Mayo County Council

Mayo County Council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 30 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach (Chairperson). The county administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Peter Duggan. The county town is Castlebar.

Mayo County Council

Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo
Type
Type
Leadership
Richard Finn, Ind
Structure
Seats30
Political groups
Elections
Last election
24 May 2019
Motto
Dia is Muire Linn  (Irish)
"God and Mary be with us"
Meeting place
Áras an Chontae, Castlebar
Website
mayococo.ie
The area governed by the council

History

Originally meetings of Mayo County Council took place in Castlebar Courthouse.[1] The county council moved to modern facilities at County Hall (Irish: Áras an Chontae) further west on The Mall in Castlebar in 1989.[2]

In the early 1930s, the County Council was dissolved for a time and replaced with a Commissioner because of the Mayo librarian controversy.

Councillors

For the purpose of local elections, the county is divided into six local election areas (LEAs), each centred around a major town. Each LEA elects a number of councillors who then represent the area for a span of 5 years on the County Council. The number of councillors allotted to an LEA is based on its population. The total number of councillors amounts to 30. [3]

Local Election Area Number of Councillors
Castlebar 7
Ballina 6
Westport 4
Belmullet 3
Claremorris 6
Swinford 4

2019 seats summary
Party Seats
Fine Gael 12
Fianna Fáil 11
Sinn Féin 1
Independent 6

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019.[4]

Council members from 2019 election
Local electoral area Name Party
Ballina John O'Hara Fine Gael
Mark Duffy Independent
Annie May Reape Fianna Fáil
Michael Loftus Fianna Fáil
Séamus Weir Independent
Jarlath Munnelly Fine Gael
Belmullet Gerry Coyle Fine Gael
Paul McNamara Fianna Fáil
Seán Carey Fianna Fáil
Castlebar Michael Kilcoyne Independent
Blackie Gavin Fianna Fáil
Al McDonnell Fianna Fáil
Ger Deere Fine Gael
Cyril Burke Fine Gael
Martin McLoughlin Fianna Fáil
Donna Sheridan Fine Gael
Claremorris Patsy O'Brien Fine Gael
Richard Finn Independent
Damien Ryan Fianna Fáil
John Cribbin Fine Gael
Michael Burke Fine Gael
Tom Connolly Fine Gael
Swinford Gerry Murray Sinn Féin
Michael Smyth Fianna Fáil
Neil Cruise Fine Gael
John Caulfield Fianna Fáil
Westport Christy Hyland Independent
Peter Flynn Fine Gael
Brendan Mulroy Fianna Fáil
John O'Malley Independent

Assessment

Mayo County Council was identified in 2011 by An Taisce, the national trust, as among the worst county councils in Ireland's planning system during the period 2000–11.

County councils in Ireland were assessed by the organisation in relation to overzoning; decisions reversed by An Bord Pleanála after being passed by a local authority; percentage of vacant housing stock; and percentage of one-off houses permitted. An Taisce's report of its findings described the results as "stark and troubling".

In Mayo, many council planning decisions were overturned because the council violated their own County Development Plan. Overdevelopment in Mayo was another problem identified, with too many vacant houses in the county (not inclusive of holiday homes). A spokesman for An Taisce commented, "Mayo didn’t do well on one-off houses either. What a lot of local authorities don’t seem to appreciate is that it is more expensive to provide infrastructure to one-off houses in the countryside than it is to do so to estates."[5]

See also

References
  1. "Local Authorities". Oireachtas. 26 May 1982. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. "Castlebar". Mayo Online. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. "Local election areas set to be redrawn again". Mayo News. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. "2014 Local elections: Mayo County Council". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  5. "Mayo planning among worst in country". The Mayo News. 17 April 2011.
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