Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (Irish: Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin) is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Down District Council and Newry and Mourne District Council and covers most of the southeast of Northern Ireland. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014. At the 2019 Northern Ireland local elections, Sinn Féin became the largest party with 16 seats.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 2015 |
| Preceded by | Down District Council Newry and Mourne District Council |
| Leadership | |
Chairperson | Michael Savage, SDLP |
Vice Chairperson | Aoife Finnegan, Sinn Féin |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 41 |
 | |
Political groups | Executive (27) Sinn Féin (16) SDLP (11) Opposition (14) DUP (5) Independents (3) Alliance (3) UUP (2) TUV (1) |
| Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2019 |
| Meeting place | |
| Downshire Civic Centre, Downpatrick and O'Hagan House, Newry | |
| Website | |
| http://www.newrymournedown.org/ | |
Chairpersonship
Chairperson
| From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2016 | Naomi Bailie[1] | Sinn Féin | |
| 2016 | 2017 | Gillian Fitzpatrick | SDLP | |
| 2017 | 2018 | Róisín Mulgrew | Sinn Féin | |
| 2018 | 2019 | Mark Murnin | SDLP | |
| 2019 | 2020 | Charlie Casey[2] | Sinn Féin | |
| 2020 | 2021 | Laura Devlin | SDLP | |
| 2021 | 2022 | Cathy Mason[3] | Sinn Féin | |
| 2022 | Present | Michael Savage | SDLP |
Deputy Chairperson
| From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2016 | Gillian Fitzpatrick | SDLP | |
| 2016 | 2017 | Garth Craig | DUP | |
| 2017 | 2018 | William Clarke | Sinn Féin | |
| 2018 | 2019 | Oksana McMahon | Sinn Féin | |
| 2019 | 2020 | Terry Andrews | SDLP | |
| 2020 | 2021 | Harold McKee | Ulster Unionist | |
| 2021 | 2022 | Oonagh Magennis | Sinn Féin | |
| 2022 | Present | Aoife Finnegan | Sinn Féin |
Councillors
For the purpose of elections the council is divided into seven district electoral areas (DEA):[4]
| Area | Seats |
|---|---|
| Crotlieve | 6 |
| Downpatrick | 5 |
| Newry | 6 |
| Rowallane | 5 |
| Slieve Croob | 5 |
| Slieve Gullion | 7 |
| The Mournes | 7 |
Party strengths
| Party | Elected 2014 |
Elected 2019 |
Current | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | 14 | 16 | 16 | |
| SDLP | 14 | 11 | 11 | |
| DUP | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
| Alliance | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| UUP | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| UKIP | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| TUV | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Independents | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
Councillors by electoral area
| Council members from 2019 election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District electoral area | Name | Party | |
| Crotlieve | Jarlath Tinnelly | Independent | |
| Gerry O'Hare | Sinn Féin | ||
| Declan McAteer | SDLP | ||
| Mark Gibbons | Independent | ||
| Mickey Ruane | Sinn Féin | ||
| Karen McKevitt | SDLP | ||
| Downpatrick | Gareth Sharvin | SDLP | |
| Cadogan Enright ‡ | Alliance | ||
| Dermot Curran | SDLP | ||
| Oonagh Hanlon | Sinn Féin | ||
| John Trainor | SDLP | ||
| Newry | Gavin Malone | Independent | |
| Geraldine Kearns †† | Sinn Féin | ||
| Michael Savage | SDLP | ||
| Cathal King † | Sinn Féin | ||
| Valerie Harte | Sinn Féin | ||
| Gary Stokes | SDLP | ||
| Rowallane | David Lee-Surginor † | Alliance | |
| Terry Andrews | SDLP | ||
| Jonathan Jackson †† | DUP | ||
| Robert Burgess | Ulster Unionist | ||
| Callum Bowsie †† | DUP | ||
| Slieve Croob | Alan Lewis ‡ | DUP | |
| Róisín Howell | Sinn Féin | ||
| Jim Brennan † | Sinn Féin | ||
| Andrew McMurray † | Alliance | ||
| Hugh Gallagher | SDLP | ||
| Slieve Gullion | Aoife Finnegan † | Sinn Féin | |
| Mickey Larkin | Sinn Féin | ||
| Pete Byrne | SDLP | ||
| Oonagh Magennis | Sinn Féin | ||
| Barra O Muirí | Sinn Féin | ||
| David Taylor | Ulster Unionist | ||
| Declan Murphy † | Sinn Féin | ||
| The Mournes | Glyn Hanna ‡‡ | DUP | |
| Michael Rice † | Sinn Féin | ||
| Laura Devlin | SDLP | ||
| Harold McKee ‡ | TUV | ||
| Henry Reilly ‡ | DUP | ||
| Willie Clarke | Sinn Féin | ||
| Leeanne McEvoy | Sinn Féin | ||
† Co-opted to fill a vacancy since the election.
‡ New party affiliation since the election.
Last updated 22 December 2022.
For further details see 2019 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council election.
Bilingualism policy
The former Newry & Mourne District Council, uniquely among local authorities in Northern Ireland, has a bilingual policy which sets out the Council’s commitment to facilitate and encourage the promotion and use of both the Irish language and the English language in the Council area. In order to ensure that the new administrative division does not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the Irish language, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council was obliged under the terms of Article 7.1 (b) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, to progressively implement the bilingual policy throughout the whole of the newly enlarged district.[5]
Population
The area covered by the new Council has a population of 171,533 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.[6]
References
- "Naomi Bailie is new Council Chair", Newry.ie, 31 March 2015
- "Chairperson's Office". Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- "New Council Chairperson Appointed at 2021 AGM".
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities". European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages. - "NI Census 2011 - Key Statistics Summary Report, September 2014" (PDF). NI Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 28 September 2014.