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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.
Fingal County Council Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Brian McDonagh, Lab | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 40 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
Last election | 7 June 2024 |
| Motto | |
| Irish: Flúirse Talaimh is Mara "Abundance of Land and Sea" | |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| County Hall, Swords | |
| Website | |
Official website  | |
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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]
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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.
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Fingal County Council has three representatives on the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly who are part of the Dublin Strategic Planning Area Committee.[13]
Members of Fingal County Council are elected for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) from multi-member local electoral areas (LEAs).
| Year | FF | FG | Lab | GP | SF | SD | Sol | Aon | I4C | NP | PBP | PDs | Ind | Total | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 40 | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 0 | — | 6 | 40 | |||||||||||||
| 2014 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | — | 4 | — | 0 | — | 1 | — | 10 | 40 | |||||||||||||
| 2009 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | — | — | — | 0 | — | 2 | 24 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 24 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 24 | |||||||||||||
| 1991 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 24 | |||||||||||||
| 1985 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 24 | |||||||||||||
The figures for Solidarity (named the Anti-Austerity Alliance 2014 to 2017) include the figures for the Socialist Party, founded in 1996.
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Fingal is divided into the 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 |
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2024 seats summary
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | 7 | |
| Labour | 7 | |
| Fianna Fáil | 6 | |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | |
| Aontú | 2 | |
| PBP–Solidarity | 2 | |
| Social Democrats | 2 | |
| Green | 1 | |
| Inds. 4 Change | 1 | |
| National Party | 1 | |
| Independent | 7 | |
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.[17]
| Council members from 2024 election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Local electoral area | Name | Party | |
| Balbriggan | Tony Murphy | Independent | |
| Gráinne Maguire | Independent | ||
| Brendan Ryan | Labour | ||
| Tom O'Leary | Fine Gael | ||
| Malachy Quinn | Sinn Féin | ||
| Blanchardstown–Mulhuddart | Breda Hanaphy | Sinn Féin | |
| Mary McCamley | Labour | ||
| JK Onwumereh | Fianna Fáil | ||
| John Burtchaell | PBP–Solidarity | ||
| Patrick Quinlan | National Party | ||
| Castleknock | Ted Leddy | Fine Gael | |
| John Walsh | Labour | ||
| Siobhan Shovlin | Fine Gael | ||
| Ellen Troy | Aontú | ||
| Ruth Coppinger[a] | PBP–Solidarity | ||
| Eimear Carbone-Mangan | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Howth–Malahide | Joan Hopkins | Social Democrats | |
| Aoibhinn Tormey | Fine Gael | ||
| Cathal Haughey | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Jimmy Guerin | Independent | ||
| Brian McDonagh | Labour | ||
| Eoghan O'Brien | Fianna Fáil | ||
| David Healy | Green | ||
| Ongar | Tania Doyle | Independent | |
| Angela Donnelly | Sinn Féin | ||
| Kieran Dennison | Fine Gael | ||
| Tom Kitt | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Gerard Sheehan | Aontú | ||
| Rush–Lusk | Robert O'Donoghue[a] | Labour | |
| Corina Johnston | Labour | ||
| Cathal Boland | Independent | ||
| Eoghan Dockrell | Fine Gael | ||
| Paul Mulville | Social Democrats | ||
| Swords | Dean Mulligan | Inds. 4 Change | |
| Darragh Butler | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Luke Corkery | Fine Gael | ||
| Joe Newman | Independent | ||
| James Humphreys | Labour | ||
| Darren Jack Kelly | Independent | ||
| Marian Buckley[a] | Sinn Féin | ||
Co-options
| Party | Outgoing | LEA | Reason | Date | Co-optee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | Marian Buckley | Swords | Resigned on medical grounds[18] | September 2024 | Ann Graves[a] | |
| PBP–Solidarity | Ruth Coppinger | Castleknock | Elected to 34th Dáil at the 2024 general election | TBA | TBA | |
| Labour | Robert O'Donoghue | Rush–Lusk | Elected to 34th Dáil at the 2024 general election | 18 December 2024 | Kevin Humphreys[19] | |
| Sinn Féin | Ann Graves | Swords | Elected to 34th Dáil at the 2024 general election | 18 December 2024 | John Smyth[20] | |
- Notes
- Replaced during term, see table below for details.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are chosen from among the councillors.[21] The chief executive is appointed by central government. The current chief executive is AnnMarie Farrelly.[22]
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