Government

Local Civic Offices of Dublin City Council.

From 1842, the boundaries of the city were comprehended by the baronies of Dublin City and the Barony of Dublin. In 1930, the boundaries were extended by the Local Government (Dublin) Act. Later in 1953, the boundaries were again extended by the Local Government Provisional Order Confirmation Act.

Dublin City Council is a unicameral assembly of 52 members elected every five years from Local Election Areas. It is presided over by the Lord Mayor, who is elected for a yearly term and resides in Mansion House. Council meetings occur at Dublin City Hall, while most of its administrative activities are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay. The party or coalition of parties, with the majority of seats adjudicates committee members, introduces policies, and appoints the Lord Mayor. The Council passes an annual budget for spending on areas such as housing, traffic management, refuse, drainage, and planning. The Dublin City Manager is responsible for implementing City Council decisions.

National Leinster House on Kildare Street houses the Oireachtas.

As the capital city, Dublin seats the national parliament of Ireland, the Oireachtas. It is composed of the President of Ireland, Seanad Éireann as the upper house, and Dáil Éireann as the lower house. The President resides in Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park, while both houses of the Oireachtas meet in Leinster House, a former ducal palace on Kildare Street. It has been the home of the Irish parliament since the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The old Irish Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland were located in College Green.

Government Buildings house the Department of the Taoiseach, the Council Chamber, the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General. It consists of a main building (completed 1911) with two wings (completed 1921). It was designed by Thomas Manley Dean and Sir Aston Webb as the Royal College of Science. The First Dáil originally met in the Mansion House in 1919. The Irish Free State government took over the two wings of the building to serve as a temporary home for some ministries, while the central building became the College of Technology until 1989. Although both it and Leinster House were intended to be temporary, they became the permanent homes of parliament from then on.

For elections to Dáil Éireann the city is divided into five constituencies: Dublin Central (4 seats), Dublin North–Central (3 seats), Dublin North-East (3 seats), Dublin North–West (3 seats), Dublin South–Central (5 seats) and Dublin South–East (4 seats). 22 TD's are elected in total. Dublin North–East, Dublin North–West and Dublin South–Central also take in parts of Fingal and South Dublin.

Politics

In the past Dublin city was regarded as a stronghold for Fianna Fáil, however following the Irish local elections, 2004 the party was eclipsed by the centre-left Labour Party. In the 2011 general election the city elected 18 Labour Party, 17 Fine Gael, 4 Sinn Féin, 2 People Before Profit Alliance and 3 independent TDs. Fianna Fáil lost all but one of its sitting TDs in the city.