Ards (borough)

Ards Borough
Ards Borough
Area	376 km2 (145 sq mi) ; Ranked 20th of 26
District HQ	Newtownards
Catholic	12.7%
Protestant	76.9%
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Councillors	MLAs; DUP: 6 ; UUP: 2 ; Alliance Party: 2 ; UKIP: 1 ; Green Party: 1; MPs; Sylvia Hermon (Independent) ; Jim Shannon (DUP);
Website	www.ards-council.gov.uk
	List of places UK Northern Ireland

54°31′16″N 5°44′49″W / 54.521°N 5.747°W / 54.521; -5.747

Ards (named after the Ards Peninsula) was a local government district in Northern Ireland with the status of borough. It was one of twenty-six districts formed on 1 October 1973, and had its headquarters in Newtownards. It was merged with neighbouring North Down on May 1, 2015 to form the new Borough of Ards and North Down Other towns in the defunct Borough include Portaferry, Comber, and Donaghadee, and the population of the area was 78,078 according to the 2011 census.

Strangford Lough is at the heart of the area, and is the largest inlet in Ireland with internationally renowned wildlife. The Irish Sea coast stretches from Donaghadee to Portaferry. Mount Stewart, a National Trust property on the shore of Strangford Lough is in the area, as well as Northern Ireland’s only aquarium, Exploris, in Portaferry and Grace Neill's pub in Donaghadee.

Borough council

The borough was governed by Ards Borough Council (Ulster-Scots: Burgh Cooncil o' the Airds, Newton an' Blathewick). The borough was divided into four district electoral areas: Newtownards, Ards West, Ards East and Ards Peninsula, from which 23 members are elected. As of February 2011 the following parties were represented on the council: 11 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party, and 1 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and there are one Independent councillors.^[1] 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.^[2] The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and district council elections took place in 2011^[3]

Mayor of Ards

On creation in 1973 Ards District Council adopted the charter of incorporation of the municipal borough of Newtownards, to become Ards Borough Council. The charter also granted the chairman of the council the title "Mayor of Ards".^[4]

Year	Name	Political affiliation		Deputy
1973 - 75	John Algie style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	D. Hamilton style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1975 - 77	Henry Cosbey style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	J. B. Caughey style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" \|	Independent
1977 - 79	John Scott style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Hamilton McKeag style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1979 - 81	Hamilton McKeag style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Robert Gaw style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Labour Party" \|	NI Labour
1981 - 83	Robert Gaw style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Labour Party" \|	NI Labour	Jim McBriar style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance
1983 - 84	Jim McBriar style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance	Oliver Johnston style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1984 - 85	Oliver Johnston style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Gladys McIntyre style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffdead;" data-sort-value="Ulster Popular Unionist Party" \|	UPUP
1985 - 86	Gladys McIntyre style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffdead;" data-sort-value="Ulster Popular Unionist Party" \|	UPUP	Robert Ambrose style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1986 - 87	Robert Ambrose style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Simpson Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1987 - 88	Simpson Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Tom Benson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1988 - 89	Tom Benson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	John Hamilton style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1989–1990	John Hamilton style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Robert Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1990 - 91	Robert Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Jim Shannon style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1991 - 92	Jim Shannon style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	David Smyth style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1992 - 93	David Smyth style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Wilbert Magill style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1993 - 94	Wilbert Magill style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	John Shields style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
1994 - 95	John Shields style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	St Clair McAlister style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
1995 - 96	St Clair McAlister style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Robert Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
June - December 1996	Robert Gibson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Ronnie Ferguson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
January - June 1998	Ronnie Ferguson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	George Ennis style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
June 1998 - June 1999	George Ennis style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Alan McDowell style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance
1999–2000	Alan McDowell style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance	Tom Hamilton style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2000 - 01	Tom Hamilton style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Margaret Craig style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2001 - 02	Margaret Craig style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Jeff Magill style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2002 - 03	Jeff Magill style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Jim McBriar style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance
2003 - 04	Jim McBriar style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance	Hamilton Gregory style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2004 - 05	Hamilton Gregory style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Angus Carson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2005 - 06	Terry Williams style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Angus Carson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2006 - 07	Angus Carson style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Robin Drysdale style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2007 - 08	Robin Drysdale style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Jim Fletcher style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2008 - 09	Jim Fletcher style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	William Montgomery style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2009 - 10	William Montgomery style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	David Smyth style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP
2010 - 11^[1]	David Smyth style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP	Mervyn Oswald style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2011 - 12	Mervyn Oswald style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Hamilton Gregory style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP
2012 - 2013	Hamilton Gregory style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP	Stephen McIlveen style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" \|	DUP

2013 Stephen McIlveen Democratic Unionist Party

Source: Freedom of Information request to Ards Borough Council

Parliamentary and assembly representation

In elections for the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly most of the borough is included in the Strangford constituency, with part (Donaghadee North, Donaghadee South and Millisle) in the North Down constituency.^[5]

Town twinning

The borough of Ards has a sister city (twinning) relationship with the city of Peoria, Arizona, USA. As a result of this relationship, regular exchange visits are made between the two communities by artists, educators, business, political, and community leaders.

References

^ ^a ^b "Councillors". Ards Borough Council. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
^ Northern Ireland elections are postponed, BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008
^ "The executive fails to agree a deal on council reform". BBC News. 15 June 2010. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ the Charter of the Corporation of the Borough of Newtownards shall have effect in relation to the District of Ards... the name in the Charter shall be changed to Ards Borough Council."No. 2917". The Belfast Gazette. 24 August 1973.
^ Statutory Instrument 2008 No. 1486 (section Schedule) The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 (Coming into force 25 June 2008)

External links

[council-1] "Councillors". Ards Borough Council. Retrieved 18 February 2011.

[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. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[4] the Charter of the Corporation of the Borough of Newtownards shall have effect in relation to the District of Ards... the name in the Charter shall be changed to Ards Borough Council."No. 2917". The Belfast Gazette. 24 August 1973.

[5] Statutory Instrument 2008 No. 1486 (section Schedule) The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 (Coming into force 25 June 2008)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015
Councils	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Derry Down Dungannon and South Tyrone Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Districts	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Derry Down Dungannon and South Tyrone Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane