ABSTRACT
Local government in the Republic of Ireland, based on a single tier of 31 local councils, is highly centralized, and local elections are regarded as second-order national elections. This is reinforced by a national media narrative that almost exclusively treats local elections as a barometer of national party strength. Ireland’s 25th set of local elections was held in May 2019 across 166 local electoral areas (constituencies) and using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as the electoral system. An analysis of these elections reveals differences between local authorities in terms of turnout, level of electoral competition, party representation, and female representation in local government. Broad distinctions can be drawn between rural local authorities, on one hand, and more urban and suburban local authorities on the other.
