County Cork - Local Government and Political Subdivisions

Local Government and Political Subdivisions

There are two local authorities whose remit collectively encompasses the geographic area of the county and city of Cork. The county, excluding Cork city, is administered by Cork County Council while the city is administered separately by Cork City Council. Both city and county are part of the South-West Region. For standardized European statistical purposes, both Cork County Council and Cork City Council rank equally as first level local administrative units of the NUTS 3 South-West Region. There are 34 such LAU 1 entities in the Republic of Ireland.

Both local authorities are responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing.

The county is part of the South constituency for the purposes of European elections. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is divided into five constituencies—Cork East, Cork North–Central, Cork North–West, Cork South–Central and Cork South–West. Together they return 19 deputies (TDs) to the Dáil.

For purposes other than local government, such as the formation of sporting teams, the term "County Cork" is often taken to include both city and county.