Magherafelt District Council

Coordinates: 54°45′07″N 6°36′04″W / 54.752°N 6.601°W / 54.752; -6.601
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Magherafelt District
MLAs
Mid Ulster
Sinn Féin: 3
DUP: 1
SDLP: 1
  • MPs
    Francie Molloy (Sinn Féin)
    • Websitewww.magherafelt.gov.uk
    List of places
    UK
    Northern Ireland

    Magherafelt District Council was a district council in

    Mid-Ulster District Council
    .

    The council headquarters were in

    Moyola River. It covered an area of 214 square miles (550 km2) and had a population of over 45,000. Local towns in the area included Bellaghy, birthplace of poet Seamus Heaney
    in 1939.

    The council was composed of 16 elected representatives. Local elections were held every four years on a proportional representation system. At its last election, in May 2011, those elected were from the following political parties: 9 Sinn Féin, 3 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and 2 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The chairman and vice-chairman are elected on an annual basis at the annual general meeting in May or June. The final (2013/14) chairman was Councillor Catherine Elattar (SF), who represented the Magherafelt Town electoral area, and the vice-chair was Councillor Anne Forde (DUP), who represented the Sperrin electoral area. This was the second occasion on which Magherafelt District Council had elected two women to the top two positions.

    For elections to the

    Westminster Parliament it is part of the Mid Ulster constituency
    .

    2011 election results

    Party seats change +/-
    • Sinn Féin 9 +1
    • Democratic Unionist Party 3 -1
    • Social Democratic and Labour Party 2 =
    • Ulster Unionist Party 2 =
    Map depicting boundaries of Magherafelt District Council electoral regions and wards

    Electoral regions

    Magherafelt District Council was divided into three electoral regions; Magherafelt Town, Moyola, and Sperrin, each of which was further divided into

    electoral wards
    ; six in Magherafelt Town and five in both Moyola and Sperrin.

    Review of Public Administration

    Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the council merged with

    Mid-Ulster District Council, for the enlarged area totalling 1714 km2 and a population of 120, 096.[1] The formation and election to this new council 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.[2]
    The introduction of this new super-council however was postponed but the election for it finally took place in 2014 with reorganisation completed in 2015.

    Population

    The area covered by Magherafelt District Council had a population of 45,038 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.[3]

    See also

    • Local Councils in Northern Ireland

    References

    1. ^ "Minister Foster announces decisions on Local Government Reform". DoE. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
    2. ^ Northern Ireland elections are postponed, BBC News, 25 April 2008, accessed 27 April 2008
    3. ^ "NI Census 2011 - Key Statistics Summary Report, September 2014" (PDF). NI Statistics and Research Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.

    54°45′07″N 6°36′04″W / 54.752°N 6.601°W / 54.752; -6.601

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