Editing Portlaoise (section)

==Local government==
[[File:IMGPortlaoise 4420w.jpg|thumb|Bridge Street and Church of Sts. Peter and Paul]]
The town forms part of the Portlaoise [[local electoral area]] and municipal district for elections to [[Laois County Council]]. This includes the urban Portlaoise area, Abbeyleix and Ballinakill and surrounding rural areas. As of 2020, the total population of the Portlaoise local electoral area is 31,794 people.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/news/590221/portlaoise-is-the-brightest-place-in-laois-for-the-wrong-reasons.html|title=Portlaoise is the brightest place in Laois for the wrong reasons|date=19 November 2020|newspaper=Leinster Express|access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> Portlaoise Town Council was abolished in 2014 in accordance with the [[Local Government Reform Act 2014]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/1/enacted/en/print |title= Local Government Reform Act 2014|publisher=Irish Statute Book| access-date=24 November 2023}}</ref> Portlaoise Town Hall on Market Square, which was designed in the French Renaissance-style, was badly damaged in a fire in March 1945 and subsequently demolished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/heritage-towns/towns-and-villages-of-lao/portlaoise/town-hall/  |title=Town Hall|publisher=Ask Abourt Ireland|access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref>

Portlaoise is twinned with [[Coulounieix-Chamiers]], [[Dordogne]], [[New Aquitaine]], France.