The 2019 Irish local elections will be held in all local government areas of the Republic of Ireland on Friday, 24 May 2019, on the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election.

Changes

The boundaries of local government areas will be the same as for the 2014 elections, except that the Local Government Bill 2018 is due to effect a transfer of land from County Cork to Cork city. Reviews of the county boundaries near Drogheda, Athlone, and Carlow(Graiguecullen) recommended no change. A review recommending transfer of Ferrybank from Kilkenny County Council to Waterford City and County Council was rejected by minister Simon Coveney after objections from Kilkenny.

Local government areas are divided into municipal districts, in turn divided into local electoral areas (LEAs), each electing multiple councillors by single transferable vote. The district and LEA boundaries will be decided by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, based on recommendations from two Local Electoral Area Boundary Committees established in 2017, who reported on 13 June 2018. Whereas, since 2014, most districts have a single LEA and all LEAs (except for Cork city) have between 6 and 10 councillors, in 2019 LEAs will have between 3 and 7 councillors and many districts have two LEAs. Dublin City Council LEAs will revert to those used at the 2009 election.

There are proposals for a directly-elected mayor for Cork City, but it is unclear what stage of the process that will be at by the time of the local elections.

Sources and further reading:

Local Elections in Ireland

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/elections_and_referenda/local_elections/local_elections.html

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