General Council of County Council, Ireland

The General Council of County Councils (founded in 1899) is a representative body for the 883 councillors who form the policy making boards of the 34 county and city councils in the Republic of Ireland.

It works to give elected members and the communities they represent a service in terms of information, research, and networking within the framework of Irish local democracy.

The General Council helps by bringing councillors together across county boundaries and harnessing their concerns, priorities, and experience so as to make representation on a national level to the Government, to the Minister for the Environment & Local Government, and to other bodies involved in public policy making.

In a practical way the General Council carries out this work through meetings, conferences, publications, and briefings on a variety of issues.

The strength of the General Council is in its representation, lobbying and networking activities; it does not have any supervisory, directive or co-ordinating role in regard to the activities of its member councils.

How are the councils represented through the General Council?

Each of the 34 county and city councils elects three delegates to the General Council who serve for the five-year term of their parent council. This body which constitutes the General Council proper meets in plenary session every two months.

The General Council elects a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Executive Board on an annual basis.

Through this structure of representation the concerns of the wider network of councillors is channelled through to the General Council executive which is supported by a Director and staff in organising activities and developing policies.

How does the General Council work to influence national policy?

The General Council executive maintains a constant channel of communication with the Dept. of the Environment and Local Government which ultimately regulates all local government affairs in the State. When required the General Council also feeds into policies being developed by other local bodies.

In addition, the General Council has delegates on a variety of public bodies and national policy-making committees. General Council members serve on bodies such as the following: the Government Body of UCD; the National Economic and Social Forum; the Library Council; the National Rural Development Forum; the National Sustainable Development Forum; and the Civil Defence Board, among others.

Councillors are democratic representatives elected by the public for a five-year term and serve on the county and city councils which plan and deliver the widest range of services and development activities to communities throughout the nation. The councillors' purpose extends beyond promoting the delivery of local services. They also act as a channel for expressing public opinion on issues of local and, often, national concern.

There is, of course, a political dimension hand-in-hand with the democratic basis of the councils. Many councillors are members of political parties which in turn provide a further channel of communication with the wider government and policy-making processes of the nation. There are also independent councillors who make their issues felt through their access to the network provided by the General Council.

What are county and city councils?

Councils are, in their purest form, the group of elected people who are democratically elected by the people of the counties or, in the case of some cities, the people of the city area. Extending out from this democratic base is a large and complex organisation which includes a wide range of management, technical, administration and operational staff who put in place the policies and services overseen by the elected council. The councils are substantial organisations in their own right employing some 30,000 personnel nationally and spending many millions of euros. However the impact of councils does not stop with their corporate organisations: they in turn are linked in to a whole variety of local bodies, some statutory, others community-based, which work in various forms of partnership to better the circumstances of the localities.

What is the structure of Irish county/city government?

Today there are thirty-four local authorities with county status in the Republic of Ireland. Starting with the twenty-six historic counties the following additions need to be made: Tipperary has been divided in two for local government purposes since the early 19th century; the old Dublin County Council was divided into three in the 1990s; this make a total of twenty-nine county councils. In addition there are five city councils which have all the independence and status of county councils, thus giving an overall total of thirty-four county and city councils which form the primary layer of local government in the Republic of Ireland.

When did all of this begin?

The county concept has been in Ireland since the late 1100s. However it was not until the late 1800s that the county became a popular unit of local identity. The adoption by the Gaelic Athletic Association (founded 1884) of the county unit helped to build county identity. Most decisive from the local government viewpoint was that the 1898 Local Government (Ireland) Act established Ireland's first democratically elected local authorities based on the county boundaries. With few adjustments, this is the pattern which prevails in Irish local government today. Local government in Ireland has, since a referendum of 1999, explicit recognition in the written Constitution of Ireland.

What do county and city councils do?

They deliver a very wide range of services and development activities. The best known are related to the construction and maintenance of the essential services for day to life: roads, water and sanitation network being primary examples. On the social side, housing represents a major commitment for councils. In recent decades environmental protection has become a central responsibility involving pollution control, litter prevention, monitoring of air and water, and, a particular challenge, the collection, disposal and recycling of waste material produced by home and industry. .

Councils also have cultural involvements through libraries and arts activities. Emergency services by way of fire brigade, water safety and civil defence feature prominently.

Perhaps the most challenging facet of council work is in the area of planning and development where the physical, social and environmental qualities of counties are shaped by planning policies made by the councillors and specific decisions are made by the executive working within such policies.

Beyond this description of their immediate functions is the increasing impact of councils as partners and leaders in community, economic and social development of all kinds within their areas. Their role is no longer confined to delivering specific services but to mobilising and energising all the forces in their county community for the common good.