In Ireland, direct elections by universal suffrage are used for the President, the ceremonial head of state; for Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas or parliament; for the European Parliament; and for local government. All elections use proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) in constituencies returning three or more members, except that the presidential election and by-elections use the single-winner analogue of STV, elsewhere called instant-runoff voting or the alternative vote. Members of Seanad Éireann, the second house of the Oireachtas, are partly nominated, partly indirectly elected, and partly elected by graduates of particular universities.
The functions of local government in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-one local authorities, termed County, City, or City and County Councils. The principal decision-making body in each of the thirty-one local authorities is composed of the members of the council, elected by universal franchise in local elections every five years from multi-seat local electoral areas using the single transferable vote. Many of the authorities' statutory functions are, however, the responsibility of ministerially appointed career officials termed Chief executives. The competencies of the city and county councils include planning, transport infrastructure, sanitary services, public safety and the provision of public libraries. Each local authority sends representatives to one of three Regional Assemblies.
Mary Fitzpatrick is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
Fingal County Council 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.
Alan Farrell is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency since 2016, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Dublin North constituency. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Children and Youth Affairs from 2016 to 2020.
Regina Doherty is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Deputy leader of Seanad Éireann since 2022. She was Leader of the Seanad from 2020 to 2022, and has been Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad since June 2020. She has been a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. She served as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection from 2017 to 2020 and Government Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath East constituency from 2011 to 2020.
James Heffernan is an Irish former Labour Party politician.
The Local Government Reform Act 2014 is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, abolished all second-tier town and borough councils, and created a new second tier of municipal districts covering rural as well as urban areas. It also provided for a plebiscite on whether to create a directly elected executive Mayor of the Dublin Metropolitan Area although this provision was not activated. The act was introduced as a bill on 15 October 2013 by Phil Hogan, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and signed into law on 27 January 2014 by President Michael D. Higgins. Most of its provisions came into force on 1 June 2014.
An election to all 40 seats on Fingal County Council was held on 23 May 2014 as part of the 2014 Irish local elections, an increase from 24 seats at the previous election. Fingal was divided into five local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors from a field of 97 candidates for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Margaret Mary Murray was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, a councillor on Fingal County Council for the Castleknock Local Electoral Area and the mayor of Fingal County Council.
Lorraine Clifford-Lee is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020.
The 2019 Irish local elections were held in all local authorities in Ireland on Friday, 24 May 2019, on the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election and a referendum easing restrictions on divorce. Each local government area is divided into local electoral areas (LEAs) where three to seven councillors are elected on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
An election to all 40 seats on Fingal County Council was held on 24 May 2019 as part of 2019 Irish local elections. Fingal was divided into 7 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of officeon the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
An election to all 40 seats on Limerick City and County Council was held on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. Limerick City and County was divided into 6 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect 40 councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Neasa Hourigan is an Irish Green Party politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency since the 2020 general election. She was Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight from September 2020 until being suspended from the parliamentary party in March 2023.
Rabharta, previously An Rabharta Glas – Green Left, is a registered Irish political party, launched on 5 June 2021 as a split from the Green Party. At launch, it had two councillors, who had previously been elected as Green Party members — Lorna Bogue, on Cork City Council, and Liam Sinclair, on South Dublin County Council. Its outlook has been described as "eco-socialist".
An election to all 63 seats on Dublin City Council will be held on 7 June 2024 as part of the 2024 Irish local elections. Dublin is divided into 11 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
An election to all 40 seats on Fingal County Council will be held on 7 June 2024 as part of the 2024 Irish local elections. Fingal is divided into 7 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
An election to all 24 seats on Kilkenny County Council will be held on 7 June 2024 as part of the 2024 Irish local elections. County Kilkenny is divided into 4 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
An election to all 40 seats on Tipperary County Council will be held on 7 June 2024 as part of the 2024 Irish local elections. County Tipperary is divided into 8 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
