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Councillors

Clare County Council consists of 28 elected members representing 5 electoral areas:

Clare County Council - Map of Electoral Areas

The head of the council and the first citizen of the county is the Cathaoirleach who is elected from amongst the council's membership at the annual general meeting.

Criteria for local authority elections

At present, the number of members of the council of each local authority is fixed by law. Persons aged eighteen years and over are eligible for membership of a local authority. Certain categories of personnel are excluded from membership e.g. Ministers, MEP's (members of European Parliament), members of the Dáil and Seanad and certain categories of local authority staff. A complete list of persons who are disqualified from being elected or co-opted from being a member of a local authority is set out in Section 13 of the Local Government Act 2001.

Persons aged 18 years and over are entitled to be registered to vote at local elections for the local electoral area in which they ordinarily reside. Citizenship is neither a requirement for voting at a local election nor for eligibility for membership of a local authority. All members are elected by secret ballot through the system of proportional representation, using the single transferable vote. Casual vacancies are filled by co-option which is a reserved function of the council.

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