Louth County Council


Louth County Council is the authority responsible for local government in County Louth, 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 29 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach. The county administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Joan Martin. The county town is Dundalk.

History

Originally meetings of Louth County Council took place in Dundalk Courthouse. A home for the county officials was subsequently established at County Buildings in Crowe Street and both the county council and its officials moved to County Hall in 2000.

Councillors

For the purpose of elections, the county is divided into four Local Electoral Area's : Ardee, Drogheda, Dundalk-Carlingford and Dundalk South.

2019 seats summary

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 24 May 2019.
†Replaced during term, see [|table] below for details.

Co-options

Chief executive (county manager)

Each council has a chief executive, previous to 2014 known as city or county manager, who is the manager of the local authority.
YearTitleNameNext Position
2014–presentChief executiveJoan Martin
2013–2014County ManagerPhilomena PooleCounty manager for Dun Laoighaire-Rathdown County Council
2012–2013Acting County ManagerJoan Martin
2007–2012County ManagerConn MurrayCity and County Manager for Limerick Council

Cathaoirleach of Council (Chairman)

Every year, each local authority elects a chair called the Cathaoirleach for a term of one year and a deputy chair called the Leas-Cathaoirleach from among its members. The members elected for each municipal district elect a Cathaoirleach and a Leas-Chathaoirleach for their grouping. The Cathaoirleach chairs the meetings of the local authority or municipal district. Mayor and Deputy Mayor are titles used in municipal districts which were formerly borough councils. Since 1899 there has been 51 Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council.

Cathaoirleach party distribution

Breakdown of the 51 times the Cathaoirleach was held by each political party in Louth, in its 119 year history:

Population by Local Electoral Area

The table below sets out the population of the county broken down by Local Electoral Area, total 2016 population of 128,884.
LEAPopulation Population SeatsPopulation per seat
Drogheda41,92544,052104405
Dundalk South28,49330,20774315
Dundalk Carlingford24,58925,59964266
Ardee27,89029,02664837

Population by Municipal District

The table below sets out the population of the county broken down by Municipal District, total 2016 population of 128,884.
DistrictPopulation Population SeatsPopulation per seat
Dundalk53,08255,806134292
Drogheda41,92544,052104405
Ardee27,89029,02664837

Population by Electoral Division

The table below sets out the population of the county broken down by Electoral Division.
Electoral DivisionPopulation Population Population
Louth111,267122,897128,375
Dundalk 51,75856,76159,557
Dundalk Town29,03731,14932,288
004 Dundalk Urban No. 12,1902,1482,169
005 Dundalk Urban No. 21,2111,1691,140
006 Dundalk Urban No. 31,4001,4491,710
007 Dundalk Urban No. 46,1836,0395,970
023 Castletown 2,5182,6372,685
027 Dundalk Rural 15,44017,62018,514
030 Haggardstown 9587100
Dundalk rural area22,72125,61227,269
019 Ballymascanlan2,0162,2132,206
020 Barronstown647744746
021 Carlingford1,3841,8012,201
022 Castlering9351,0121,034
023 Castletown 1,4211,5731,622
024 Creggan Upper684787852
025 Darver562568678
026 Drummullagh1,1201,2571,350
027 Dundalk Rural 535540686
028 Faughart905991958
029 Greenore9791,1691,201
030 Haggardstown 5,7696,3036,819
031 Jenkinstown9481,1731,277
032 Killanny683799825
033 Louth1,3081,5051,575
034 Mansfieldstown640807855
035 Rathcor1,2031,3521,374
036 Ravensdale9821,0181,010
Drogheda Borough28,97328,57629,471
001 Fair Gate9,7839,80610,317
002 St. Laurence Gate3,8014,0044,075
003 West Gate5,8996,0426,284
041 St. Peter's 3,4602,1612,099
047 St. Mary's 6,0306,5636,696
Ardee No. 1 rural area17,97620,26220,924
008 Ardee Rural2,6262,8752,952
009 Ardee Urban4,3014,5544,917
010 Castlebellingham1,3711,6171,688
011 Clonkeen545648675
012 Collon1,3801,7701,859
013 Dromin535610629
014 Dromiskin1,9352,1872,226
015 Drumcar1,3851,5261,451
016 Dunleer2,3402,7962,868
017 Stabannan590620619
018 Tallanstown9681,0591,040
Louth rural area12,56017,29818,423
037 Clogher2,4943,0313,237
038 Dysart777918925
039 Monasterboice1,1641,3421,365
040 Mullary1,5281,7231,754
041 St. Peter's 4,0226,9907,605
042 Termonfeckin2,5753,2943,537