Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, the dual mandate of local councillors having Oireachtas seats was abolished by the Local Government (No. 2) Act 2003, an amendment to the Local Government Act 2001. Attempts to include it in the 2001 Act failed after a rebellion by Fianna Fáil backbenchers; the 2003 Act passed after a compensation package was agreed for those losing out. The 2001 Act prohibited being a member of multiple county/city councils, or multiple town councils, or both a town and city council. Brian O'Shea was a member of both Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council until 1993. County councillors are allowed to sit on a town council, and many do so. The 2003 Act provides that a candidate elected simultaneously to a forbidden combination of local councils has three days to choose which seat to take up, with the others being considered vacant.
Read more about this topic: Dual Mandate
Famous quotes containing the word ireland:
“In Ireland they try to make a cat cleanly by rubbing its nose in its own filth. Mr. Joyce has tried the same treatment on the human subject. I hope it may prove successful.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Sport and death are the two great socializing factors in Ireland ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“The tragedy of Northern Ireland is that it is now a society in which the dead console the living.”
—Jack Holland (b. 1947)