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Local government in Northern Ireland is divided among 11 single-tier districts known as 'Local Government Districts' (abbreviated LGDs) and formerly known as district council areas (DCAs). [1] Councils in Northern Ireland do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom; for example they have no responsibility for education, road-building or housing (although they do nominate members to the advisory Northern Ireland Housing Council). Their functions include planning, waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and cultural development. The collection of rates is handled centrally by the Land and Property Services agency of the Northern Ireland Executive.
The 11 districts were established in 2015. [1] Basic geographical statistics are shown below. Previously (between 1972 and 2015) the country was divided into 26 smaller districts.
Based on the 2023 Northern Ireland local elections.
Name | SF | DUP | APNI | UUP | SDLP | TUV | GPNI | PBP | PUP | Ind. | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim & Newtownabbey | 9 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 40 |
Ards & North Down | — | 14 | 12 | 8 | 1 | — | 2 | — | — | 3 | 40 |
Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon | 15 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 41 |
Belfast | 22 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 60 |
Causeway Coast & Glens | 12 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 40 |
Derry & Strabane | 18 | 5 | — | 3 | 8 | — | — | 1 | — | 5 | 40 |
Fermanagh & Omagh | 21 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 40 |
Lisburn & Castlereagh | 4 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 40 |
Mid & East Antrim | 4 | 13 | 7 | 8 | — | 6 | — | — | — | 2 | 40 |
Mid-Ulster | 19 | 11 | — | 2 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 40 |
Newry, Mourne & Down | 20 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 41 |
Total | 144 | 120 | 67 | 53 | 37 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 462 |
Last updated 21 May 2024
The current pattern of 11 local government districts was established on 1 April 2015, as a result of the reform process that started in 2005.
The previous pattern of local government in Northern Ireland, with 26 councils, was established in 1973 by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 to replace the previous system established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system was based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, which presupposed the continued existence of the Government of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority. [3]
From 1921 to 1973, Northern Ireland was divided into six administrative counties (subdivided into urban and rural districts) and two county boroughs. The counties and county boroughs continue to exist for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. [4] This system, with the abolition of rural districts, remains the model for local government in the Republic of Ireland. (See also List of rural and urban districts in Northern Ireland for more details)
Councillors are elected for a four-year term of office under the single transferable vote (STV) system. Elections were last held on 18 May 2023. To qualify for election, a councillor candidate must be:
In addition, they must either:
The districts are combined for various purposes.
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Northern Ireland is divided into five parts at level 3
There were five education and library boards (ELBs) in Northern Ireland.
As part of the Review of Public Administration process, the library functions of the ELBs were taken over by a new body, the Northern Ireland Library Authority (branded Libraries NI) in April 2009. [5]
The education and skills functions were centralised into a single Education Authority for Northern Ireland in April 2015. [6]
The boards were as follows:
There were four health and social services boards which were replaced by a single Health and Social Care Board in April 2009. [7]
The former health and social services boards were as follows:
In June 2002, the Northern Ireland Executive established a Review of Public Administration to review the arrangements for the accountability, development, administration and delivery of public services. Among its recommendations were a reduction in the number of districts. [8] In 2005 Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced proposals to reduce the number of councils to seven. [9] The names and boundaries of the seven districts were announced in March 2007. [10] In March 2008 the restored Northern Executive agreed to create eleven new councils instead of the original seven. [11] [12] The first elections were due to take place in May 2011. However, by May 2010 disagreements among parties in the executive over district boundaries were expected to delay the reforms until 2015. [13] In June 2010 the proposed reforms were abandoned following the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to reach agreement. [14] [15] However, on 12 March 2012, the Northern Ireland Executive published its programme for government, which included a commitment to reduce the number of councils in Northern Ireland to 11. [16]
The counties of Ireland are historic administrative divisions of the island. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time, new offices of political control came to be established at a county level. The number of counties varied depending on the time period, however thirty-two is the traditionally accepted and used number.
Castlereagh was a local government district with the status of borough in Northern Ireland. It merged with Lisburn City Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council.
The subdivisions of England constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
Unionism in Ireland is a political tradition that professes loyalty to the crown of the United Kingdom and to the union it represents with England, Scotland and Wales. The overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, unionism mobilised in the decades following Catholic Emancipation in 1829 to oppose restoration of a separate Irish parliament. Since Partition in 1921, as Ulster unionism its goal has been to retain Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom and to resist the prospect of an all-Ireland republic. Within the framework of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which concluded three decades of political violence, unionists have shared office with Irish nationalists in a reformed Northern Ireland Assembly. As of February 2024, they no longer do so as the larger faction: they serve in an executive with an Irish republican First Minister.
Newtownabbey Borough Council was a Local Authority in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Council merged with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015 under local government reform in Northern Ireland to form Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, Wales and Scotland by legislation in 1888 and 1889. The Act effectively ended landlord control of local government in Ireland.
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Maghera is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 Census. Formerly in the barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County Londonderry, it is today in the local-government district of Mid-Ulster.
Derry City Council was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Derry and Strabane District Council.
Armagh City and District Council was a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It merged with Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.
Banbridge was a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was one of 26 council areas formed on 1 October 1973, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972. The headquarters of the council were in the town of Banbridge. In April 2015, most of the Banbridge district was included in the merged Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. Some smaller areas in the east of the district became merged with the Newry, Mourne and Down District
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
The Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) is a trade union in Northern Ireland affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. It is the largest trade union in Northern Ireland, with around 46,000 members, and is organised into two groups, the Civil Service Group, for the staff of public bodies employed on civil service terms and conditions, and the Public Officers Group, for employees of education and library boards, health and social services boards, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, district councils, other public bodies and voluntary organisations.
The Local Government (Boundaries) Act 1971 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, passed in 1971 to replace the previous system of local authorities established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system was based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, which presupposed the continued existence of the Government of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is a government department in the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved administration for Northern Ireland. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The department was called the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development between 1999 and 2016. The Minister of Agriculture previously existed in the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972, where the department was known as the Ministry of Agriculture. The current Permanent Secretary is Katrina Godfrey.
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest social housing landlord, and the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple occupants, houses that are unfit, and housing conditions. The NIHE employed 2,865 persons as of 31 March 2020.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".
Reform of local government in Northern Ireland saw the replacement of the twenty-six districts created in 1973 with a smaller number of "super districts". The review process began in 2002, with proposals for either seven or eleven districts made before it was suspended in 2010. On 12 March 2012, the Northern Ireland Executive published its programme for government, which included a commitment to reduce the number of councils in Northern Ireland to 11. The first elections to these new councils were on 22 May 2014.
In Northern Ireland, a total of 26 LGDs were established in 1996. This number was reduced to 11 from 1 April 2015. These districts form the single tier of local government in Northern Ireland. Local government districts were formerly known as district council areas (DCAs).