Local government in the Republic of Ireland

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Local government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I NUTS areas for Eurostat purposes. The principal decision-making body in each authority is composed of the members of the council, elected by universal franchise in local elections. Many of the authorities' statutory functions are, however, the responsibility of their chief executives, termed city or council managers, who are career officials appointed by an independent government body. The competencies of the city and county councils include planning, transport infrastructure, sanitary services, public safety (notably fire services) and the provision of public libraries.

A further eighty town councils form a second tier of local government. Operating in smaller towns and cities, they exercise limited functions which are subsidiary to those of the their relevant county council.

Local government in the state is governed by Local Government Acts, the most recent of which - the Local Government Act 2001 - established this two-tier structure. 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 the first time in Ireland. Elections to local government take place every five years.

Historical development

Main article: List of Irish local government areas 1898–21

The county was a unit of judicial and administrative government introduced to Ireland following the Norman invasion. The country was shired in a number of phases with County Wicklow being the last to be shired in 1625. The traditional county of Tipperary was split into two judicial counties (or ridings) following the establishment of assize courts in 1838. Sixty years later, a more radical reorganisation of local government took place with the passage of the Local Government (Ireland) Act (1898). This Act established a county council for each of the thirty-three Irish counties and ridings. The geographic remit of the Irish Free State, which was established pursuant to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, was confined to twenty-six of the traditional counties of Ireland and thus included 27 administrative counties. To this number may be added the county boroughs. In 1994 Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished with their administrative areas being divided among three new counties: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin.

The 2001 Act simplified the local government structure, in which the principal tier of local government (county and city councils) cover the entire territory of the state and have general responsibility for all functions of local government except in 80 towns within the territory of county councils, where the lower tier (town councils) exists with more limited functions. The five county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick were re-styled as city councils under the Act, with the same status in law as county councils. The remaining county boroughs in place at the foundation of the state were downgraded by the 2001 Act to town council status.

In introducing a second tier of local government, the Act had the effect of:

• abolishing Urban District Councils
• abolishing boards of Town Commissioners
• reducing the status of certain borough corporations from a position of equivalence with county councils to one of equivalence with town councils.

From 1 January 2002 the existing Urban District Councils and boards of Town Commissioners were renamed as Town Councils. Additionally, the city of Kilkenny, along with the four towns of (Sligo, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Wexford) were reduced in status to the level of Town Council. In recognition of the previous history, the towns were permitted to use the title of "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council". There are 75 other town councils in addition to these five borough councils. Outside the towns, the county councils are solely responsible for local services.

This structure is a modified version of the system introduced in 1898, with some county boroughs renamed as cities, urban districts and municipal boroughs renamed as town councils (or, as noted, boroughs), and rural districts abolished (everywhere except County Dublin in 1925, and in County Dublin in 1930). The distinction between urban district and "towns with town commissioners" has been abolished.

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 the barony and the 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.

Proposed development

On 28 June 2011, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan announced that Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council would be merged into a single local authority. The proposed merger would come into effect following the 2014 local elections. The new entity would be headed by a directly elected Mayor, with a five-year term. The Minister also said that he would not rule out other local authority mergers and that the proposal for a directly elected Mayor for Dublin was being re-examined.

On 26 July 2011, the proposed merger of North Tipperary County Council and South Tipperary County Council was announced.

Current local government structures

County and city councils

County council and city council areas of the Republic of Ireland

County or City Council	Historical Province	Population (2006)	Area (km²)	Population Density	Council Head Office	Code
Carlow County Council	Leinster	50,349	897.90	56.1	Carlow	CW
Dublin City Council	Leinster	506,211	117.61	4,304.1	Dublin	D
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council	Leinster	194,038	126.95	1,528.5	Dún Laoghaire	D
Fingal County Council	Leinster	239,992	453.09	529.7	Swords	D
South Dublin County Council	Leinster	246,935	223.01	1,107.3	Tallaght	D
Kildare County Council	Leinster	186,335	1,694.20	110.0	Naas	KE
Kilkenny County Council	Leinster	87,558	2,071.69	42.3	Kilkenny	KK
Laois County Council	Leinster	67,059	1,719.46	39.0	Portlaoise	LS
Longford County Council	Leinster	34,391	1,091.25	31.5	Longford	LD
Louth County Council	Leinster	111,267	831.99	133.7	Dundalk	LH
Meath County Council	Leinster	162,831	2,334.54	69.7	Navan	MH
Offaly County Council	Leinster	70,868	1,989.81	35.6	Tullamore	OY
Westmeath County Council	Leinster	79,346	1,824.86	43.5	Mullingar	WH
Wexford County Council	Leinster	131,749	2,365.27	55.7	Wexford	WX
Wicklow County Council	Leinster	126,194	2,032.60	62.1	Wicklow	WW
-	Leinster	2,295,123	19,774.23	116.1	-	-
Clare County Council	Munster	110,950	3,442.32	32.2	Ennis	CE
Cork City Council	Munster	119,418	39.61	3,014.8	Cork	C
Cork County Council	Munster	361,877	7,467.97	48.5	Cork	C
Kerry County Council	Munster	139,835	4,734.65	29.5	Tralee	KY
Limerick City Council	Munster	52,539	20.35	2,581.8	Limerick	L
Limerick County Council	Munster	131,516	2,739.67	48.0	Limerick	LK
North Tipperary County Council	Munster	66,023	2,046.30	32.3	Nenagh	TN
South Tipperary County Council	Munster	83,221	2,257.94	36.9	Clonmel	TS
Waterford City Council	Munster	45,748	41.58	1,100.2	Waterford	W
Waterford County Council	Munster	62,213	1,817.13	34.2	Dungarvan	WD
-	Munster	1,173,340	24,607.52	47.7	-	-
Galway City Council	Connacht	72,414	50.57	1,432.0	Galway	G
Galway County Council	Connacht	159,256	6,099.95	26.1	Galway	G
Leitrim County Council	Connacht	28,950	1,588.85	18.2	Carrick-on-Shannon	LM
Mayo County Council	Connacht	123,839	5,588.31	22.2	Castlebar	MO
Roscommon County Council	Connacht	58,768	2,548.04	23.1	Roscommon	RN
Sligo County Council	Connacht	60,894	1,837.46	33.1	Sligo	SO
-	Connacht	504,121	17,713.18	28.5	-	-
Cavan County Council	Ulster (part of)	64,003	1,931.88	33.1	Cavan	CN
Donegal County Council	Ulster (part of)	147,264	4,859.51	30.3	Lifford	DL
Monaghan County Council	Ulster (part of)	55,997	1,295.92	43.2	Monaghan	MN
-	Ulster (excluding Northern Ireland)	267,264	8,087.31	33.0	-	-
Republic of Ireland	-	4,239,848	70,182.24	60.4	-	-

Town councils

Main article: Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland

The Acts do not differentiate between Borough Councils and Town Councils in terms of their powers; only in terms of the number of elected councillors do the entities differ. Nevertheless, for historical reasons, the distinction has been maintained in the twofold division illustrated below.

Borough	Containing County	Population (2006)
Clonmel	South Tipperary	15,482
Drogheda	Louth	28,973
Kilkenny	Kilkenny	8,661
Sligo	Sligo	17,892
Wexford	Wexford	8,854

Town Council	Containing County	Population (2006)
Ardee	Louth	4,301
Arklow	Wicklow	11,712
Athlone	Westmeath	14,347
Athy	Kildare	7,943
Balbriggan	Fingal	6,731
Ballina	Mayo	10,056
Ballinasloe	Galway	6,049
Ballybay	Monaghan	401
Ballyshannon	Donegal	2,004
Bandon	Cork	1,721
Bantry	Cork	3,309
Belturbet	Cavan	1,395
Birr	Offaly	4,091
Boyle	Roscommon	1,599
Bray	Wicklow	27,041
Buncrana	Donegal	3,411
Bundoran	Donegal	1,706
Carlow	Carlow	13,623
Carrickmacross	Monaghan	1,973
Carrick-on-Suir	South Tipperary	5,856
Cashel	South Tipperary	2,413
Castlebar	Mayo	10,655
Castleblayney	Monaghan	1,822
Cavan	Cavan	3,934
Clonakilty	Cork	3,745
Clones	Monaghan	1,517
Cobh	Cork	6,541
Cootehill	Cavan	1,243
Dundalk	Louth	29,037
Dungarvan	Waterford	7,813
Edenderry	Offaly	5,617
Ennis	Clare	24,253
Enniscorthy	Wexford	3,241
Fermoy	Cork	2,275
Gorey	Wexford	3,479
Granard	Longford	933
Greystones	Wicklow	10,112
Kells	Meath	2,257
Kilkee	Clare	1,325
Killarney	Kerry	13,497
Kilrush	Clare	2,657
Kinsale	Cork	2,298
Leixlip	Kildare	14,676
Letterkenny	Donegal	15,062
Lismore	Waterford	790
Listowel	Kerry	3,901
Longford	Longford	1,214
Loughrea	Galway	4,532
Macroom	Cork	3,407
Mallow	Cork	7,864
Midleton	Cork	3,934
Monaghan	Monaghan	6,221
Mountmellick	Laois	2,872
Muine Bheag	Carlow	2,532
Mullingar	Westmeath	8,940
Naas	Kildare	20,044
Navan	Meath	3,710
Nenagh	North Tipperary	7,415
Newbridge	Kildare	17,042
New Ross	Wexford	4,677
Passage West	Cork	4,818
Port Laoise	Laois	3,281
Shannon	Clare	8,481
Skibbereen	Cork	2,338
Templemore	North Tipperary	2,255
Thurles	North Tipperary	6,831
Tipperary	South Tipperary	4,415
Tralee	Kerry	20,288
Tramore	Waterford	9,192
Trim	Meath	1,375
Tuam	Galway	2,997
Tullamore	Offaly	10,900
Westport	Mayo	5,163
Wicklow	Wicklow	6,930
Youghal	Cork	6,393

European Union territorial divisions

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 the Republic of Ireland is a First level NUTS of the European Union. The Second level (NUTS 2) divides the state into two broad areas – NUTS 2 statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland. The Third level (NUTS 3) splits the Second level into a total of 8 Regions. Below this third level there are two further sub-divisions – the Local administrative units (LAU) which are the basic component for regions. For each EU member state, two levels of Local Administrative Units are defined: LAU-1 and LAU-2. In the Republic of Ireland, the LAUs are structured as followed:

• LAU 1 – County councils (29) and their legal equivalent City councils (5). This means that there is a correspondence between NUTS and the upper level of local government in the Republic of Ireland.
• LAU 2 – District Electoral Divisions.

The lower level of local administration in the Republic of Ireland - town councils - only cover a small percentage of the territory of the state and do not correspond to the second level of the LAU. Instead, DEDs serve as LAU 2 units although they have no local government functions.

Funding

Following the abolition of domestic property rates in the late 1970s, local councils have 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 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 the Republic has an overly centralised system of local government.

It is worth noting that over 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 are generally seen as politically unacceptable. The most recent report on local government funding, carried out by the Indecon Consortium, is due to be published in the near future.

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.

Responsibilities

Local government has progressively lost control over services to national and regional bodies, particularly since the foundation of the state in 1922. For instance, local control of education has largely been passed to Vocational Education Committees, whilst other bodies such as the Department of Education and Science 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 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 a more pro-active and co-ordinated national and local approach to protecting the environment. An Bord Pleanala 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 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. 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 the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has responsibility for local authorities and related services.

See also

• Regions of the Republic of Ireland
• Category:Local councillors in the Republic of Ireland

Bibliography

• Desmond Roche, Local Government in Ireland (1982)
• Mark Callanan and Justin F. Keogan, Local Government in Ireland Inside Out (2003)
• Matthew Potter, The Government and the People of Limerick. The History of Limerick Corporation/City Council 1197-2006 (2006)

External links

• Association of County and City Councils
• Department of the Environment and Local Government - Local Gov't Overview
• CityMayors article