| Ards Borough | |
| Geography | |
| Area - Total |
Ranked 20th of 26 376 km² |
|---|---|
| Admin HQ | Newtownards |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-ARD |
| ONS code | 95X |
| Demographics | |
| Population - Total (2010) - Density |
Ranked 8th 78,200 208 / km² |
| Community | Catholic: 12.6% Protestant: 82.5% |
| Politics | |
| Control | No overall control DUP: 5 UUP: 5 Sinn Féin: 4 SDLP: 3 Alliance Party: 2 |
| MLAs | DUP: 6 UUP: 3 Alliance Party: 2 Green Party: 1 |
| MPs | Sylvia Hermon (Independent) Jim Shannon (DUP) |
| Meeting place | |
| Website | |
| http://www.ards-council.gov.uk | |
Ards (named after the Ards Peninsula) is a local government district in Northern Ireland with the status of borough. It is one of twenty-six districts formed on 1 October 1973, and has its headquarters in Newtownards. Other towns include Portaferry, Comber, and Donaghadee, and the population of the area is about 73,000.
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, holder of the Guinness Book of Records title of the oldest pub on Ireland.
Contents |
The borough is governed by Ards Borough Council. The borough is 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 are 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 the next district council elections will take place in 2011[3]
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 | Deputy's affiliation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 - 75 | John Algie | Ulster Unionist | D. Hamilton | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1975 - 77 | Henry Cosbey | Ulster Unionist | J. B. Caughey | Independent | ||
| 1977 - 79 | John Scott | Ulster Unionist | Hamilton McKeag | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1979 - 81 | Hamilton McKeag | Ulster Unionist | Robert Gaw | Labour (NI) | ||
| 1981 - 83 | Robert Gaw | Labour (NI) | Jim McBriar | Alliance | ||
| 1983 - 84 | Jim McBriar | Alliance | Oliver Johnston | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1984 - 85 | Oliver Johnston | Democratic Unionist | Gladys McIntyre | Ulster Popular Unionist | ||
| 1985 - 86 | Gladys McIntyre | Ulster Popular Unionist | Robert Ambrose | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1986 - 87 | Robert Ambrose | Ulster Unionist | Simpson Gibson | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1987 - 88 | Simpson Gibson | Democratic Unionist | Tom Benson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1988 - 89 | Tom Benson | Ulster Unionist | John Hamilton | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1989–1990 | John Hamilton | Democratic Unionist | Robert Gibson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1990 - 91 | Robert Gibson | Ulster Unionist | Jim Shannon | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1991 - 92 | Jim Shannon | Democratic Unionist | David Smyth | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1992 - 93 | David Smyth | Ulster Unionist | Wilbert Magill | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1993 - 94 | Wilbert Magill | Democratic Unionist | John Shields | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1994 - 95 | John Shields | Ulster Unionist | St Clair McAlister | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 1995 - 96 | St Clair McAlister | Democratic Unionist | Robert Gibson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| June - December 1996 | Robert Gibson | Ulster Unionist | Ronnie Ferguson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| January - June 1998 | Ronnie Ferguson | Ulster Unionist | George Ennis | Democratic Unionist | ||
| June 1998 - June 1999 | George Ennis | Democratic Unionist | Alan McDowell | Alliance | ||
| 1999–2000 | Alan McDowell | Alliance | Tom Hamilton | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2000 - 01 | Tom Hamilton | Ulster Unionist | Margaret Craig | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 2001 - 02 | Margaret Craig | Democratic Unionist | Jeff Magill | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2002 - 03 | Jeff Magill | Ulster Unionist | Jim McBriar | Alliance | ||
| 2003 - 04 | Jim McBriar | Alliance | Hamilton Gregory | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 2004 - 05 | Hamilton Gregory | Democratic Unionist | Angus Carson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2005 - 06 | Terry Williams | Democratic Unionist | Angus Carson | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2006 - 07 | Angus Carson | Ulster Unionist | Robin Drysdale | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 2007 - 08 | Robin Drysdale | Democratic Unionist | Jim Fletcher | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2008 - 09 | Jim Fletcher | Ulster Unionist | William Montgomery | Democratic Unionist | ||
| 2009 - 10 | William Montgomery | Democratic Unionist | David Smyth | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 2010 - 11[1] | David Smyth | Ulster Unionist | Mervyn Oswald | Democratic Unionist | ||
Source: Freedom of Information request to Ards Borough Council
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]
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.
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