Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and comprises large urban residential areas along with traditional farming communities. Its major industries include electronics, software and telecommunications development and agriculture. Council headquarters are at Mossley Mill in Newtownabbey. Towns within the area include Ballyclare and Glengormley. The University of Ulster at Jordanstown is also in the Council area.

The Newtownabbey Borough Council area consists of 4 electoral areas: Antrim Line, Macedon, University and Ballyclare. At the 2005 elections 25 members were elected from the following political parties: 12 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 2 Alliance Party, 1 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 1 Sinn Féin, 1 United Unionist Coalition, 1 Newtownabbey Ratepayers Association and 1 Independent (Tommy Kirkham). At the Annual General Meeting of the Council on the first Monday in June each year the Mayor is elected and becomes the first citizen of the Borough. The Mayor of Newtownabbey for 2007/2008 is Alderman Nigel Hamilton (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor is Alderman Victor Robinson (DUP).

In elections for the Westminster Parliament it is split between the East Antrim constituency, the South Antrim constituency and the North Belfast constituency.

See Also: Local Councils in Northern Ireland

2005 Election results

Party		seats	change +/-
•	Democratic Unionist Party	12	+4
•	Ulster Unionist Party	6	-3
•	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	2	+1
•	Social Democratic and Labour Party	1	-1
•	Newtownabbey Ratepayers Association	1	=
•	Sinn Féin	1	=
•	United Unionist Coalition	1	=
•	Independent	1	-1

Mayors

1977 - 78: S. R. Cameron

1986 - 87: George Herron, Ulster Unionist Party

1990 - 91: Fraser Agnew, Ulster Unionist Party

1991 - 92: Ken Robinson, Ulster Unionist Party

1996 - 97: Billy Snoddy, Democratic Unionist Party

1999 - 00: Jim Bingham, Ulster Unionist Party

2000 - 02: Vera McWilliam, Ulster Unionist Party

2002 - 04: Paul Girvan, Democratic Unionist Party

2004 - 05: Ted Turkington, Ulster Unionist Party

2005 - 06: Billy DeCourcy, Democratic Unionist Party

2006 - 07: Lynn Frazer, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

2007 - 08: Nigel Hamilton, Democratic Unionist Party

2008 - 09: Victor Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party

2009 - 10: John Scott, Ulster Unionist Party

Review of Public Administration

Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Council is due to merge with Antrim Borough Council in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 572 km² and a population of 128,361. The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 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.

References

1. Northern Ireland elections are postponed, BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008

External links

• Newtownabbey Borough Council
• Newtownabbey Times