Politics of The Republic of Ireland - Local Government

Local Government

Article 28A of the constitution of Ireland provides a constitutional basis for local government. The Oireachtas is empowered to establish the number, size and powers of local authorities by law. Under Article 28A, members of local authorities must be directly elected by voters at least once every five years.

Local government in Ireland is governed by a series of Local Government Acts, beginning with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The most significant of these is the Local Government Act 2001, which established a two-tier structure of local government. The top tier of the structure consists of 34 local authorities, of which 29 are County Councils corresponding to each of the Republic's 26 traditional counties (Counties Dublin and Tipperary having been divided into three and two council areas respectively). The remaining 5 top tier authorities are the five largest cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford), each of which has a City Council with the same status as a County Council.

The second tier of local government, which only exists in certain urban areas, consists of the town councils. The towns of Kilkenny, Sligo, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Wexford use the title of "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council", but they have no additional responsibilities. Local government bodies have responsibility for such matters as planning, environmental protection, roads, public water supply, sanitation and libraries.