Your Council

There are 31 local authorities in Ireland. Local authorities are also known as city council, county council or city and county councils.

The elected council is the policy-making arm of the local authority. Day-to-day operations are managed by the local authority executive staff, led by a Chief Executive.

Councillors are elected every five years and once elected, they form a Council. Depending on the local authority, Councils can range in size from 18 to 63 member Councillors.

Local authorities oversee a broad range of functions, including housing, planning, recreation, environmental protection, libraries and fire services.

Each year, the council elects a Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) and leas-Cathaoirleach (Vice Chairperson). In some councils, they are known as the Mayor or Lord Mayor and Deputy Mayor or Deputy Lord Mayor. Their role is to chair meetings of the Council and represent the Council.

Every local authority area is divided into two or more ‘local electoral areas’.

Voters elect councillors from their own electoral area to represent them on their Council.

Most local authority areas are divided into smaller areas called ‘municipal districts’. These correspond to one or more local electoral areas. The councillors elected for the local electoral areas in each municipal district sit on a municipal district council.

Municipal districts act as a decision making sub division of the full Council. Councillors exercise responsibility at both municipal district and local authority level. At municipal district level, councillors make policies and determine the budget for their municipal district area.

Municipal districts do not apply in densely populated urban local authorities of Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Cork City, Fingal, Galway City and South Dublin.

Each council may have smaller committees that different local councillors sit on, including strategic policy committees.

Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs) are made up of elected councillors and representatives from other groups in the local community including businesses, farming interests, environmental groups, and community members. The role of the SPC is to advise and assist councillors in developing and reviewing policy, providing different perspectives from different groups in the area and giving those groups the opportunity to be involved in the policy making process.

Councils also elect members from among their councils to be members of Regional Assemblies. The Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly and the Southern Regional Assembly make decisions about EU funding and strategic planning.

Local councils provide a wide range of services that make life better for all of us.

Learn more at Localgov.ie