Mayo County Council
Mayo County Council Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Cyril Burke, FG | |
Structure | |
Seats | 31 |
Political groups | Fine Gael (17) Fianna Fáil (7) Sinn Féin (2) Independents (5) |
Elections | |
Last election | 5 June 2009 |
Meeting place | |
Áras an Contae, Castlebar | |
Website | |
www |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Mayo_in_Ireland.svg/235px-Mayo_in_Ireland.svg.png)
Mayo County council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. 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 31 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach (Chairperson). The county administration is headed by a County Manager, Peter Hynes who succeded Des Mahon as of May 2010. [1] The county seat is at Áras an Contae in Castlebar.
Councillors
In the early 1930s, the County Council was dissolved for a while and replaced with a Commissioner because of the Mayo librarian controversy. For the purpose of elections the county is divided into six local electoral areas: Ballina (6), Belmullet (4), Castlebar (7), Claremorris (6), Swinford (4) and Westport (4).[2]
2009 Seats summary
Party | Seats | |
---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" | | Fine Gael | 17 |
style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" | | Fianna Fáil | 7 |
style="background-color: Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" | | Sinn Féin | 2 |
style="background-color: Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color" | | Independents | 5 |
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 5 June 2009.
Council members from 2009 election | |||
---|---|---|---|
Local electoral area | Name | Party | |
Ballina | Michelle Mulherin† | Fine Gael | |
Eddie Staunton | Fine Gael | ||
Jarlath Munnelly | Fine Gael | ||
Annie May Reape | Fianna Fáil | ||
Gerry Ginty | Independent | ||
Seamus Weir | Fine Gael | ||
Belmullet | Micheal McNamara | Fianna Fáil | |
Michael Holmes | Independent | ||
Gerry Coyle | Fine Gael | ||
Rose Conway-Walsh | Sinn Féin | ||
Castlebar | Michael Kilcoyne | Independent | |
Henry Kenny | Fine Gael | ||
Al McDonnell | Fianna Fáil | ||
Cyril Burke | Fine Gael | ||
Frank Durcan | Independent | ||
Eugene McCormack | Fine Gael | ||
Blackie Gavin | Fianna Fáil | ||
Claremorris | Patsy O'Brien | Fine Gael | |
John Cribbin | Fine Gael | ||
Richard Finn | Independent | ||
Tom Connolly | Fine Gael | ||
Michael Burke | Fine Gael | ||
Damien Ryan | Fianna Fáil | ||
Swinford | Gerry Murray | Sinn Féin | |
Jimmy Maloney | Fianna Fáil | ||
Eugene Lavin | Fine Gael | ||
Joseph Mellett | Fine Gael | ||
Westport | Peter Flynn | Fine Gael | |
John O'Malley | Fine Gael | ||
Margaret Adams | Fianna Fáil | ||
Austin O'Malley | Fine Gael |
†Replaced during term, see table below for details.
Co-options
Outgoing | Party | Electoral area | Reason | Date | Co-optee | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michelle Mulherin | style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" | | Fine Gael | Ballina | Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election | February 2011 | John O'Hara | style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" | | Fine Gael |
Assessment
Mayo County Council was identified in 2011 by An Taisce, the national trust, as among the worst county councils in Ireland's planning system during the period 2000–11.
County councils in Ireland were assessed by the organisation in relation to overzoning; decisions reversed by An Bord Pleanála after being passed by a local authority; percentage of vacant housing stock; and percentage of one-off houses permitted. An Taisce's report of its findings described the results as "stark and troubling".
In Mayo, many council planning decisions were overturned because the council violated their own County Development Plan. Overdevelopment in Mayo was another problem identified, with too many vacant houses in the county (not inclusive of holiday homes). A spokesman for An Taisce commented, "Mayo didn’t do well on on-off houses either. What a lot of local authorities don’t seem to appreciate is that it is more expensive to provide infrastructure to one-off houses in the countryside than it is to do so to estates."[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Peter Hynes to be appointed new County Manager". The Mayo News. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "2009 Local elections – Mayo County Council". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
- ^ "Mayo planning among worst in country". The Mayo News. 17 April 2011.