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34-662: The 2009 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections ( Dublin South and Dublin Central ). The election results were significant for a number of reasons: The total number of the Irish electorate eligible to vote in the election was 3,259,253. A total of 1,880,589 first preference votes were cast, representing

68-530: 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

102-428: 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

136-609: 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

170-577: A representational and an operational role because the Irish system of Local Government encompasses both democratic representation and public administration." Poor law union Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief . Prior to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 the administration of the English Poor Laws was the responsibility of

204-653: 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

238-436: A turnout of 57.7%. The Progressive Democrats and Independent Fianna Fáil did not compete in the elections. As they competed in the previous elections, totals for vote and seat changes may not total zero. People Before Profit Alliance figures are compared to Socialist Workers Party figures from the previous local elections. Following the June 2009 local elections Fine Gael were the largest political party on 24 councils,

272-562: 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

306-588: 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

340-643: The Great Famine , the impoverished west was redrawn to create more unions for easier administration and for computation of where suffering was most endemic. When the Irish General Register Office was established in 1864, each union became a superintendent registrar's district, thus electoral divisions together formed a dispensary or registrar's district. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 divided administrative counties into urban and rural districts , with each rural district corresponding to

374-600: The Labour Party on 4 councils, Fianna Fáil on 3 councils, Independents on 2 councils and Sinn Féin on 1 council. The five councils with the status of borough councils are marked as BC. All others are town councils. 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

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408-485: 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

442-405: 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

476-408: 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

510-500: The vestries of individual parishes, which varied widely in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements. From 1834 the parishes were grouped into unions, jointly responsible for the administration of poor relief in their areas and each governed by a board of guardians . A parish large enough to operate independently of a union was known as a poor law parish. Collectively, poor law unions and poor law parishes were known as poor law districts. The grouping of

544-555: 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

578-655: 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

612-949: 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

646-480: 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

680-512: 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

714-507: 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

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748-587: The metropolitan area of London, were able to avoid amalgamation into unions because of earlier local acts that regulated their poor law administration. The Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) allowed the Poor Law Board to include these parishes in unions. Until 1894 the guardians consisted of justices of the peace along with other members elected by rate-payers, with higher rate-payers having more votes. JPs were removed and plural voting stopped in 1894, but nobody actually receiving poor relief

782-575: The non-urban portion of a poor law union within the county. In the Irish Free State , poor law unions and rural districts were abolished in 1925 and the powers of boards of guardians transferred to the county councils' Board of Health. In Northern Ireland , poor law unions survived until the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Service in 1948. The Poor Law in Scotland was reformed by

816-519: The parishes into unions caused larger centralised workhouses to be built to replace smaller facilities in each parish. Poor law unions were later used as a basis for the delivery of registration from 1837, and sanitation outside urban areas from 1875. Poor law unions were abolished by the Local Government Act 1929 , which transferred responsibility for public assistance to county and county borough councils. The English Poor Laws laid out

850-583: 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,

884-452: The poor law unions were finally abolished and their responsibilities transferred to the county councils and county boroughs . Under the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 , three Poor Law Commissioners divided Ireland into poor law unions, in which paupers would receive poor relief paid for by a poor rate extracted by local poor law valuations (ratings of rate payers). The name "union"

918-541: 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

952-493: 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

986-732: 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

1020-707: The system of poor relief that existed in England and Wales from the reign of Elizabeth I until the emergence of the modern welfare state after the Second World War. Historian Mark Blaug has argued that the Poor Law system provided "a welfare state in miniature, relieving the elderly, widows, children, the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed and underemployed". The functions of poor law unions were exercised by boards of guardians , partly elected by ratepayers , but also including magistrates . Some parishes, many in

1054-524: 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

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1088-444: 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

1122-486: Was adopted from the English model although boundaries were unrelated to civil parishes . A union was named after the town on which it was centred, usually where its workhouse stood. Unions were defined as groups of poor law electoral divisions , in turn groups of townlands . Electoral divisions returned members (guardians) to the board of guardians, to which ratepayers who paid higher rates had more votes . During and after

1156-410: Was allowed to vote. Their areas were espoused for other functional districts, such as civil registration of all births, marriages and deaths which became law from 1837 and rural sanitary districts established in 1875. In 1894 rural districts and urban districts were set up based on the sanitary districts (and therefore indirectly on the unions). In 1930, under the Local Government Act 1929 ,

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