Castlereagh (borough)

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Castlereagh Borough
Scots: Stye Braes o Ulidia Burgh
Castlereagh in Northern Ireland.svg
Area  85 km2 (33 sq mi) 
Ranked 24th of 26
District HQ Upper Galwally, Newtownbreda
Catholic 22.2%
Protestant 67.9%
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
Councillors MLAs
DUP: 7
Alliance Party: 4
UUP: 4
Sinn Féin: 1
SDLP: 2
MPs
Alasdair McDonnell (SDLP)
Naomi Long (Alliance Party)
Jim Shannon (DUP)
Website www.castlereagh.gov.uk
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland

Castlereagh (/ˈkɑːsəlreɪ/ KAH-səl-ray) 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 District Council, with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council.

It was a mainly urban borough consisting mostly of suburbs of Belfast in the Castlereagh Hills (to the south-east of the city) with a small rural area in the south of the borough. Unusually, it had no natural borough centre. The main centres of population are Carryduff, 6 miles (9.6 km) south of Belfast city centre and Dundonald, 5 miles (8 km) east of it.

Castlereagh was named after the barony of Castlereagh, which in turn was named after the townland of same name.

Creation

The district is one of twenty-six created on 1 October 1973. It was formed by the amalgamation of the following areas of County Down: most of Castlereagh Rural District, the Carryduff and Newtownbreda areas of Hillsborough Rural District and the Moneyreagh area of North Down Rural District.[1][2]

Borough council

The borough is divided into four electoral areas: Castlereagh Central, South, East and West. In the 2011 elections, 23 members were elected. As of February 2012 the political composition of the council is: 11 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6 Alliance Party, 3 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and 1 Green Party councillor.[3] The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011.[4] The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the most recent district council elections took place in 2011[5]

Mayor of Castlereagh

In 1977 Castlereagh District Council was granted a charter of incorporation constituting the district as a borough, and creating the office of mayor.[6]

The mayor for the civic year 2013–2014 is councillor David Drysdale (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor is councillor Ann-Marie Beattie (DUP).[7]

Town twinning

Castlereagh and the city of Kent in Washington in the United States signed up as sister cities partners on 1 August 2000.[citation needed]

Parliamentary and assembly representation

The borough is divided between the East Belfast constituency (the wards of Ballyhanwood, Carrowreagh, Cregagh, Downshire, Dundonald, Enler, Gilnahirk, Graham's Bridge, Lisnasharragh, Lower Braniel, Tullycarnet and Upper Braniel), the South Belfast constituency (Beechill, Cairnshill, Carryduff East, Carryduff West, Galwally, Hillfoot, Knockbracken, Minnowburn, Newtownbreda and Wynchurch wards) and the Strangford constituency (Moneyreagh ward) for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.[8]

Elections 2011

These elections saw the political landscape at Castlereagh change dramatically. The DUP lost overall control of the council due to the loss of two council seats, one in Central and one in the East.[9] The UUP also lost their sole representative in East. The Alliance Party gained one in East and Central, while the Green Party also gained in East. There were no changes in the West or South areas. There had been much speculation[who?] that demographic change would deliver Sinn Féin a seat in South. However, this turned out to be unfounded, with the SDLP being the sixth placed runner up, being narrowly beaten by the UUP for the fifth seat.

Population

The area covered by Castlereagh Borough Council has a population of 67,272 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Northern Ireland elections are postponed, BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Letters Patent bearing date the 22nd day of March 1977, have passed the Great Seal of Northern Ireland, granting a Charter of Incorporation to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Castlereagh."The Belfast Gazette: no. 3393. p. 239. 25 March 1977.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Statutory Instrument 2008 No. 1486 (section Schedule) The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 (Coming into force 25 June 2008)
  9. ↑ Castlereagh Borough Council Elections 1993–2011, ARK, accessed 12 February 2012
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further References

Bow, John. 2011. Castlereagh, Enlightenment War and Tyranny. Quercus. ISBN 978-0-85738-186-6

External links

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