Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath
Type
Type	City Council of the Dublin
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Gerry Breen, Fine Gael
Structure
Seats	52
Political groups	Labour Party (19)   Fine Gael (12)   Fianna Fáil (6)   Sinn Féin (5)   PBPA (2)   Éirígí (1)   Independents (7)
Elections
Last election	5 June 2009
Meeting place
Dublin City Hall
Website
www.dublincity.ie

Dublin City Council (Template:Lang-ga) is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.

Legal status

As part of the Dublin Region, Dublin City Council is within the geographic remit of the Dublin Regional Authority. Following the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001, the Regional Authority was established. It is one of eight such Authorities in the state. Local government in the region was further regulated by the Local Government Act 1994. This provided for the legal establishment of the following local government administrative areas:

• Fingal
• South Dublin
• Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

and also recognised the extant Dublin Corporation area, vesting its powers in a renamed entity – Dublin City Council. The statutory instrument giving effect to the Act came into force on 1 January 1994. The instrument also provided for the abolition of Dublin County Council – the entity that had proviously had responsibility for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. The four entities collectively comprise the former entity known as County Dublin. This entity, which had been created during the Norman invasion of Ireland, was abolished under the Acts.

History

From 1841 until 1 January 2002 it referred to the unicameral city assembly of Dublin, which was part of the overall administrative and governmental system of Dublin known as Dublin Corporation. Since 1 January 2002, it is the name which applies both to the assembly and to the whole system of Dublin government formerly called Dublin Corporation.

The Assembly

Under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, the previous bicameral assembly of a House of Aldermen and a House of Sheriffs and Commons was replaced by a unicameral assembly. The new name Dublin City Council was coined for the unicameral assembly. It was presided over by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the first citizen of the city, an office which had existed since 1665. The first City Council was elected in October 1841, and Daniel O'Connell became the first Lord Mayor under the new system.

The Corporation becomes the Council

At the start of the 21st century the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Noel Dempsey made changes to Irish local government. Dublin City Council was established at the same time that Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished in 1994, by an Act of the Oireachtas, the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993. Some citizens still use the name "Dublin Corporation" when referring to the Council. The Act also abolished the title Alderman. To coincide with its name change, the City Council adopted a new logo and brand identity, based on a simplified version of the ancient "three castles" symbol.

Structures

Executive power is shared between the council and an appointed executive official known as the Manager.

City Manager

The Dublin City Manager is the chief executive officer the council. The Manager is responsible for a staff of 6,200. The offices of the Manager and other administrative staff are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay.

The Lord Mayor

The Mansion House.
Official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Main article: Lord Mayor of Dublin

The Lord Mayor of Dublin performs two distinct functions. He or she is chair of the Council, and symbolic and ceremonial head of the city government.

Dublin City Council

While also referring to the overall city government, Dublin City Council also refers to the city assembly. That assembly is made up of 52 members. Members are elected using Proportional representation using the Single transferable vote, every five years from Dublin City Council Local Electoral Areas. The party or group of parties which win the majority of seats control the City Council agenda, deciding who sits on what committee, what policies are followed, and who becomes the Lord Mayor.

The City Council meets in plenary session on the first Monday of every month in Dublin City Hall.

One of the Council's most important roles is that of passing an annual budget. Should any Irish council fail to pass a budget within the allotted time, the Minister for the Environment is empowered to abolish it and grant its powers to a commissioner until the next scheduled council elections.

Current party strengths on the Council

After the 2009 local election, the Council is made up of:

Party		Seats
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party	19†
style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" |	Fine Gael	12
style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil	6
style="background-color: Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |	Sinn Féin	5†
style="background-color: Template:People Before Profit Alliance/meta/color" |	People Before Profit Alliance	2
style="background-color: Template:Éirígí/meta/color" |	Éirígí	1†
style="background-color: Template:Independent politician (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Independents	7†

†Nineteen Labour, seven Sinn Féin and six Independent councillors were elected in the 2009 local elections. However, two Sinn Féin Councillors, Christy Burke and Louise Minihan, resigned from the party in 2009 with Burke sitting on the council as an independent and Minihan joining Éirígí, and a third, Killian Forde, resigned in January 2010 to join Labour. Following Forde's resignation from the council, the seat reverted to Sinn Féin.

Local Electoral Areas

The city is currently divided into 11 Local Electoral Areas each of which elects between 4–6 councillors. The electoral area used for the last local elections were:

Area	Seats
Artane/Whitehall	5
Ballyfermot/Drimnagh	4
Ballymun/Finglas	5
Cabra/Glasnevin	5
Clontarf	5
Crumlin/Kimmage	4
Donaghmede	4
North Inner City	6
Pembroke/Rathmines	6
South East Inner City	4
South West Inner City	4

Dublin City Council must by law at least once in every ten years, following consultation with the returning officer for Dáil elections in respect of each constituency within its area, establish a polling district containing a polling place. This is call the Polling Scheme which lists each constituency with its Local Electoral Areas, polling districts and polling places.

Council buildings

The Civic Offices, WoodQuay
Executive & administrative offices.

Mansion House

The Lord Mayor's official residence is the Mansion House, which first became the residence of the Lord Mayor in 1715.

Dublin City Hall

Council meetings take place in the headquarters at Dublin City Hall. Formerly Royal Exchange, the City Hall is one of Dublin's finest buildings and located on Dame Street. It was built in 1769-79 to the winning design of Thomas Cooley. In an architectural competition, James Gandon was the runner-up with a scheme that many people favoured. The building was taken over for city government use in the 1850s.

Civic Offices

Much of the council's administrative staff are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay. These offices were built in 1979-80 on top of what had been one of the best preserved Viking sites in the world. The Corporation's (as it was then) decision to bulldoze the historic site proved one of the most controversial in modern Irish history, with thousands of people, including medieval historian Fr. F.X. Martin and Senator Mary Robinson (later President of Ireland) marching to try to stop the destruction. The destruction of the site on Wood Quay and the building of a set of offices known as The Bunkers (being a prime example of Brutalist architecture) is generally seen as one of the most disastrous acts against Ireland's heritage since independence, with even Dublin Corporation admitting subsequently that it was ashamed of its action. Originally, there were to be four of these 'bunkers' built but only two were ever completed. Instead the river frontage is a block designed by the firm Scott Tallon Walker. Completed in 1994, it boasts a leafy atrium and fine views from many of its offices.

Functions of Dublin City Council

The functions of the City Council include: Public Housing, Library Services, Refuse Services, Drainage, Driver and Vehicle Licencing, Planning and Roads.

The Council has budgeted to spend €847,137,522 during 2007 in service of these functions. 50.5% of this will go towards the payroll of the Council's staff. A reduction from 50.7% in 2006.

In the case of Traffic Management, the Council receives grants from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and also the National Roads Authority to assist it in meeting this responsibility. The adopted 2007 roads budget is just over €105,000,000, to support maintenance of all roads in its functional area.

In conjunction with Dublin City FM, Dublin City Council airs its own radio show, "Live Drive", between 07:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00 weekdays on 103.2 with Sarah Francis And John Neary

See also

• Local government in the Republic of Ireland

External links

• Dublin City Council website
• Full list of Councillors
• Local Government Act, 2001
• History of Dublin City Council