Donegal County Council
Encyclopedia
Donegal County Council is the local authority
which is responsible for County Donegal
in Ireland
. The Council is responsible for Housing
and Community, Roads and Transport
ation, Urban planning
and Development, Amenity and Culture
, and Environment
. The head of the council has the title of Mayor. The county seat
is at the County House, located on The Diamond in Lifford
.
The county council has been in existence since 1899 and is governed by the Local Government Act 2001
. The county is divided into five local electoral area
s and has 29 councillors who are elected every five years by single transferable vote
. The county administration is headed by a county manager, currently Séamus Neely.
(5), Glenties
(5), Inishowen
(7), Letterkenny
(7) and Stranorlar
(5).
†Thomas Pringle, Charlie McConalogue and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn were elected to Dáil Éireann
in February 2011. Their seats became vacant and will be filled by co-option.
Local government in the Republic of Ireland
Local government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I...
which is responsible for County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The Council is responsible for Housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
and Community, Roads and Transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ation, Urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
and Development, Amenity and Culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, and Environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. The head of the council has the title of Mayor. The county seat
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
is at the County House, located on The Diamond in Lifford
Lifford
Lifford is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland. It is the administrative capital of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken for fulfilling this role...
.
The county council has been in existence since 1899 and is governed by the Local Government Act 2001
Local Government Act 2001
The Local Government Act, 2001 was enacted by the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland on 21 July 2001. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002....
. The county is divided into five local electoral area
Local electoral area
A local electoral area is a sub-division of a county and city-level local government used for electoral purposes in Ireland. Each local electoral area consists of a number of lower-level units known as district electoral divisions...
s and has 29 councillors who are elected every five years by single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
. The county administration is headed by a county manager, currently Séamus Neely.
Councillors
For the purpose of elections Donegal is divided into five local electoral areas: DonegalDonegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
(5), Glenties
Glenties
Glenties is a village in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal. It is situated where two glens meet, northwest of the Blue Stack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel...
(5), Inishowen
Inishowen
Inishowen is a peninsula in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. It is also the largest peninsula in all of Ireland. Inishowen is a picturesque location with a rich history...
(7), Letterkenny
Letterkenny
Letterkenny , with a population of 17,568, is the largest town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. The town is located on the River Swilly...
(7) and Stranorlar
Stranorlar
Stranorlar is a small town in the Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey form the Twin Towns.-Transport:...
(5).
2009 seats summary
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál... |
10 | |
| Fine Gael Fine Gael Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000... |
8 | |
| Sinn Féin Sinn Féin Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970... |
4 | |
| Labour Party Labour Party (Ireland) The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish... |
2 | |
| Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... s |
5 | |
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 5 June 2009.†Thomas Pringle, Charlie McConalogue and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn were elected to Dáil Éireann
Members of the 31st Dáil
This is a list of the members who were elected to the 31st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and met at midday on 9 March 2011...
in February 2011. Their seats became vacant and will be filled by co-option.
See also
- Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898The Local Government Act 1898 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, Wales and Scotland by legislation in 1888 and 1889...
- Local government in the Republic of IrelandLocal government in the Republic of IrelandLocal government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I...