Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Fingal,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former

Dublin County Council Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a local authority for the administrative county of County Dublin in Ireland. History The county council was established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Its headquart ...

before its abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. As a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

and community, roads and

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and development, amenity and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

, and

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. The council has 40 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

. The head of the council has the title of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The county administration is headed by a

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, AnnMarie Farrelly. The county town is Swords.

History

Fingal County Council came into being on 1 January 1994. The county council initially met at the former offices of the abolished

, an office block at 46-49

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry S ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. A new building, known as County Hall, located on Main Street in Swords, was purpose-built for the county council and completed in 2000.

Administrative area

The county of Fingal covers an area of 456 km² and has 88 km of coastline stretching from

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

in the south to Balbriggan in the north. It is drained by the

Delvin River The River Delvin ( ga, An Ailbhine) is a river of northern County Dublin, about long and forming much of the Dublin-Meath boundary; it is thus largely under the responsibility of Fingal County Council, sometimes shared with Meath County Counc ...

along its northern boundary, the

Ballyboghil River The Ballyboghil River or Ballyboughal Water is a river in Fingal, in the traditional County Dublin, about long, reaching the sea by way of the -long estuary. One of the larger watercourses by volume in the north County Dublin, the Ballyboghil ...

and the

Broadmeadow River '' , image = , image_caption = , name_etymology = , source1_location = two lines near Dunshaughlin, County Meath , mouth_location = Broadmeadow Estuary, to the Irish Sea, (by Malahide, County Dublin) , mouth_coordi ...

and its major tributary, the

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the centre, and the Tolka and

Santry Santry () is a suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin, Kilmore and Ballymun. It straddles the boundary of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council jurisdictions. The character of the area has changed ...

rivers to the south. The

River Liffey The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Riv ...

forms its southern border with South Dublin. There are three large protected estuaries and salt marsh habitats, with thirteen major beaches.

Howth Head Howth Head ( ; ''Ceann Bhinn Éadair'' in Irish) is a peninsula northeast of the city of Dublin in Ireland, within the governance of Fingal County Council. Entry to the headland is at Sutton while the village of Howth and the harbour are o ...

and the Liffey Valley are covered by Special Area Amenity Orders.

Local electoral areas

Fingal County Council has 40 seats, divided into the following seven

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average p ...

s, defined by

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Councillors

2019 seats summary

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019. ;Notes

Co-options

Governance

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

References

External links

* {{Local government in the Republic of Ireland, state=collapsed Local government in County Dublin County councils in the Republic of Ireland Politics of Fingal