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Election News

Local Councillors 2009

Dublin City Councillors South Dublin County Fingal County Dun Laoghaire Rathdown

Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Galway Kildare

Kilkenny Kerry Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford

Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Sligo

Tipperary North and South Roscommon Waterford Wicklow

Westmeath Wexford


The When and the How of Local Government Elections

When:
Local Government Elections must be held every 5 years

How:
For the purposes of Local Government Elections, the county is divided into a number of electoral areas and councillors are elected for each area.  People who live in towns may vote in two separate elections, one for the county council and one for the town authority. There are 114 directly elected local authorities in the country containing 1,627 seats divided into 268 electoral areas.
There are 4 categories:
  • City Councils             5
  • Borough Councils    5
  • Town Councils       75
  • Total   =                 114

  • County Councils:  Dublin has 3, Tipperary has 2 and each of the other 24 counties have one, making a total of 29.
  • City Councils: Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
  • Borough Councils: Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo and Wexford.
  • Town Councils: All other towns, for example Athlone, Carlow, Dundalk, etc., have town councils. (Formerly, the bigger towns had Urban District Councils and the smaller towns, Town Commissioners).
Organisation:
A designated official of the local authority is responsible for conducting (local) elections in his/her capacity as returning officer.  The running costs are met by the Local Authority.

Nomination of Candidates:
Candidates must be nominated one month before polling day.  A person may be nominated to stand in more than one area. 

Who can be elected?
Any person over 18 years is eligible for election to Local Government except persons who are Government Ministers, Ministers of State, Members of the Gardai and the Defence Forces and certain groups of public employees. The grounds for disqualification include failure to pay money due to a local authority and certain court convictions and prison sentences.

Who can vote at a Local Election?
Every person over 18 years whose name is included in the electoral register is entitled to vote in the local area in which s/he lives.  It is not necessary to be an Irish citizen to vote in a Local Election. 

The Powers and Functions of Local Authorities
City Councils, County Councils and Borough Councils have the maximum number of responsibilities of all Irish local authorities.  Since 1976 these functions have been classified into eight programme groups. In contrast, Town Commissioners have responsibility only for the maintenance of houses, allotments, meals for school children, parks, licensing cinemas and markets, etc.

1.   Housing and Building
  • management and provision of local authority housing
  • assistance to persons housing themselves or improving their houses
  • traveller accommodation
  • enforcement of certain housing standards and controls, etc.
2. Road Transport / Safety
  • road upkeep and improvement
  • public lighting
  • traffic management facilities
  • safety education and information
  • collection of motor taxation
  • licensing of draws, etc.
3.    Water Schemes/ Sewerage
  • public water supply and sewerage schemes
  • assistance towards the provision of piped water supply to existing dwellings
  • sewerage facilities for same
  • public toilets, etc.
4.    Development Incentives and Controls
  • physical planning policy
  • control of new development and building
  • promotion of industrial and other developments, etc.
5.    Environmental Protection
  • waste collection and disposal
  • burial grounds
  • safety of structures and spaces
  • fire protection
  • pollution control, etc.
6.    Recreation and Amenities
  • swimming pools
  • libraries
  • parks
  • open spaces
  • recreation centres
  • art galleries
  • museums
  • theatres
  • conservation
  • improvement of all of the above.
7.    Agriculture, Education, Health and Welfare
  • appointment/election of public representatives to county committees of agriculture, vocational education committees, regional health boards, regional tourism organisations, fisheries boards, harbour authorities
  • joint drainage committees
  • unemployment assistance
  • rates/service charge waiver schemes.
8.    Miscellaneous Services
  • financial management
  • rates/service charge collection
  • elections
  • courthouses
  • coroners and inquests
  • consumer protection measures
  • markets, fairs and abattoirs
  • gas works.