Local Government and Politics
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1659 | 4,826 | — |
| 1813 | 64,394 | +1234.3% |
| 1821 | 100,658 | +56.3% |
| 1831 | 107,016 | +6.3% |
| 1841 | 80,720 | −24.6% |
| 1851 | 82,625 | +2.4% |
| 1861 | 79,594 | −3.7% |
| 1871 | 78,642 | −1.2% |
| 1881 | 80,124 | +1.9% |
| 1891 | 75,345 | −6.0% |
| 1901 | 76,122 | +1.0% |
| 1911 | 76,673 | +0.7% |
| 1926 | 78,490 | +2.4% |
| 1936 | 93,322 | +18.9% |
| 1946 | 89,877 | −3.7% |
| 1951 | 112,009 | +24.6% |
| 1956 | 114,428 | +2.2% |
| 1961 | 115,689 | +1.1% |
| 1966 | 125,283 | +8.3% |
| 1971 | 134,430 | +7.3% |
| 1979 | 138,267 | +2.9% |
| 1981 | 136,344 | −1.4% |
| 1986 | 133,271 | −2.3% |
| 1991 | 127,253 | −4.5% |
| 1996 | 127,187 | −0.1% |
| 2002 | 123,062 | −3.2% |
| 2006 | 119,418 | −3.0% |
| 2011 | 118,912 | −0.4% |
With a population of 119,230, Cork is the second most populous city in the State and the 16th most populous area of local government. Per the Local Government Act 2001, Cork City Council is a tier 1 entity of local government with the same status in law as a County council. While local government in Ireland has limited powers in comparison with other countries, the council has responsibility for planning, roads, sanitation, libraries, street lighting, parks and a number of other important functions. Cork City Council has 31 elected members representing six electoral wards. The party make-up of the council is Fine Gael 8 members, Labour Party 7 members, Fianna Fáil 6 members, Sinn Féin 5 members, Socialist Party 1 member, Workers' Party 1 member, Independents 3 members. Selected Cork City Councillors also represent regional and local government interests as members of the South-West Regional Authority.
The administrative offices for Cork County Council are also located within the city limits.
For the purposes of elections to Dáil Éireann, the city is part of Cork North-Central constituency which returns four TDs and also part of Cork South-Central constituency which returns five TDs. Following the 2011 general election, these constituencies returned three TDs for the Fine Gael party (centre right), three TDs for Fianna Fáil (centre to centre-right), two TDs for the Labour Party (centre left) and one TD for Sinn Féin (left wing).
Read more about this topic: Cork (city)
Famous quotes containing the words local, government and/or politics:
“Back now to autumn, leaving the ended husk
Of summer that brought them here for Show Saturday
The men with hunters, dog-breeding wool-defined women,
Children all saddle-swank, mugfaced middleaged wives
Glaring at jellies, husbands on leave from the garden
Watchful as weasels, car-tuning curt-haired sons
Back now, all of them, to their local lives....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“The average Kentuckian may appear a bit confused in his knowledge of history, but he is firmly certain about current politics. Kentucky cannot claim first place in political importance, but it tops the list in its keen enjoyment of politics for its own sake. It takes the average Kentuckian only a matter of moments to dispose of the weather and personal helath, but he never tires of a political discussion.”
—For the State of Kentucky, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)