User:Jnestorius/Local election postponement

General provisions

 * Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act, 1828 ss.14, 16: All commissioners elected triennially on the first Monday in July
 * Irish Poor Law Act of 1838 s.20: Poor Law Guardians 25 March annually, all re-elected
 * still the case until at least 1878 if not later; few elections contested. ) 1863 regulations for elections still valid in 1887; 25 March is closing of postal vote.
 * Attempts to make triennial (including sec.4 of this 1886 bill, which is not related to the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1886 summarised in C.5043 p.v) not successful. eISB version of the 1838 act is from 1893 volume of Statutes Revised, so 1838 provision still applicable in 1893. 1898 act refers to "Poor Relief (Ireland) Acts, 1838 to 1892" hence 1893 version of 1838 act probably still applied until 1898.
 * This account of Carlow PLU mentions elections every year from 1883 to 1891 except 1890
 * Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 s.51: 25 October annually, one third of borough councillors re-elected
 * Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854: s.23: 15 October annually, one third re-elected
 * Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
 * triennial for county and rural district councils
 * including county boroughs? sec.21 ("Each of the boroughs mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act shall be an administrative county of itself, and be called a county borough") is unclear whether a county borough counts as a county for sec.2 (triennial election req). [sec 68(2)] says "the county for which it is elected (in this Act referred to as an administrative county)"
 * Cusack and Hanley, re Limerick: "Elections were to take place every three years instead of annually. Half of the aldermen and all councillors were to leave office every three years and were eligible for re-election. [in Limerick] An alderman's term of office continued to be six years and a councillor's term of office was reduced from four to three years. The only exception was the 1899 elections when all aldermen and councillors were elected simultaneously." Might have been an order, not clear in the Act
 * OTOH LGBI reports of annual-to-triennial change suggest county borough same as urban county districts.
 * no change for urban district and town councillors, except can change from one-third annual to all-triennial
 * including non-county borough
 * Poor Law Union guardians as urban/rural districts
 * Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919 made triennial system compulsory in urban areas
 * Local Government Act, 1941: Dissolved council must have replacement election within three years (unless next scheduled election is in fourth year).
 * Local Elections Act, 1953 sec.2 1955 and "every fifth successive year" (retained by Electoral Act, 1963 sec.81)
 * sec 2 of Local Elections Act, 1973 minister Jim Tully: quote "I would like to draw special attention to section 2 of the Bill. That section proposes to empower the Minister for Local Government to effect any future postponement of local elections by order, subject to the limitation that such an order will not have effect unless and until it has been approved by a resolution passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. This is the fourth occasion on which local elections have been postponed in the past eight years—the fifteenth occasion since 1919—special legislation being introduced each time. It seems desirable, therefore, to introduce a simplified procedure which would be less wasteful of parliamentary time and section 2 does this by providing that the postponement instrument will be an order, not an Act. I would stress that such an order cannot come into operation without the specific approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas and the final effective decision on whether local elections should be postponed will continue to rest with the two Houses of the Oireachtas, following full and open debate."
 * Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland 1999: election must be held at least every five years
 * Jim O'Keeffe "My biggest complaint regarding local government was the regular postponement of elections. The all-party committee was adamant that a constitutional provision should be inserted stipulating that elections be held on a five-year basis. I am glad the Minister accepted that provision and agreed not to pursue his seven-year proposal."

Place-specific

 * Limerick Corporation Act 1853
 * On 28 June 1853 the Limerick Corporation Act became law. Limerick City was divided into eight electoral wards replacing the previous five. There were still forty councillors in total but each ward returned five councillors as opposed to eight previously. There was only one alderman per ward where previously there had been two. One quarter of the councillors went out of office every year and half of the aldermen left office every third year. The term of office for a councillor increased from three to four years while that of an alderman remained at six years. Annual elections to the council were held on 25 November
 * 1930 Dublin
 * Cork City Management (Amendment) Act, 1941 s.3 replaced annual with triennial elections

Urban switch to triennial
Some dates are of meeting requesting, rest are of order by LGBI granting
 * 22 November 1899
 * Ballymena
 * Blackrock
 * Carlow
 * Clonakilty
 * Ennis
 * Galway
 * Portadown
 * Queenstown
 * Tanderagee
 * 23 November 1899
 * Clontarf
 * Drumcondra, Clonliffe, and Glasnevin
 * Kinsale
 * Rathmines and Rathgar
 * Templemore
 * Tralee
 * 27 November 1899
 * Birr
 * Drogheda
 * Monaghan
 * Pembroke
 * 18 December 1899
 * New Kilmainham
 * 22 December 1899
 * Dundalk
 * 29 December 1899
 * Cork County Borough
 * 17 May 1900
 * Naas
 * 25 June 1900
 * Omagh
 * 19 July 1900
 * Dungannon
 * 4 October 1900
 * Newtownards
 * Nov 1900 for Jan 1902: Skibbereen.
 * Later, by 1906:
 * Armagh
 * Ballinasloe
 * Castlebar
 * Cavan
 * Dromore
 * Dungarvan
 * Keady
 * Killarney
 * Kingstown
 * Limerick County Borough
 * Listowel
 * Midleton
 * Navan
 * Thurles
 * Tipperary
 * Youghal
 * 1907–8: Carrickmacross and Castleblayney
 * 2 October 1913 (order date)
 * Belturbet

Elections

 * 1920
 * 1925
 * 1928
 * 1930 Dublin (city, DL borough, county council)
 * 1931 county boroughs [?excluding Dublin?]
 * 1930 act s.32(1) says "A city election shall be held in the year 1930 and in every third year thereafter and in no other year.";
 * not repealed until LEA 1953 Sched; was it overridden in the interim?
 * yes by 1937-41 postponements
 * implicitly amended by LEA 1948 s.2 which aligned with other authorities
 * 1933 Dublin Corp.
 * 1934
 * 1936 Dublin Corporation (June ) and Dun Laoghaire
 * 1939 not held, even in Dublin or Dun Laoghaire
 * 1942
 * 1945
 * 1948 [Dublin Co, Kerry, Tramore] [?Dublin Corp?]
 * 1950 (including Dublin Corp )
 * 1955
 * 1960
 * 1967
 * 1974
 * 1979
 * 1985
 * 1991 (county only)
 * 1994 (urban only)
 * 1999
 * 2004
 * 2009
 * 2014

Dissolutions
More info and full list in Potter

Note also Northern Ireland: IT 1927-08-12 p5 Donaghadee council asked Min Home Affairs to replace it with commissioner; rumours that Belfast corporation will be replaced after recent "revelations".

See also Loc Govt Dept Ann Rpts e.g. 1927-1928 Rpt p.18

20 bodies dissolved under 1923 and 1925 acts "in first three years of new regime".
 * Kerry County Council became the first local authority to be dissolved on 9 May 1923
 * Co Dublin Board of Guardians November 21st, 1923 revived when if ever?
 * Dublin Corporation 20 May 1924 revived under 1930 act
 * Cork Corporation 30 October 1924; revived under 1929 act
 * "The County Councils in Offaly, Leitrim and Kerry had been suspended with the guarantee of reinstatement once the threat of insolvency was removed, but no such assurances were given to the Corporations in Cork and Dublin."

Some localities prefer commissioners to council. "I think that Deputies will remember that we had to have that kind of thing which is sometimes called an agreed Bill to meet the wishes of the people of Ennis, and again to meet the wishes of the people of Trim, who wanted Commissioners appointed by the Minister for Local Government in place of their dissolved body, and who wanted to keep them there." (Richard Mulcahy 1931 )
 * Ennis UDC dissolved 14 April 1926; 1929 revival election didnt return anyone
 * Trim UDC dissolved 17 July 1926; 1929 revival election didnt return anyone

Mayo Coco 1931 over Letitia Dunbar-Harrison controversy. (Debate was bolted onto reading of act regularising Grangegorman Mental Hospital Joint Committee which had been reconstituted following 1923 Dublin corporation dissolution, illegally per Supreme Court in Woods and others v. Dublin Corporation)

[lists all relevant orders 1923–32]

Mansergh 1934:
 * The powers thus granted to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health have been extensively used. The functions of local authorities offending against the Act are customarily transferred to local commissioners, appointed by the minister. In 1923, for example, five local authorities were dissolved by order of the minister. In 1924 the number rose to thirteen. In subsequent years the number has dwindled rapidly as the country became more settled. The following are the figures, since the Local Government Act came into force:

! Year !! Number
 * +Local Authorities Dissolved 1923-33
 * 1923 || 5
 * 1924 || 13
 * 1925 || 4
 * 1926 || 3
 * 1927 || 0
 * 1928 || 2
 * 1929 || 1
 * 1930 || 3
 * 1931 || 1
 * 1932 || 0
 * 1933 || 1
 * }
 * "over a period of eight [recte 11] years ten local authorities have had to be dissolved for reasons which closely approximate to those which are contemplated by Section 30".
 * 1929 || 1
 * 1930 || 3
 * 1931 || 1
 * 1932 || 0
 * 1933 || 1
 * }
 * "over a period of eight [recte 11] years ten local authorities have had to be dissolved for reasons which closely approximate to those which are contemplated by Section 30".
 * 1933 || 1
 * }
 * "over a period of eight [recte 11] years ten local authorities have had to be dissolved for reasons which closely approximate to those which are contemplated by Section 30".
 * "over a period of eight [recte 11] years ten local authorities have had to be dissolved for reasons which closely approximate to those which are contemplated by Section 30".

Councils dissolved permanently Rathkeale, Roscommon, Fethard, Callan and Newcastle West. Tullow had boundary in 1902 but no council ever. "HA Street believed that some councils dissolved under this Section 72, and re-established in 1941. and operating today [1988], were never properly re-incorporated."

Bromage 1941:
 * Since the organization of the Free State government in 1922, a number of local authorities have been dissolved. In the nineteen-twenties, the two largest county borough councils, Dublin and Cork, were dissolved. This drastic step on the part of the Minister has been taken in regard to county borough councils, county councils, boards of health, urban district councils, and town commissioners. In 1937 so large a body as the Waterford county borough council was dissolved. In some instances, as in Cork, Dublin, and Waterford, dissolution has been preliminary to the creation of a managerial system by statute, the local council with its previously existing powers never being re-established.