting will be made more accessible for everybody in the area.
“Unfortunately, it will not take effect until after this election,” Councillor Moran continued. “In the meantime, voters with mobility issues who find it easier to vote at a different polling station can ask to have their vote moved. If anybody thinks this applies to them, they should contact the returning officer in good time, ahead of election polling, and ask for a change of polling station.”
The Returning Officer can be contacted on 021 4271 787. If you have not yet registered to vote, you can do so by filling out an RFA2 form, having it stamped by in your local Garda Station, and handing it into the franchise office of either Cork City or County Council – depending on your address – before close of business on Wednesday 22nd of January.
