People in the East Cork community of Glengoura are very upset this week having discovered that Lackan Hall, which is their local community hall, will not be used as a polling station this year.
Locals received the news late last week when their polling cards for the upcoming 8th Amendment referendum arrived through their letterbox, indicating that all locals in the Glengoura area would have to travel to Inch Community Centre, which is 10km away, to cast their vote on May 25.
The polling station was closed without any consultation with members of the Glengoura Hall Committee and chairperson Kevin Galvin, said that the community are ‘up in arms’ about the decision.
The decision was made by county sheriff Sinead McNamara, and Kevin was told that the polling station had been closed because Cork County Council had received complaints that Lackan Hall was too cold.
Considering voters are usually only in the building for an average of 10 minutes, Kevin felt that it’s unlikely this would be a significant enough reason to close the polling station without any consultation with the committee members or the members of the community.
The Avondhu contacted Sinead McNamara, sheriff for Cork County, who gave this statement on the matter.
“Having regard to the quality of the facilities available in Inch Community Hall and the surrounding infrastructure, I took the decision to use Inch Community Hall instead of Glengoura Hall for polling in the forthcoming Referendum.
“In selecting a polling place, I have to be cognisant of accessiblilty issues for all voters, including those with disabilities and the quality of polling station facilities for both voters and polling staff. Inch Community Hall was considered to be the most suitable polling station proximate to Glengoura Hall while still in the Cork East constituency.”
