South Tipperary

South Tipperary (Tiobraid Árann Theas; known until 2002 as Tipperary South Riding) is an administrative county in Ireland, consisting of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. It was established in 1898 and has had a county council ever since, with separate assize courts since 1838. The county seat is Clonmel; other important urban centres include Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Cahir, and Tipperary. The county's motto is Vallis Aurea Siurensis (The Golden Vale of the Suir).

Vital statistics for 2004 released by the Central Statistics Office show that South Tipperary has the lowest rate of neo-natal mortality in the country, at 0.9 occurrences per 1000 people. This compares with 2.9 for North Tipperary, and 3.4 for Dublin City.

Governance and administration
South Tipperary County Council oversees the county as an independent local government area. Per Schedule 8 of the Local Government Act, 2001, the Council resolved to give to the office of its chairperson and vice-chairperson the title of “Mayor” or “Deputy Mayor”, respectively. The Council is made up of 21 representatives, directly elected through the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The present Council was elected at the local elections held in June 2004.

The functions of the Council are divided into reserved and executive functions. Reserved functions are carried out by the members and relate primarily to policy issues, including the county development plan and the annual budget. Executive functions are the responsibility of the county manager. These include the day to day administration of services.

Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1991, (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, the territory of South Tipperary is defined as being in the South-East Region. This region is a NUTS III region of the European Union. The county of North Tipperary, by contrast, is part of the Mid-West Region Region. At a NUTS II level, both counties are in the Southern and Eastern region.

Irish language
Native Irish speakers existed in South Tipperary until the middle of the 20th century. Recordings of the dialect before the last native speakers died have been made available through a project of the Royal Irish Academy Library.