County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland,one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of 961 sq mi (2,490 km2) and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the north,the Irish Sea to the east,County Armagh to the west,and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.
North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council.
Holywood is a town in the metropolitan area of Belfast in County Down,Northern Ireland. It is a civil parish and townland of 306 hectares lying on the shore of Belfast Lough,between Belfast and Bangor. Holywood Exchange and Belfast City Airport are nearby.
The Green Party Northern Ireland,sometimes abbreviated as Green Party NI,is a political party in Northern Ireland. Like many green political parties around the world,its origins lie in the anti-nuclear,labour and peace movements of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Stephen Anthony Farry is a Northern Irish politician who has served as the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since December 2016 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down since 2019.
Michelle O'Neill is an Irish politician who has served as First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024 and Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018. She has also been the MLA for Mid Ulster in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2007. O'Neill was previously deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022.
John Joseph Barry is an Irish academic,green political economist and former Green Party politician. He was a councillor on Ards and North Down Borough Council from May 2014 to March 2018.
The first election to North Down and Ards District Council,part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014,returned 40 members to the newly formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of first-preference votes and seats.
Clare Bailey is a Northern Irish activist and former politician who was the Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland from November 2018 to August 2022,having been deputy leader of the party from 2014 to 2017. Bailey was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2016 to 2022.
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister,Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Andrew Muir is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Agriculture,Environment and Rural Affairs since February 2024. He is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down. He was appointed as an MLA following incumbent Alliance MLA Stephen Farry's election as MP for North Down in the 2019 UK general election,and elected in the constituency in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
Matthew John O'Toole MLA is an Irish nationalist politician,former civil servant,and journalist,serving as leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly and leader of the opposition since 2022,and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2020.
Cara Hunter MLA is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician,currently serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry,a position she has held since 18 May 2020.
Events from the year 2022 in Northern Ireland.
Malachai O'Hara is a Northern Irish politician,activist and community worker who has been the leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland since August 2022,having previously served as deputy leader from 2019 to 2022. O'Hara was a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA from 2019,until 2023. In 2024 he was elected unopposed to Seanad Éireann,in a by-election to the Administrative Panel.
Sorcha-Lucy Eastwood is an Alliance Party politician who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly from Lagan Valley in the 2022 Assembly election.
Connie Egan is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Down.
Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on 18 May 2023. The elections were delayed by two weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III. Following the elections,Sinn Féin became the largest party in local government for the first time. It also marked the first time that nationalist parties had garnered a greater share of the vote than unionist parties,however,despite this,there were more unionist councillors elected than nationalists.
The 2023 election to Ards and North Down Borough Council was held on 18 May 2023,alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland,two weeks after local elections in England. The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.
Holywood and Clandeboye is one of the seven district electoral areas (DEA) in Ards and North Down,Northern Ireland. The district elects five members to Ards and North Down Borough Council and contains the wards of Clandeboye,Cultra,Helen's Bay,Holywood and Loughview. Holywood and Clandeboye forms part of the North Down constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
