Districts of Northern Ireland
From Freepedia
Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts for local government purposes. The councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom, e.g. they have no responsibility for education, for road building or for housing. Their functions do include waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and cultural development.
The current pattern of local government in Northern Ireland, with 26 councils, was established in 1973 to replace the previous system established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system is based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, which presupposed the continued existence of the Government of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority. The district structure and the structure of other areas of public services in Northern Ireland is being reviewed by the Review of Public Administration and is likely to result in a significant reduction in the eventual number of councils.
Councillors are elected for a 4-year term of office under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. Elections were last held in May 2005. In order to qualify for election, a councillor must be
- 21 years old,
- a British subject or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland and
- either be a local elector for the district;
- or have during the whole of the 12-month period prior to the election either owned or occupied land in the district, or resided or worked in the district.
For local government purposes, Northern Ireland was previously divided into six administrative counties and two county boroughs, with various rural districts and urban districts in the counties. This system, with the abolition of rural districts, remains the model for local government in the Republic of Ireland.
See also
- List of Northern Ireland districts by population
- List of Northern Ireland districts by area
- List of Northern Ireland districts by community make-up
External links
- OnlineNI - Local Council Websites
- NI Local Government Association
- Review of Public Administration NI
- Macrory Report
- Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
