Mayo County Council
Mayo County Council Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Richard Finn, Ind | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 30 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
Last election | 24 May 2019 |
| Motto | |
| Dia is Muire Linn (Irish) "God and Mary be with us" | |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Áras an Chontae, Castlebar | |
| Website | |
| mayococo | |
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 30 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 Chief Executive, Peter Duggan. The county town is Castlebar.
History
Originally meetings of Mayo County Council took place in Castlebar Courthouse.[1] The county council moved to modern facilities at County Hall (Irish: Áras an Chontae) further west on The Mall in Castlebar in 1989.[2]
In the early 1930s, the County Council was dissolved for a time and replaced with a Commissioner because of the Mayo librarian controversy.
Councillors
For the purpose of local elections, the county is divided into six local election areas (LEAs), each centred around a major town. Each LEA elects a number of councillors who then represent the area for a span of 5 years on the County Council. The number of councillors allotted to an LEA is based on its population. The total number of councillors amounts to 30. [3]
| Local Election Area | Number of Councillors |
|---|---|
| Castlebar | 7 |
| Ballina | 6 |
| Westport | 4 |
| Belmullet | 3 |
| Claremorris | 6 |
| Swinford | 4 |
2019 seats summary
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" | | Fine Gael | 12 |
| style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" | | Fianna Fáil | 11 |
| style="background-color: Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" | | Sinn Féin | 1 |
| style="background-color: Template:Independent politician/meta/color" | | Independent | 6 |
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019.[4]
| Council members from 2019 election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Local electoral area | Name | Party | |
| Ballina | John O'Hara | Fine Gael | |
| Mark Duffy | Independent | ||
| Annie May Reape | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Michael Loftus | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Séamus Weir | Independent | ||
| Jarlath Munnelly | Fine Gael | ||
| Belmullet | Gerry Coyle | Fine Gael | |
| Paul McNamara | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Seán Carey | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Castlebar | Michael Kilcoyne | Independent | |
| Blackie Gavin | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Al McDonnell | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Ger Deere | Fine Gael | ||
| Cyril Burke | Fine Gael | ||
| Martin McLoughlin | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Donna Sheridan | Fine Gael | ||
| Claremorris | Patsy O'Brien | Fine Gael | |
| Richard Finn | Independent | ||
| Damien Ryan | Fianna Fáil | ||
| John Cribbin | Fine Gael | ||
| Michael Burke | Fine Gael | ||
| Tom Connolly | Fine Gael | ||
| Swinford | Gerry Murray | Sinn Féin | |
| Michael Smyth | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Neil Cruise | Fine Gael | ||
| John Caulfield | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Westport | Christy Hyland | Independent | |
| Peter Flynn | Fine Gael | ||
| Brendan Mulroy | Fianna Fáil | ||
| John O'Malley | Independent | ||
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 one-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."[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Local Authorities". Oireachtas. 26 May 1982. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ "Castlebar". Mayo Online. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ "Local election areas set to be redrawn again". Mayo News. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "2014 Local elections: Mayo County Council". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ^ "Mayo planning among worst in country". The Mayo News. 17 April 2011.