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Mayo County Council

The area governed by the council

Mayo County Council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the local authority of 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, Kevin Kelly. The county town is Castlebar.

History

Originally meetings of Mayo County Council took place in Castlebar Courthouse.[1] The county council moved to modern facilities at County Hall 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.

Regional Assembly

Mayo County Council has two representatives on the Northern and Western Regional Assembly who are part of the West Strategic Planning Area Committee.[3]

Elections

Members of Mayo 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).

Local electoral areas and municipal districts

County Mayo is divided into LEAs and municipal districts, defined by electoral divisions.[4]

Councillors

The following were elected at the 2024 Mayo County Council election.

2024 seats summary

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.[5]

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 2000–2011 period.

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 its 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."[6]

References

  1. ^ "Local Authorities". Oireachtas. 26 May 1982. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Castlebar". Mayo Online. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. ^ 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 18 April 2023.
  4. ^ County of Mayo Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2018 (S.I. No. 627 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Mayo County Council – Elected Candidates". RTÉ News. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Mayo planning among worst in country". The Mayo News. 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2012.

External links