Wexford County Council
Wexford County Council is the local authority of County Wexford, 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 34 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, currently Eddie Taaffe. The county town is Wexford.
History
Wexford County Council was established on 1 April 1899 under the Local Government Act 1898 for the administrative county of County Wexford. It succeeded the judicial county of Wexford, with the addition of the part of the town of New Ross which was formerly in County Kilkenny. The first meeting of the council was on 22 April 1899.From 1899 to 1920, meetings of the county council were held in the Grand Jury room of the old Wexford Courthouse on Commercial Quay. After the old courthouse burnt down in the Irish War of Independence, a new courthouse was established on the site of the old jail in Hill Street in 1930. The county council relocated to the site in Hill Street at the same time. After the condition of the properties in Hill Street proved inadequate, the county council moved to a modern County Hall in Carricklawn in September 2011 and a modern courthouse was opened on Belvedere Road in 2018.
In 2014, the town councils of Enniscorthy, Gorey and New Ross and the borough council of Wexford were dissolved under the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Their jurisdiction was transferred to the county council.
Regional Assembly
Wexford County Council has three representatives on the Southern Regional Assembly who are part of the South-East Strategic Planning Area Committee.Elections
The Local Government Act 1919 introduced the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote for the 1920 Irish local elections. County Wexford was divided into 4 county electoral areas to elect the 19 members of the council. This electoral system has been retained, with 34 members of Wexford County Council now elected for a five-year term of office from 6 multi-member local electoral areas.Local electoral areas and municipal districts
County Wexford is divided into LEAs, defined by electoral divisions, for elections to the council. These are grouped into borough and municipal districts for the local exercise of the powers of the local authority. The municipal district which contains the administrative area of the former borough of Wexford is referred to as a borough district.Councillors
The following were elected at the 2024 Wexford County Council election.2024 seats summary
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.;Notes