Local government in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, is currently administered through the local authorities of four local government areas (the city of Dublin and the counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin). The historical development of these councils dates back to medieval times.
The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 reduced the number of boroughs in Ireland and reformed the governance of those that remained. Dublin was one of ten boroughs to retain a corporation.
The assembly of Dublin Corporation was Dublin City Council of sixty members. The city was divided into fifteen wards, each ward to have one alderman and three councillors.[1] The wards were revised by order under the Dublin Corporation Act 1849 (12 & 13 Vict., c. 85), and by further Act, the Corporation of Dublin Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict., c. 50), were designated to correspond to former wards for the purpose of designating aldermen.
The city of Dublin continued as a county borough. Each of the townships in the administrative county of Dublin, with the exception of Balbriggan, became an urban district. The rural areas were Balrothery, Celbridge No. 2, North Dublin, Rathdown, and South Dublin.[8]
1900: expansion of city
In reorganisation shortly after the implementation of the 1898 Act, the urban districts of Clontarf, of Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, and of New Kilmainham were incorporated into the city. The added area became the wards of Clontarf East, Clontarf West, Drumcondra, Glasnevin, and New Kilmainham, each elected one alderman and three councillors (with a further portion added to the South Dock Ward). This was an expansion of the number of members of the City Council from sixty to eighty.[9] An election was held for the new wards in January 1901.
Establishment of Howth
Howth became an urban district in 1919, having formerly been within the rural district of North Dublin.
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote to Irish local elections. This ended the use of wards in the city and district electoral divisions in the county as electoral areas. However, they continued to be used and defined as fundamental geographical units, both to define the borough electoral areas and county electoral areas, and as census tracts.
the transfer, from 1 April 1931, of territory from the county to the city, termed the "added rural areas", including Drumcondra, Glasnevin, Donnybrook and Terenure;[12]
the reduction of Dublin City Council from 80 members to 35 members, 5 of which were to be elected by a register of commercial electors.[14]
The register of commercial electors was provided by separate legislation.[15] These five seats were abolished in 1935 and redistributed as geographical seats.[16]
1940s: expansion of city
In 1942, Howth was transferred from the county to the city.[17][18]
In 1945, the city council was increased from 35 to 45 members.[19]
1985: organisation into electoral counties
Under Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, territory was transferred from the county to the city (including Santry and Phoenix Park), and from the city to the county (including Howth, Sutton and parts of Kilbarrack including Bayside).[20]
Dublin City Council was increased from 45 to 52 members.[21]
County Dublin was divided into three electoral counties, each with its own council: Dublin–Fingal (24 members), Dublin–Belgard (26 members), and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (28 members).[22][23] Elections were to be administered through these electoral counties, rather than to the County Council or the Borough Council of Dún Laoghaire. At the 1985 election, the County Council would consist of 78 members, being the total number of members from the three electoral counties. This was an increase from 36 at the 1979 election.[24] Areas of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown were to be designated as relevant electoral areas, whose members would also sit as members of Corporation of Dún Laoghaire.[25]
At the 1991 local election, the electoral counties of Dublin–Belgard and Dublin–Fingal were renamed as South Dublin and Fingal respectively.[26]
1994: Division of County Dublin
Under the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993, County Dublin and the borough of Dún Laoghaire were abolished. The county was succeeded by the three new counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin, corresponding, with minor boundary changes, with the electoral counties. This took effect on 1 January 1994.
21st century
The Local Government Act 2001, which came into effect in 2002, altered the nomenclature of local government areas throughout the state. The county boroughs were renamed as cities, while administrative counties were to be described simply as counties. Dublin Corporation became Dublin City Council, previously the name for the assembly alone. The town commissioners of Balbriggan became a town council.
Under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, local government in Ireland was reduced to a single tier. In Dublin, that meant the abolition of Balbriggan Town Council. There was an adjustment to the number of seats for each local authority, which saw an increase for all four of the Dublin authorities. Dublin City Council was increased to 63, while the councils of each of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin were each increased to 40.[27]
The 2014 Act allowed for a plebiscite to be held to on whether there should be a directly elected mayor for Dublin city and county. However, it required the approval of the councils of the counties and the city. It was rejected by Fingal County Council, but supported by each of the three other Dublin councils.[28]
Regional administration
Eight Regional Authorities were established in Ireland in 1994. This included the Dublin Regional Authority, and comprised 14 representatives of the corporation of the county borough of Dublin, and five each from the councils of the administrative counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin.[29]
In 2014, the regional authorities were abolished, and their administration transferred to Regional Assemblies. From 1 January 2015, these councils were part of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly; this included 7 representatives of the council of the city of Dublin, and three each from the councils of the counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin (as well as other counties in the region). These four form the Dublin strategic planning area within the region.[30]
Proposed reform
There was a Dublin citizens assembly in 2022 to consider reform of local government, including a directly elected mayor.[31]
Definitions of wards and DEDs
Under the Electoral Act 1963, the Minister for Local Government had the authority to divide a county borough into wards and a county into district electoral districts, with previous divisions remaining in place prior to the first such order.[32][33] Wards and DEDs were used to define components of electoral geography (local electoral areas and Dáil constituencies) and as census tracts. From 1996, they were both renamed as electoral divisions.[34]
Definitions of wards
15 April 1971: Revised wards in the county borough of Dublin[35]
12 April 1986: Revised wards in the county borough of Dublin[36]
29 April 1994: Amendments to wards to account for alterations to county boundary[37]
15 February 1997: Cherry Orchard B renamed as Carna[38]
Definitions of district electoral divisions
15 April 1971: Revised district electoral divisions in the County Dublin[39]
12 April 1986: Revised district electoral divisions in the County Dublin[40]
^Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930, s. 2: Inclusion of certain urban districts in the city (No. 27 of 1930, s. 2). Enacted on 17 July 1930. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930, s. 82: Abolition of rural district councils in the County (No. 27 of 1930, s. 82). Enacted on 17 July 1930. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Local Government (Dublin) Act 1945, s. 2: Increase of number of members of the city council (No. 8 of 1945, s. 2). Enacted on 20 March 1945. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 10: Alteration of boundaries of Dublin City and County (No. 7 of 1985, s. 10). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 August 2021.; Local Government (Reorganisation) Act (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 1985 (S.I. No. 129 of 1985). Signed on 8 May 1985. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 August 2021.
^Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 11: Increase in membership of Dublin City Council (No. 7 of 1985, s. 11). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 12: Establishment of Dublin Electoral Counties (No. 7 of 1985, s. 12). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 December 2021.
^Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 13: Establishment, membership and election of councils of established electoral counties (No. 7 of 1985, s. 13). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 December 2021.
^Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 16: Continuation of Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Corporation (No. 7 of 1985, s. 16). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 December 2021.
^Local Government Act 1991, s. 26: Amendment of Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985 (No. 11 of 1991, s. 26). Enacted on 18 May 1991. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 December 2021.
^Dublin County (District Electoral Divisions) Regulations 1971 (S.I. No. 17 of 1971). Signed on 25 January 1971 by Robert Molloy, Minister for Local Government. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Dublin County (District Electoral Divisions) Regulations 1986 (S.I. No. 13 of 1986). Signed on 20 January 1986 by Liam Kavanagh, Minister for the Environment. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
^Dublin County (District Electoral Divisions) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. No. 106 of 1994). Signed on 29 April 1994 by Michael Smith, Minister for the Environment. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
Further reading
Dudley Edwards, R. (March 1938). "The Beginnings of Municipal Government in Dublin". Dublin Historical Record. 1 (1). Old Dublin Society: 2–10. JSTOR30080028.
O'Connor, Tom (Autumn 1993). "Reform of Local Government". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 82 (327). Messenger Publications: 323–332. JSTOR30091010.