Wicklow County Council Comhairle Chontae Chill Mhantáin | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1899 |
| Leadership | |
Melanie Corrigan, FG | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 32 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
Last election | 7 June 2024 |
| Motto | |
| Irish:Meanma Saor "Free Spirits" | |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| County Buildings, Wicklow | |
| Website | |
Official website | |
Wicklow County Council (Irish:Comhairle Chontae Chill Mhantáin) is thelocal authority ofCounty Wicklow,Ireland. As acounty council, it is governed by theLocal Government Act 2001. The council is responsible forhousing and community, roads andtransportation,urban planning and development, amenity andculture, andenvironment. The council has 32 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are bysingle transferable vote. The head of the council has the title ofCathaoirleach (chairperson). The county administration is headed bychief executive, Emer O'Gorman. Thecounty town isWicklow.
Wicklow County Council was established on 1 April 1899 under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898 for theadministrative county ofCounty Wicklow.[1][2][3] It succeeded the judicial county of Wicklow, with the addition of the part of the town ofBray which was formerly inCounty Dublin.[4]
Originally Wicklow County Council held its meetings inWicklow Courthouse.[5] The county council moved to a new facility, known asCounty Buildings, in 1977.[6]
Wicklow County Council has three representatives on theEastern and Midland Regional Assembly who are part of theEastern Strategic Planning Area Committee.[7][8]
TheLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced theelectoral system ofproportional representation by means of thesingle transferable vote (PR-STV) for the1920 Irish local elections.[9] County Wicklow was divided into 4 county electoral areas to elect the 20 members of the council.[10] This electoral system has been retained, with 34 members of Wicklow County Council now elected for a five-year term of office from 6 multi-memberlocal electoral areas (LEAs).
| Year | FG | FF | SF | GP | Lab | SD | II | WP | Ind. | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 32 | |||||||||
| 2019 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | N/a | 0 | 9 | 32 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | N/a | N/a | 0 | 10 | 32 | |||||||||
| 2009 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | N/a | N/a | 0 | 3 | 24 | |||||||||
| 2004 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | N/a | N/a | 0 | 4 | 24 | |||||||||
| 1999 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | N/a | N/a | 0 | 4 | 24 | |||||||||
| 1991 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 5 | N/a | N/a | 1 | 4 | 24 | |||||||||
| 1985 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 4 | N/a | N/a | 1 | 1 | 24 | |||||||||
| 1979 | 8 | 7 | 0 | N/a | 4 | N/a | N/a | 1 | 1 | 21 | |||||||||
County Wicklow is divided intolocal electoral areas, defined byelectoral divisions, for elections to the council, and into municipal districts which exercise powers of the council locally.[11][12]
| Municipal District | LEA | Definition | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arklow | Arklow No. 1 Urban, Arklow No. 2 Urban, Arklow Rural, Aughrim, Avoca, Ballinaclash, Ballinacor, Ballinderry, Ballyarthur, Cronebane, Dunganstown South, Dunganstown West, Ennereilly, Kilballyowen, Kilbride (in the former Rural District of Rathdrum), Kilpipe, Knockrath, and Rathdrum | 6 | |
| Baltinglass | Aghowle, Ballingate, Ballinglen, Ballinguile, Ballybeg, Baltinglass, Blessington, Burgage, Carnew, Coolattin, Coolballintaggart, Coolboy, Cronelea, Donaghmore, Donard, Dunlavin, Eadestown, Hartstown, Hollywood, Humewood, Imael North, Imael South, Kilbride (in the former Rural District of Baltinglass No.1), Killinure, Lackan, Lugglass, Money, Rath, Rathdangan, Rathsallagh, Shillelagh, Stratford, Talbotstown, The Grange, Tinahely, Tober, Togher (in the former Rural District of Baltinglass No.1) and Tuckmill | 6 | |
| Bray | Bray East | Bray No. 1 Urban, Bray No. 2 Urban, Bray No. 3 Urban and Rathmichael (Bray) | 4 |
| Bray West | Enniskerry, Kilmacanoge and Powerscourt | 4 | |
| Greystones | Delgany, Greystones, Kilcoole and Newcastle Lower | 6 | |
| Wicklow | Altidore, Ballycullen, Brockagh, Calary, Dunganstown East, Glendalough, Glenealy, Killiskey, Moneystown, Newcastle Upper, Oldtown, Togher (in the former Rural District of Rathdrum), Trooperstown, Wicklow Rural and Wicklow Urban | 6 | |
The following were elected at the2024 Wicklow County Council election.
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | 9 | |
| Fianna Fáil | 4 | |
| Social Democrats | 3 | |
| Green | 2 | |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | |
| Independent Ireland | 1 | |
| Labour | 1 | |
| Independent | 10 | |
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.[13]
| Council members from2024 election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| LEA | Name | Party | |
| Arklow | Pat Kennedy | Fianna Fáil | |
| Peir Leonard | Independent | ||
| Sylvester Bourke | Fine Gael | ||
| Pat Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Miriam Murphy | Independent | ||
| Warren O'Toole | Sinn Féin | ||
| Baltinglass | Gerry O'Neill | Independent | |
| Edward Timmins[a] | Fine Gael | ||
| Peter Stapleton | Fine Gael | ||
| Avril Cronin | Fine Gael | ||
| Patsy Glennon | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Jason Mulhall | Independent | ||
| Bray East | Aoife Flynn Kennedy[a] | Fine Gael | |
| Erika Doyle | Green | ||
| Ian Neary | Independent Ireland | ||
| Malachaí Duddy | Independent | ||
| Bray West | Joe Behan | Independent | |
| Melanie Corrigan | Fine Gael | ||
| Dermot O'Brien | Sinn Féin | ||
| Caroline Winstanley | Social Democrats | ||
| Greystones | Stephen Stokes | Independent | |
| Tom Fortune | Independent | ||
| Louise Fenelon Gaskin | Fine Gael | ||
| Orla Finn | Independent | ||
| Mark Barry | Social Democrats | ||
| Lourda Scott | Green | ||
| Wicklow | John Snell | Independent | |
| Danny Alvey | Social Democrats | ||
| Gail Dunne | Fianna Fáil | ||
| Shane Langrell | Fine Gael | ||
| Paul O'Brien | Labour | ||
| Graham Richmond | Fine Gael | ||
| Party | Outgoing | LEA | Reason | Date | Co-optee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | Edward Timmins | Baltinglass | Elected to34th Dáil forWicklow at the2024 general election | 18 December 2024 | Pat Mahon[14] | |
| Fine Gael | Aoife Flynn-Kennedy | Bray East | Resignation | March 2025 | Ned Whelan[15] | |
| Year | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | Edward Timmins[16] | Fine Gael | |
| 2018–2019 | |||
| 2019–2020 | |||
| 2020–2021 | |||
| 2021–2022 | |||
| 2022–2023 | |||
| 2023–2024 | Aoife Flynn Kennedy | Fine Gael | |
| 2024–2025 | Paul O'Brien | Labour | |