Fingal County Council

Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Adrian Henchy, FF
Structure
Seats40
Political groups
Elections
Last election
24 May 2019
Motto
Irish: Flúirse Talaimh is Mara
"Abundance of Land and Sea"
Meeting place
County Hall, Swords
Website
Official website Edit this at Wikidata
Location of Fingal in Ireland

Fingal County Council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County Dublin. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transport, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 40 elected members. Elections are held every five years on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV). The head of the council has the title of Mayor. The county administration is headed by a Chief Executive, AnnMarie Farrelly. The county town is Swords.

History

The Council of the electoral County of Dublin—Fingal was established in 1985 with 24 members.[1] Its members also sat as members of Dublin County Council.[2] At the 1991 local election, the electoral county was renamed Fingal.[3]

On 1 January 1994, under the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993, County Dublin ceased to exist with the new county Fingal where the electoral county had been. Dublin County Council also ceased to exist and Fingal County Council came into being.[4][5]

The county council initially met at the former offices of the abolished Dublin County Council, an office block at 46–49 O'Connell Street, Dublin.[6] A new building, known as County Hall, located on Main Street in Swords, was purpose-built for the county council and completed in 2000.[7]

The Local Government Act 2001 reformed the two-tier structure of local government. It confirmed the size of the council as 24 members.[8]

The town council of Balbriggan was dissolved under the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Fingal County Council became the successor body of the town council.[9][10] Under the same legislation, the size of the council was increased to 40 members as part of a nationwide reallocation of local authority membership numbers.[11]

Administrative area

The county of Fingal covers an area of 456 km2 and has 88 km of coastline stretching from Sutton in the south to Balbriggan in the north.[12] It is drained by the Delvin River along its northern boundary, the Ballyboghil River and the Broadmeadow River and its major tributary, the Ward in the centre, and the Tolka and Santry rivers to the south. The River Liffey forms its southern border with South Dublin. There are three large protected estuaries and salt marsh habitats, with thirteen major beaches. Howth Head and the Liffey Valley are covered by Special Area Amenity Orders.

Regional Assembly

Fingal County Council has three representatives on the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly who are part of the Dublin Strategic Planning Area Committee.[13]

Local electoral areas

Fingal County Council has 40 seats, divided into the following seven local electoral areas.[14] These are defined by electoral divisions which were defined in 1986, with minor amendments in 1994.[15][16]

LEA Definition Seats
Balbriggan Balbriggan Rural, Balbriggan Urban, Holmpatrick and Skerries 5
Blanchardstown–Mulhuddart Blanchardstown-Abbotstown, Blanchardstown-Corduff, Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown-Tyrrelstown, Dubber, The Ward; and those parts of the electoral divisions of Blanchardstown-Blakestown and Blanchardstown-Coolmine north of a line drawn along the N3 dual carriageway 5
Castleknock Blanchardstown-Delwood, Blanchardstown-Roselawn, Castleknock-Knockmaroon, Castleknock-Park, Lucan North; the part of Blanchardstown-Blakestown electoral division situated within the following line: Commencing at the intersection of the boundary between the electoral divisions of Blanchardstown-Blakestown and Lucan North with the R121 Road at the Clonsilla railway station bridge; (referred to hereafter as the first-mentioned point); then proceeding in a north easterly direction along the R121 road to its intersection with the Clonsilla link road; then proceeding in a northerly direction along the Clonsilla link road to its intersection with the Ongar distributor road; then proceeding in a south-easterly direction along the Ongar distributor road to its intersection with Shelerin Road; then proceeding in a southerly direction along Shelerin Road to its intersection with Clonsilla Road; then proceeding in an easterly direction along Clonsilla Road to its intersection with Porterstown Road; then proceeding in a southerly direction along Porterstown Road to the railway line; then proceeding in a westerly direction along the railway line to the first-mentioned point; and that part of the electoral division of Blanchardstown-Coolmine not contained in the local electoral area of Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart 6
Howth–Malahide Baldoyle, Howth, Malahide East, Malahide West, Portmarnock North, Portmarnock South, Sutton; and those parts of the electoral divisions of Balgriffin, Kinsaley and Swords-Seatown not contained in the local electoral area of Swords 7
Ongar That part of the electoral division of Blanchardstown-Blakestown not contained in the local electoral area of Castleknock and not contained in the local electoral area of Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart 5
Rush–Lusk Ballyboghil, Balscadden, Clonmethan, Donabate, Garristown, Hollywood, Lusk and Rush 5
Swords Airport, Kilsallaghan, Swords-Forrest, Swords-Glasmore, Swords-Lissenhall, Swords Village, Turnapin; and those parts of the electoral divisions of Balgriffin, Kinsaley and Swords-Seatown west of a line drawn along the M1 motorway. 7

Councillors

2019 seats summary

Party Seats
Fianna Fáil 8
Fine Gael 7
Labour 6
Green 5
Sinn Féin 4
Social Democrats 2
Inds. 4 Change 1
PBP–Solidarity 1
Independent 6

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019.[17]

Council members from 2019 election
Local electoral area Name Party
Balbriggan Tony Murphy Independent
Joe O'Brien[lower-alpha 1] Green
Seána Ó Rodaigh[lower-alpha 1] Labour
Tom O'Leary Fine Gael
Gráinne Maguire Independent
Blanchardstown–Mulhuddart Mary McCamley Labour
Breda Hanaphy Sinn Féin
Punam Rane Fine Gael
John Burtchaell[lower-alpha 2] Solidarity–PBP
Freddie Cooper[lower-alpha 1] Fianna Fáil
Castleknock Roderic O'Gorman[lower-alpha 1] Green
Emer Currie[lower-alpha 1] Fine Gael
Ted Leddy Fine Gael
John Walsh Labour
Howard Mahony Fianna Fáil
Natalie Tracey Sinn Féin
Howth–Malahide Eoghan O'Brien Fianna Fáil
David Healy Green
Cian O'Callaghan[lower-alpha 1] Social Democrats
Brian McDonagh Labour
Jimmy Guerin Independent
Aoibhinn Tormey Fine Gael
Anthony Lavin Fine Gael
Ongar Paul Donnelly[lower-alpha 1] Sinn Féin
Tania Doyle Independent
Tom Kitt Fianna Fáil
Kieran Dennison Fine Gael
Daniel Whooley Green
Rush–Lusk Robert O'Donoghue Labour
Adrian Henchy Fianna Fáil
Brian Dennehy Fianna Fáil
Cathal Boland Independent
Paul Mulville Social Democrats
Swords Darragh Butler Fianna Fáil
Dean Mulligan Inds. 4 Change
Ian Carey Green
Duncan Smith[lower-alpha 1] Labour
Joe Newman Independent
Brigid Manton Fianna Fáil
Ann Graves Sinn Féin
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Replaced during term, see table below for details.
  2. ↑ Solidarity–People Before Profit was renamed as People Before Profit–Solidarity in June 2021.

Co-options

Party Outgoing Electoral area Reason Date Co-optee
Green Joe O'Brien Balbriggan Elected as a TD for Dublin Fingal at the 2019 by-election November 2019 Karen Power
Green Roderic O'Gorman Castleknock Elected as a TD for Dublin West at the 2020 general election February 2020 Pamela Conroy
Social Democrats Cian O'Callaghan Howth–Malahide Elected as a TD for Dublin Bay North at the 2020 general election February 2020 Joan Hopkins
Sinn Féin Paul Donnelly Ongar Elected as a TD for Dublin West at the 2020 general election February 2020 Aaron O'Rourke
Labour Duncan Smith Swords Elected as a TD for Dublin Fingal at the 2020 general election February 2020 James Humphreys
Fine Gael Emer Currie Castleknock Nominated by the Taoiseach to Seanad Éireann June 2020 Siobhan Shovlin
Fianna Fáil Freddie Cooper Blanchardstown–Mulhuddart Death June 2021 JK Onwumereh
Labour Seána Ó Rodaigh Balbriggan Retirement June 2023 Brendan Ryan

Governance

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are chosen from among the Councillors.[18] The Chief Executive – AnnMarie Farrelly – is appointed by central government[19]

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 Commencement Order 1993 (S.I. No. 400 of 1993). Signed on 22 December 1993. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 9 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993, s. 9: Establishment and boundaries of administrative counties (No. 31 of num=1993, s. 9). Enacted on 21 December 1993. Act of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Fingal council to build new county offices in Swords". The Irish Times. 4 September 1996. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  7. ↑ "Fingal's offices are greenest of all". The Irish Times. 9 November 2000. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  8. ↑ Local Government Act 2001, 7th Sch.: Number of members of local authorities (No. 37 of 2001, 7th Sch.). Enacted on 21 July 2001. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  9. ↑ Local Government Reform Act 2014, s. 24: Dissolution of town councils and transfer date (No. 1 of 2014, s. 24). Enacted on 27 January 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  10. ↑ Local Government Reform Act 2014 (2014 Establishment Day) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 215 of 2014). Signed on 22 May 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Local Government Reform Act 2014, s. 15: Number of members of local authorities (No. 1 of 2014, s. 15). Enacted on 27 January 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  12. ↑ "Fingal Climate Change Adaptation Plan" (PDF). Fingal County Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Assemblies) (Establishment) Order 2014, Article 5 and Schedule 3 (S.I. No. 573 of 2014). Signed on 16 December 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 April 2023.
  14. ↑ County of Fingal Local Electoral Areas Order 2018 (S.I. No. 616 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 16 February 2019.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "Local Elections 2019: Results, Transfer of Votes and Statistics" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. pp. 104–111. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  18. ↑ Per Schedule 8 of the Local Government Act, 2001, the Council resolved to give to the office of its chairperson and vice-chairperson the title of "Mayor" or "Deputy Mayor", respectively.
  19. ↑ "Staff Directory". Fingal County Council. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
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