Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

in the city of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. As a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

, it is governed by the

Local Government Act 2001 The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in the Republic of Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and a ...

. Until 2001, the council was known as

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

. The council is responsible for

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...

and community, roads and transportation,

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and development, amenity and culture and

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. The council has 63 elected members and is the largest local council in Ireland. Elections are held every five years and are by

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

. The head of the council has the honorific title of Lord Mayor. The city administration is headed by a

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Owen Keegan. The council meets at

City Hall, Dublin The City Hall, Dublin (), originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in Dublin, Ireland. It was built between 1769 and 1779, to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley, and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city. ...

Legal status

Local government in Dublin is regulated by the Local Government Act 2001. This provided for the renaming of the old

to its present title of Dublin City Council. Dublin City Council sends seven representatives to the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, one of three such Assemblies in the state. Dublin City is bordered by the counties of

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

South Dublin , image_map = Island of Ireland location map South Dublin.svg , map_caption = Inset showing South Dublin (darkest green in inset) within Dublin Region (lighter green) , area_total_km2 ...

and

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown.svg , area_total_km2 = 125.8 , area_footnotes = , seat_type = County town , seat = Dún Laoghaire , blank_name_sec1 = Vehicle indexmark ...

. These four local government areas comprise the traditional

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. In 2013, all of Dublin's councils, except Fingal, supported the introduction of an executive mayor the Dublin Metropolitan Area, and a Citizen's Assembly has been planned in order to establish what a combined Dublin Mayorship would look like.

Statutory functions

The functions of the City Council include:

, city library services, refuse services, drainage, driver and vehicle licensing, planning and roads. The Council budgeted to spend €847,137,522 during 2007 in service of these functions. 50.5% of this went towards the payroll of the council's staff which was a reduction from 50.7% in 2006. In the case of Traffic Management, the council receives grants from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and also the National Roads Authority to assist it in meeting this responsibility. The 2007 roads budget was just over €105,000,000, to support maintenance of all roads in its functional area.

History

Prior to 1841, the administrative and governmental system of Dublin, known as

, was

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

having an assembly of called the "House of Aldermen" and another called the "House of Sheriffs and Commons". Under the

Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), ''An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland'', was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840. It was one of the Municipal Corporati ...

, they were replaced by a unicameral assembly. The new name ''Dublin City Council'' was coined for the unicameral assembly. The

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Th ...

presided over the assembly. This office had existed since 1665. The first City Council was elected in October 1841 when

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

became the first Lord Mayor. Since 1 January 2002, the functions of local government have been transferred to Dublin City Council. To coincide with its name change, the City Council adopted a new logo and brand identity, based on a simplified version of the ancient "three castles" symbol. Dublin City Council Safety Notice at Canal Lock in Phibsborough

Dublin City Council Safety Notice at Canal Lock in Phibsborough

Structures

Executive power is shared between the council and an appointed executive official known as the

. The chief executive is responsible for a staff of 6,200. The offices of the chief executive and other administrative staff are based in the Civic Offices on

Wood Quay Wood Quay () is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. It is now the location of the Dublin City Council offices. Location The site is bounded on the north side by Wood Quay on the River Liffey, on the west by ...

. The

acts as chair of the council is the ceremonial head of the city government. Representative power is vested in the city assembly which consists of 63 members. Members are elected using

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

by means of the

, every five years from Dublin City Council

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average p ...

s. The City Council meets in plenary session on the first Monday of every month in

Dublin City Hall The City Hall, Dublin (), originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in Dublin, Ireland. It was built between 1769 and 1779, to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley, and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city. ...

. One of the council's most important roles is that of passing an annual

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

. Should any Irish council fail to pass a budget within the allotted time, the Minister for the Environment is empowered to abolish it and grant its powers to a commissioner until the next scheduled council elections.

Local electoral areas

Dublin City Council has 63 seats, which is divided into the following

s, defined by

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

Current councillors

The following were elected at the 2019 Dublin City Council election, under the boundaries which existed at the time. The council has 63 seats.

2019 seats summary

Councillors by electoral area

Map of 2019 Dublin city council election

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019. ;Notes

Co-options

Changes in affiliation

Council buildings

The Lord Mayor's official residence is the Mansion House, which first became the residence of the Lord Mayor in 1715. Council meetings take place in the headquarters at

. Formerly ''Royal Exchange'', the City Hall is one of Dublin's finest buildings and located on Dame Street. It was built in 1769–79 to the winning design of Thomas Cooley. In an architectural competition,

James Gandon James Gandon (20 February 1743 – 24 December 1823) was an English architect best known for his work in Ireland during the late 18th century and early 19th century. His better known works include The Custom House and the surrounding Beresford ...

was the runner-up with a scheme that many people favoured. The building was taken over for city government use in the 1850s.

References

External links

*
Full list of CouncillorsHistory of Dublin City CouncilPodcast about the history of local government in Dublin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin City Council

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

City councils in the Republic of Ireland 1841 establishments in Ireland Politics of Dublin (city)