Fingal County Council
| Fingal County Council Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall |
|
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | County council |
| Leadership | |
| Mayor | Gerry McGuire, Lab |
| Members | 24 |
| Political groups | Labour Party (9) Fine Gael (6) Fianna Fáil (4) Socialist Party (3) Independents (2) |
| Elections | |
| Last election | 5 June 2009 |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| County Hall, Swords | |
| Website | |
| www.fingalcoco.ie | |
Fingal County council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 24 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Mayor. The county administration is headed by a County manager, currently David O'Connor. The county seat is at the County Hall in Swords.
Contents |
[edit] Administrative area
Fingal covers an area of 452.7 sq.km[1] and is bordered by five local government areas under the administration of Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Meath County Council and Kildare County Council. It has 88km of coastline stretching from Sutton in the south to Balbriggan in the north. It is drained by the River Delvin along its northern boundary, the Ward and Broadmeadow rivers in the centre, the Tolka and Santry rivers to the south. The River Liffey forms its southern border with South Dublin. There are three large protected estuaries and salt marsh habitats, with thirteen major beaches. Howth Head and the Liffey Valley are covered by Special Area Amenity Orders.
[edit] Legal status
The county council is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Balbriggan Town Council is the local government authority responsible for the town of Balbriggan, in the county of Fingal.
[edit] Councillors
The Council has twenty-four elected councillors.[2] For the purpose of elections the county is divided into five local electoral areas (LEAs), each of which elects between 4 and 5 councillors. They are: Balbriggan[3] (5), Castleknock[4] (4), Howth–Malahide[5] (5), Mulhuddart[6] (5) and Swords[7] (5).[8]
[edit] 2009 seats summary
| Party | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | 9 | +3 | |
| Fine Gael | 6 | +1 | |
| Fianna Fáil | 4 | −1 | |
| Socialist Party (Ireland) | 3 | +1 | |
| Independents | 2 | −4 | |
[edit] Councillors by electoral area
| Council members from 2009 election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Local electoral area | Name | Party | |
| Balbriggan | Ciaran Byrne | Labour Party | |
| Ken Farrell | Labour Party | ||
| May McKeon | Independent | ||
| David O'Connor | Independent | ||
| Tom O'Leary | Fine Gael | ||
| Castleknock | Peggy Hamill | Labour Party | |
| Joe Higgins† | Socialist Party | ||
| Eithne Loftus | Fine Gael | ||
| Mags Murray | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Howth–Malahide | Peter Coyle | Labour Party | |
| Alan Farrell† | Fine Gael | ||
| Joan Maher | Fine Gael | ||
| Eoghan O'Brien | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Cian O'Callaghan | Labour Party | ||
| Mulhuddart | Ruth Coppinger | Socialist Party | |
| Kieran Dennison | Fine Gael | ||
| David McGuinness | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Patrick Nulty† | Labour Party | ||
| Michael O'Donovan | Labour Party | ||
| Swords | Clare Daly† | Socialist Party | |
| Darragh Butler | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Anne Devitt | Fine Gael | ||
| Tom Kelleher | Labour Party | ||
| Gerry McGuire | Labour Party | ||
†Replaced during term, see table below for details.
[edit] Co-options
| Outgoing | Party | Electoral area | Reason | Date | Co-optee | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Higgins | Socialist Party | Castleknock | Elected to the European Parliament at the 2009 European Parliament election | June 2009 | Matthew Waine | Socialist Party | ||
| Clare Daly | Socialist Party | Swords | Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election | February 2011 | Eugene Coppinger | Socialist Party | ||
| Alan Farrell | Fine Gael | Howth-Malahide | Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election | February 2011 | Anthony Lavin | Fine Gael | ||
| Patrick Nulty | Labour Party | Mulhuddart | Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 Dublin West by-election | October 2011 | Mary McCamley | Labour Party | ||
[edit] Governance
[edit] Mayor and Deputy Mayor
The Mayor[9] and Deputy Mayor are chosen from among the Councillors. The incumbents are:[10]
- Mayor – Gerry McGuire (Labour Party)
- Deputy Mayor – Ken Farrell (Labour Party)
[edit] Management
The County manager – David O'Connor – is appointed by central government.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Corporate Plan 2004–2009", pg 9
- ^ "Councillors". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Councillors – Balbriggan". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/Balbriggan/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Councillors – Castleknock". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/Castleknock/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Councillors – Howth–Malahide". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/HowthMalahide/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Councillors – Mulhuddart". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/Mulhuddart/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Councillors – Swords". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/Swords/. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "2009 local elections – Fingal County Council". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/results/local/council.cfm?election=2009L&area=251. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ Per Schedule 8 of the Local Government Act, 2001, the Council resolved to give to the office of its chairperson and vice-chairperson the title of “Mayor” or “Deputy Mayor”, respectively.
- ^ "Mayor and Deputy Mayor". Fingal County Council. http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/MayorandDeputyMayor/. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Corporate Plan 2004–2009", pg 14
