environment minister John Gormley is shocked that some of his constituents have accused him of gerrymandering part of his Dublin Southeast constituency.

Gormley claims he was accused of gerrymandering at a public meeting in Sandymount last week and he refuted the idea as "ridiculous". The meeting was organised by concerned locals who are angry the leafy village will be divided in two under new local area electoral boundary changes.

A protest rally will be held on Sandymount Green, in the heart of Gormley's constituency, at 1pm this afternoon as residents continue to vent their anger at the split.

Defending his position on the split, Gormley said, "There was a wholly independent process established… Everybody had an opportunity to make a submission. My own Green party made a submission requesting that Sandymount be retained as a unit while the Labour party made a submission that sought to have the area divided. It was an independent, transparent process and I had no role in the decision-making process.

"I am surprised and shocked at some of the allegations made at the pubic meeting suggesting that I had been involved in gerrymandering. It is required under law for me to implement it and it would be wholly inappropriate for me to interfere with this process.

"This issue is being politically motivated. It is unfortunate as it is not good politics. It is not responsible politics and it's not responsible community leadership."

Fine Gael councillor Paddy McCartan said the new boundary line between the South Inner City and Pembroke-Rathmines electoral wards will run straight through Sandymount Green.

He said, "We are organising a petition urging the minister not to sign the bill. People are very enthusiastic to have their views known."

Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said, "I have great respect for the Greens. They share a passion for local government. My biggest objection to the new rules is that it will be harder for councillors to provide equality of service and that flies in the face of everything the Greens are about." Lacey also branded Fine Gael "opportunistic" for organising last week's meeting about the Sandymount split.

He said, "It is a little bit opportunistic of Fine Gael to call a meeting 10 days before the minister signs the statutory instruments for electoral wards all over the country. I think it is wrong to lead people to believe Minister Gormley is going to change it after this last minute burst of Fine Gael opportunism.

"I will go to protest on Sunday in support of the community as I think Sandymount will be badly served when it is split. I am not going there because of Fine Gael opportunism, as it would be naïve to believe that it will be changed."