Government of the 30th Dáil later rejoined the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in April 2008. Ministers are listed in order of seniority. The 28th Government of Ireland (7 May 2008 – 9 March 2011) was formed following the resignation of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach on 6 May 2008 and the subsequent election of Brian Cowen as Ireland's 12th head of government. It was initially composed of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, the Progressive Democrats and supported by independent TDs Jackie Healy-Rae, Michael Lowry and Finian McGrath. McGrath later withdrew his support in October 2008. Following the disbandment of the Progressive Democrats in 2009, it became
Local government in the Republic of Ireland Wicklow being the last to be shired in 1625. The traditional county of Tipperary was split into two judicial counties (or ridings) following the establishment of assize courts in 1838. Sixty years later, a more radical reorganisation of local government took place with the passage of the Local Government (Ireland) Act (1898). This Act established a county council for each of the thirty-three Irish counties and ridings. The geographic remit of the Irish Free State, which was established pursuant to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, was confined to twenty-six of the traditional counties of Ireland and thus included 27 administrative