Ballymoney (borough)

Ballymoney Borough
Geography
Area - Total	Ranked 17th of 26 418 km²
Admin HQ	Ballymoney
ISO 3166-2	GB-BLY
ONS code	95D
Demographics
Population - Total (2010) - Density	Ranked 25th 30,600 73 / km²
Community	Catholic: 31.9% Protestant: 66.2%
Politics
Control	No overall control DUP: 8 Sinn Féin: 3 UUP: 2 Independent: 1 SDLP: 1 TUV: 1
MLAs	North Antrim DUP: 3 Sinn Féin: 1 TUV: 1 UUP: 1
MPs	Ian Paisley, Jr. (DUP)
Meeting place
Website
http://www.ballymoney.gov.uk

Ballymoney is a local government district with borough status in Northern Ireland. It is headquartered in Ballymoney. Other towns in the borough include Dervock, Dunloy, Cloughmills and Rasharkin. The borough has a population of nearly 27,000.

Creation

Ballymoney is one of twenty-six districts created on 1 October 1973. It took over the areas Ballymoney Urban District Council and most of the surrounding Ballymoney Rural District in County Antrim.^[1]

Borough council

The borough is divided into three electoral areas which between them return 16 members. These are Ballymoney Town (5), Bann Valley (6) and Bushvale (5). Elections are conducted under the proportional representation single transferable vote system, and elections of the whole council are normally held every four years. The last local government election was held on 5 May 2005: the election due to take place in May 2009 was postponed in anticipation of the creation of eleven new councils in 2011.^[2] The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the next district council elections will take place in 2011^[3]

As of February 2011 the political composition of the council was: 7 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 3 Sinn Féin, 3 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and 1 Traditional Unionist Voice.^[4]

In 1977 Ballymoney District Council successfully petitioned for a grant of a charter of incorporation, constituting the district a borough.^[5]

Mayor of Ballymoney

The charter also created the office of mayor, who is chosen for a one year term at the council's annual meeting.

Year	Name	Political affiliation		Deputy	Deputy's affiliation
1977 - 81	Mary J. Holmes		Independent	Robert McComb		Independent
1981 - 84				Charles Steele		Democratic Unionist
1985 - 86	Charles Steele		Democratic Unionist	Joe Gaston		Ulster Unionist
1986 - 87	Joe Gaston		Ulster Unionist	James Patterson		Democratic Unionist
				Robert Halliday		Democratic Unionist
1988 - 89	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist	William Logan		Ulster Unionist
1990 - 93	Joe Gaston		Ulster Unionist	Samuel McConaghie		Democratic Unionist
				Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist
				Malachy McCamphill		SDLP
1994 - 95	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist	Robert Wilson		Democratic Unionist
1996 -97	Joe Gaston		Ulster Unionist	Samuel McConaghie		Democratic Unionist
1997 - 98	Frank Campbell		Democratic Unionist	William Logan		Ulster Unionist
				Samuel McConaghie		Democratic Unionist
1999–2000	William Logan		Ulster Unionist	Bill Kennedy		Democratic Unionist
2000–2001	Bill Kennedy		Democratic Unionist	Samuel McConaghie		Democratic Unionist
				John Finlay		Democratic Unionist
2002–2003	Frank Campbell		Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist
2004–2005	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist	Ian Stevenson		Democratic Unionist
2006–2007	John Finlay		Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist
2007–2008[6]	John Finlay		Democratic Unionist	Harry Connolly		SDLP
2008–2009[6]	John Finlay		Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist
2009–2010[7]	Frank Campbell		Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist
2010–2011[4]	Bill Kennedy		Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley		Democratic Unionist

Source: Freedom of Information request to Ballymoney Borough Council

Town twinning

In 2000, Ballymoney Borough Council twinned with the French town of Vanves. Since 2001, the council has been a sister city of Benbrook in Texas and building on its motorcycling history, is also linked to the borough of Douglas, Isle of Man.

Parliamentary and assembly representation

Together with the neighbouring districts of Ballymena and Moyle, it forms the North Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.

Demographics

Ballymoney is Northern Ireland's fastest-growing town in terms of population^{[citation needed]}. It is thought that this is because it is one of the most central places in Northern Ireland, being one hour from Belfast and one hour from Derry^{[citation needed]}. Another reason is as a result of high house prices in the Coleraine/Portstewart/Portrush 'Triangle' areas shifting first-time buyers to the less expensive Ballymoney area^{[citation needed]}.

The borough has the highest life expectancy of any area in Northern Ireland, with the average male life expectancy at birth being 78.0 years and 82.6 years for females.^[8]

See also

• Local Councils in Northern Ireland

References

1. ^ Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
2. ^ Northern Ireland elections are postponed, BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008
3. ^ "The executive fails to agree a deal on council reform". BBC News. 15 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/10314865.stm. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Ballymoney Council members". Ballymoney Borough Council. http://www.ballymoney.gov.uk/Council_Members.aspx. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
5. ^ Letters Patent bearing date the 18th day of February, 1977, have passed the Great Seal of Northern Ireland, granting a Charter of Incorporation to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Ballymoney." Belfast Gazette: no. 2920. pp. 566–567. 4 March 1977.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Minutes of Annual General Meeting 19 June 2008". Ballymoney Borough Council. http://www.ballymoney.gov.uk/CM_883%20-%2019th%20June%202008.pdf. 
7. ^ "Minutes of Annual General Meeting 18 June 2009". Ballymoney Borough Council. http://www.ballymoney.gov.uk/CM_904_18th_June_2009%20_AGM_.pdf. 
8. ^ Life Expectency

External links

• Ballymoney Borough Council

Coordinates: 55°4′15″N 6°30′28″W / 55.07083°N 6.50778°W / 55.07083; -6.50778