44-483: The 1999 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 11 June 1999, on the same day as the European elections . Ireland was divided into local government areas of administrative counties and county boroughs , in which the local authorities had last been elected at the 1991 local elections , and a second tier in certain areas of boroughs, urban districts and towns, in which
88-515: A common-law legal system with a written constitution that provides for a parliamentary democracy similar to the British parliamentary system , albeit with a popularly elected president , a separation of powers , a developed system of constitutional rights and judicial review of primary legislation. The sources of law in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland reflect Irish history and
132-522: A body of charters, statutory rules and orders and other secondary legislation made prior to the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922 continues to be in force in the current Republic of Ireland, insofar as such legislation has not been revoked or otherwise ceased to be in force. Ireland was the subject of the first extension of England's common law legal system outside England. While in England
176-530: A decision made by the Rainbow Government domestic water charges were abolished on 1 January 1997 placing further pressure on local government funding. The Department of Finance is a significant source of funding at present, and additional sources are rates on commercial and industrial property, housing rents, service charges and borrowing. The dependence on Exchequer has led to charges that Ireland has an overly centralised system of local government. Over
220-428: A more pro-active and co-ordinated national and local approach to protecting the environment. An Bord Pleanála was seen as another inroad into local government responsibilities. Additionally, the trend has been to remove decision-making from elected councillors to full-time professionals and officials. In particular, every city and county has a manager, who is the chief executive but is also a public servant appointed by
264-609: A popular vote. While the Limerick plebiscite passed by a small margin, voters in Waterford and Cork both rejected the proposal by equally small margins in 2019. The 2024 Limerick mayoral election took place in June 2024, with John Moran , an independent candidate being inaugurated as the first directly elected mayor in Ireland on 21 June 2024. Eurostat , the statistical Directorate-General of
308-623: A representational and an operational role because the Irish system of Local Government encompasses both democratic representation and public administration." Law of the Republic of Ireland The law of the Republic of Ireland consists of constitutional, statutory, and common law. The highest law in the State is the Constitution of Ireland , from which all other law derives its authority. The Republic has
352-445: A similar manner to tort law today. A perpetrator would have to compensate the victim, rather than having a punishment, such as imprisonment, imposed upon him or her. The first and second Dáil sat in opposition to British rule in Ireland . The laws passed by the first and second Dáil had no official legal effect. The Irish Constitution was enacted by a popular plebiscite held on 1 July 1937, and came into force on 29 December of
396-653: A single tier of town council, with five permitted to retain the title of borough council: the city of Kilkenny and the four towns of Sligo , Drogheda , Clonmel , and Wexford . The Local Government Reform Act 2014 enacted changes which took effect after the 2014 local elections: The civic and ceremonial status of existing cities, boroughs and larger towns was retained after being merged with counties. Those municipal districts that included existing cities or boroughs merged became either "metropolitan districts" or "borough districts". They continue to have mayors as do those districts containing county towns. In all other councils
440-502: Is a dualist state and treaties are not part of Irish domestic law unless incorporated by the Oireachtas . An exception to this rule might well be the provision in the constitution which says that "Ireland accepts the generally recognised principles of international law as its rule of conduct in its relations with other States." However, while this provision has been held to assimilate the doctrine of sovereign immunity into domestic law,
484-562: Is a strategic planning area. Below this are local administrative units (LAUs) which are the basic statistical components for the regions; in Ireland these are the local electoral areas (LEAs). Following the abolition of domestic property rates in the late 1970s, local councils found it extremely difficult to raise money. The shortfall from the abolition of property rates led to the introduction of service charges for water and refuse, but these were highly unpopular in certain areas and led in certain cases to large-scale non-payment. Arising from
SECTION 10
#1733094493546528-535: Is made by the bicameral National Parliament — more commonly known by its Irish name, the Oireachtas . Acts of the Oireachtas are split into sequentially numbered sections and may be cited by using a short title which gives the act a title roughly based on its subject matter and the year in which it was enacted. While the Oireachtas is bicameral, the upper house, the Senate (or Seanad ), has little power which at most allows
572-640: Is that the Supreme Court has declared itself not to be bound by its own previous decisions. While the doctrine clearly means that the present High Court is bound by decisions of the present Supreme Court, it is not altogether clear whether the decisions of courts which previously performed the function of courts of last final appeal in Ireland – such as the British House of Lords – bind the present High Court. In Irish Shell v. Elm Motors , Mr Justice McCarthy doubted that decisions of pre-independence courts bound
616-588: The European Union , uses a geographical hierarchy system called the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) for various statistical and financial disbursement purposes. The entirety of Ireland is a First-level NUTS of the European Union . The Second level (NUTS 2) divides Ireland into three regions which have a Regional Assembly. The Third level (NUTS 3) divides these regions into 8, each of which
660-485: The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . This Act established a county council for each of thirty-three Irish administrative counties (County Tipperary was divided with North Riding and South Riding ) and a county borough corporation in six cities that were separate from their respective counties. Each county was divided into urban and rural districts . Urban districts in the area of five municipal boroughs retained
704-405: The barony and grand jury , no longer fulfil their original purpose while retaining only vestigial legal relevance in the modern state. Others, such as the poor law unions , have been transformed into entities still in use by the modern state, but again, their original functions have been substantially altered. Sixty years later, a more radical reorganisation of local government took place with
748-408: The borough of Dún Laoghaire were abolished with their administrative areas being divided among three new counties: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown , Fingal and South Dublin . The state was divided into eight Regional Authorities. The Local Government Act 2001 simplified the local government structure, with the principal tier of local government (county and city councils) covering the entire territory of
792-517: The "principles and policies" set out in the relevant authorising statute. All instances of delegated legislation in the Republic of Ireland are known as statutory instruments, although only a small subset of these are numbered as statutory instruments and published by the Stationery Office. This latter subset is composed of statutory instruments which are required to be laid before the Oireachtas or which are of general application. In addition,
836-506: The Constitution is introduced into Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament) as a bill and if passed by the Dáil, and passed or deemed to have been passed by the Senate (the upper house), is put to the people. Only Irish citizens resident in the state may vote. There is no threshold for such referendums and a simple majority of voters is sufficient for a proposal to be passed. Once passed by
880-584: The Irish Free State , which carried overall legislation that had in force in Southern Ireland , insofar as these laws were not repugnant to the Constitution of the Irish Free State. As a result, while the Irish state has been in existence for a century, the statute book stretches back in excess of 800 years. By virtue of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 , the oldest Act currently in force in
924-555: The National Roads Authority took overall authority for national roads projects, supported by local authorities who maintain the non-national roads system. The whole area of waste management has been transformed since the 1990s, with a greater emphasis on environmental protection, recycling infrastructure and higher environmental standards. In 1993 the Environmental Protection Agency was established to underpin
SECTION 20
#1733094493546968-655: The Non Principle Private Residence (NPPR) charge and the proposed water charge. Since 1999, motor tax is paid into the Local Government Fund, established by the Local Government Act 1998, and is distributed on a "Needs and Resources" basis. In 2013, a local property tax was introduced to provide funding for local authorities. Local government has progressively lost control over services to national and regional bodies, particularly since
1012-949: The Public Appointments Service (formerly the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commission), and is thus answerable to the national government as well as the local council, in theory. Therefore, local policy decisions are sometimes heavily influenced by the TDs who represent the local constituency in Dáil Éireann (the main chamber of parliament), and may be dictated by national politics rather than local needs. Local government bodies now have responsibility for such matters as planning, local roads, sanitation, and libraries. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has responsibility for local authorities and related services. Fingal County Manager David O'Connor: "Local Authorities perform both
1056-480: The Republic of Ireland is the Fairs Act 1204 . The statute law of the Republic of Ireland includes law passed by the following: Notwithstanding the declaration in the 1937 constitution that the Oireachtas is to be "the sole and exclusive" legislature, it has long been held that it is permissible for the Oireachtas to delegate its law-making power(s) to other bodies as long as such delegated legislation does not exceed
1100-462: The Senate to delay rather than veto legislation, something that has only happened twice since 1937. Article 50 of the Constitution of Ireland carried over all laws that had been in force in the Irish Free State prior to its coming into force on 29 December 1937, insofar as these laws were not repugnant to the new constitution. A similar function had been fulfilled by Article 73 of the Constitution of
1144-571: The Supreme Court has held that the provision is not capable of conferring rights on individuals. The dualist approach in international law contained in the Irish Constitution allows the state to sign and ratify treaties without incorporating them into domestic law. Thus, while the Republic of Ireland was one of the first states in Europe to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights , it
1188-482: The courts in the Republic of Ireland. The European Communities Act 1972 , as amended, provides that treaties of the European Union are part of Irish law, along with directly effective measures adopted under those treaties. It also provides that government ministers may adopt statutory instruments to implement European Union law and that as an exception to the general rule such statutory instruments have effect as if they were primary legislation. The Republic of Ireland
1232-664: The courts of the state, stating that "[i]n no sense are our Courts a continuation of, or successors to, the British courts." However, the other two judges on the panel hearing the case declined to express an opinion on the matter as it had not been argued at the hearing of the appeal. Post-independence judgments of the British courts, and all judgments of the American and Commonwealth courts, as well as some judgments of courts in Northern Ireland , are of persuasive value only and do not bind
1276-530: The creation of the common law was largely the result of the assimilation of existing customary law, in Ireland the common law was imported from England supplanting the customary law of the Irish. This, however, was a gradual process which went hand-in-hand with English (and later, British) influence in Ireland. As with any common-law system, the Irish courts are bound by the doctrine of stare decisis to apply clear precedents set by higher courts and courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction. The main exception to this rule
1320-480: The equivalent office is known as Chair or Cathaoirleach. Each municipal district was issued with a new statutory charter setting out its powers alongside any historic charters that already existed. At the 2019 Limerick City and County Council election , voters approved a proposal in a plebiscite on the establishment of a directly elected mayor for Limerick City and County by a vote of 52.4%. Support for directly elected mayors has been almost equally divided when put to
1364-512: The first time in Ireland in a new Article 28A. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 changed the structure by the abolition of all town councils and the merger of certain county councils. The reforms came into effect in 2014, to coincide with that year's local elections . The county was a unit of judicial and administrative government introduced to Ireland following the Norman invasion . The country
1999 Irish local elections - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-507: The foundation of the state in 1922. For instance, local control of education has largely been passed to Education and Training Boards , while other bodies such as the Department of Education still hold significant powers. In 1970 local government lost its health remit, which had been already eroded by the creation of the Department of Health in 1947, to the Health Board system. In the 1990s
1452-456: The local authorities had last been elected at the 1994 local elections . The elections had been scheduled for 1998, but were postponed. Each local government area was divided into local electoral areas (LEAs) in which councillors were elected for a five-year term on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV). During the period of office of these councils, local government throughout
1496-583: The past three decades numerous studies carried out by consultants on behalf of the Government have recommended the reintroduction of some form of local taxation/charging regime, but these were generally seen as politically unacceptable. However, in 2012 the Local Government Management Agency was established to provide a central data management service to enable the collection of the Home Charge,
1540-480: The people, the President signs the referendum bill into law. As of November 2011, there have been 33 such referendums: 23 of which were approved by the people and 10 of which were rejected. The constitution was also amended twice during an initial transitional period of three years following the election of the first President of Ireland when amendments could be made without recourse to the people. Modern-day statute law
1584-548: The provision of public libraries. Each local authority sends representatives to one of three Regional Assemblies . Local government in the state is governed by Local Government Acts 1925 to 2024, the principal act of which is the Local Government Act 2001 . The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 is the founding document of the present system. The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (1999) provided for constitutional recognition of local government for
1628-429: The same year. The Constitution is the cornerstone of the Irish legal system and is held to be the source of power exercised by the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. The Irish Supreme Court and High Court exercise judicial review over all legislation and may strike down laws if they are inconsistent with the constitution. The Constitution can be amended only by referendum. A proposal to amend
1672-493: The state and having general responsibility for all functions of local government except in 80 towns within the territory of county councils, where the lower tier ( town councils ) existed with more limited functions. The five county boroughs of Dublin , Cork , Galway , Waterford , and Limerick were re-styled city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. The lower-level tiers of borough corporations, urban district councils and town commissioners were reduced to
1716-617: The state was restructured under the Local Government Act 2001 . 18 Workers' Party councillors had left the party in 1992 upon the creation of Democratic Left . In January 1999, Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party . One Workers' Party councillor had joined Labour since 1991. Local government in the Republic of Ireland The functions of local government in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-one local authorities, termed County, City, or City and County Councils. The principal decision-making body in each of
1760-732: The style and title of a borough with a corporation. In all other places, a district council was established. Smaller towns retained town commissioners within rural districts. The geographic remit of the Irish Free State , established in December 1922 pursuant to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, was confined to 26 of the traditional counties of Ireland, which included 27 administrative counties and four county boroughs . Rural districts were abolished everywhere except County Dublin in 1925, and in County Dublin in 1930. In 1994 County Dublin and
1804-524: The thirty-one local authorities is composed of the members of the council, elected by universal franchise in local elections every five years from multi-seat local electoral areas using the single transferable vote . Many of the authorities' statutory functions are, however, the responsibility of ministerially appointed career officials termed Chief executives . The competencies of the city and county councils include planning, transport infrastructure, sanitary services, public safety (notably fire services) and
1999 Irish local elections - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-460: The various parliaments whose law affected the island of Ireland down through the ages. The Brehon Laws were a relatively sophisticated early Irish legal system, the practice of which was only finally wiped out during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . The Brehon laws were a civil legal system only – there was no criminal law. Acts that would today be considered criminal were then dealt with in
1892-444: Was shired in a number of phases with County Wicklow being the last to be shired in 1625. County Tipperary was divided into two judicial counties (or ridings ) following the establishment of assize courts in 1838. At various times in the past, other entities at a level below that of the county or county borough have been employed in Ireland for various judicial, administrative and revenue collecting purposes. Some of these, such as
1936-565: Was one of the last to incorporate the Convention into domestic law. And when done it was not directly incorporated into Irish law but given indirect, sub-constitutional, interpretative incorporation. In Crotty v. An Taoiseach , the Irish Supreme Court asserted a power to review the constitutionality of treaties signed by the state, such that the government could be prevented from signing international agreements which would be contrary to
#545454