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East Cork lies in south-west Ireland, in Ireland's largest county, County Cork. The term "East Cork" is used in tourism, sporting and other contexts, and is the name given to one of eight municipal districts of Cork County Council.
East Cork contains one of the world's largest natural harbours, Cork Harbour. Fota Island (including Fota House and Gardens and Fota Wildlife Park) is also east of Cork City, and Fota Island Golf Course hosted the Irish Open golf tournament in 2001.
The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, abolished all second-tier town and borough councils, and created a new second tier of municipal districts covering rural as well as urban areas. It also provided for a plebiscite on whether to create a directly elected executive Mayor of the Dublin Metropolitan Area (distinct from the existing ceremonial office of Lord Mayor of Dublin city) although this provision was not activated. The act was introduced as a bill on 15 October 2013 by Phil Hogan, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and signed into law on 27 January 2014 by President Michael D. Higgins. Most of its provisions came into force on 1 June 2014.