A FINE GAEL TD has said he will quit the party if it approves plans to redraw a county boundary - which would result in his own county losing 7,500 residents.
John Paul Phelan made the threat in a local newspaper amid reports that the Waterford county boundary will be moved, and take in around 20,000 acres of land which currently lies in Kilkenny.
Phelan is based in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny - which is only a few minutes' drive from the affected area - and is vowing to walk away from Fine Gael if the move is allowed to go ahead.
The Kilkenny People reported earlier this week that a decision was imminent in the long-running debate about whether to reallocate some of Kilkenny's land into neighbouring Waterford.
The proposal follows longstanding complaints from the local authorities in Waterford that the further growth of Waterford City is handicapped by the fact that it cannot expand into regions which are currently governed by Kilkenny County Council.
Similar proposals would relocate parts of County Meath into Louth, to allow the continued expansion of Drogheda.
A boundary committee was set up to examine the proposal and is set to report back next week.
'Land grab'
Phelan told the newspaper: "What hurts most is the potential loss of identity.
"A boundary change will damage the culture and persona of 7,500 Cats, our flesh and blood. These people are steeped in the social, cultural and heritage fabric of County Kilkenny."
The two-time TD, who chairs the Oireachtas Budget committee, said the residents of the affected area are "die-hards" who would never miss a Kilkenny county hurling match.
"To think that a Fine Gael government could, with a swipe of a pen, make us Waterford is disgraceful," he said.
"Unless we as a county, rise up and oppose this, we will be ripped apart by the greed of our neighbour. We need to man the barricades and keep them out."
Local media has helped to organise a major public campaign against the shifting boundary, which is subject to a final decision by Phelan's party colleague Simon Coveney, who retains the Local Government brief.
Aside from county identity, another major issue at play is the money Kilkenny County Council could lose in commercial rates if the area is reincorporated to Waterford - with one estimate put the cost at €110 million.
