18/10/2012
Cork City Council
Cork City Council is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city 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 31 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the honorific title of Lord Mayor of Cork. The city administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Ann Doherty. The council meets at Cork City Hall. The 2015 Cork Local Government Review recommended merging Cork City Council and Cork County Council into a single "super council", within which a metropolitan district council will govern the Metropolitan Cork area; however, a minority report opposed the merger. This was subsequently followed in 2017 by a report published by an expert advisory group recommending a city boundary extension. The city boundary will be extended to include Little Island, Cork Airport, Ballincollig, Blarney, and Carrigtwohill, adding a population of over 100,000. Places farther out will remain part of the county, including Cobh, Carrigaline, and Midleton, as well as Ringaskiddy, the centre of the Port of Cork. The report gives parameters for compensation to be paid by the city to the county for the consequent reduction in its revenue. The revised proposal was welcomed by Micheál Martin but criticised by some county councillors. The city council voted unanimously to accept it. Barry Roche of The Irish Times wrote that the Mackinnon Report "has proven almost as divisive as its predecessor", except with the city and county councils' positions reversed.
