Burns Moley Sinn Fein Cumann South Armagh

The North's 26 councils are to be replaced by 7

The seven councils are not to be based upon the counties but are to be a combination of the current 26 with Belfast to remain as it is. This is shown in the map above.

The party breakdown of the new but un-named council of which Newry and Mourne is to be a part is below.

31,269

25.40%

SDLP

29,051

23.60%

DUP

28,691

23.31%

UUP

24,738

20.10%

IND

6,823

5.55%

ALNC

1,670

1.36%

GRN

863

0.70%

Total

123,105

It is expected that the two new councils west of the Bann will have Nationalist majorities while the three east of the Bann will have Unionist majorities. Belfast is expected to be evenly divided.

Seven councils the way forward, says Pat Doherty 08/11/2006

Politicians opposed to the seven new super councils planned for Northern Ireland have been accused of being more concerned about their own careers than what is best for local government.

Sinn Fein vice president Pat Doherty made the claim after the Democratic Unionists, Ulster Unionists, nationalist SDLP and cross community Alliance Party criticised Boundaries Commissioner Dick Mackenzie`s vision of a new seven council system.

Mr Doherty, whose party is the only one to support the seven council proposal, also claimed arguments for an 11 or 15 model did not hold up to "The 15 and 11 models could be described as halfway houses which neither retain local identity nor afford locally elected representatives with the necessary powers or resources to bring about meaningful change within their local areas," the West Tyrone MP argued.

"For example, it is only under the seven model that sufficient powers and financial resources would transferred to councils to enable them to draw up and implement meaningful socio-economic development strategies for their areas.

"The 15 and 11 models could also serve to perpetuate the duplication of bureaucracy and eat up ratepayers` money that could be better used in improving frontline council services."

Mr Mackenzie yesterday announced boundary changes to the seven new councils envisaged last year in the British government`s review of public administration.

Under his plan, Belfast would be a bigger council than was originally planned, swallowing up parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn and North Down council areas.

The other councils would be known as:
:: Inner East Local Government District, incorporating Antrim, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey Councils and the remainder of Lisburn City Council

:: East Local Government District, comprising Ards, Down, parts of North Down and Castlereagh Councils

:: South Local Government District, made up of Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon and Newry and Mourne

:: West Local Government District, incorporating Cookstown, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh and Omagh

:: North-West Local Government District, comprising Derry, Limavady, Magherafelt and Strabane and part of Coleraine

:: North-East Local Government District, made up of Ballymena, Ballymoney, Larne, Moyle and a major part of Coleraine.

The Northern Ireland Local Government Association has criticised Mr Mackenzie`s plan.

Parties also highlighted his failure to come up with imaginative names for the new councils which people could unite around.

The DUP`s Mervyn Storey and UUP`s Jim Wilson both insisted the 11 or 15 council model would be better.

The SDLP`s Tommy Gallagher and Patricia Lewsley rounded on Sinn Fein for supporting a model which under the Boundaries Commissioner`s plans could see nationalist districts based in Lisburn swallowed up by the new Belfast council.

This, Ms Lewsley claimed, would make the nationalist community even more of a minority on the proposed new Inner East council.

Mr Doherty countered:

"There is a strong feeling in the community that some councillors are more concerned about maintaining their own careers rather than putting in place a local government structure that would have sufficient powers and allocated resources to bringing about meaningful change for the rate payers of the different districts

"The seven council model is the only one we have seen so far to provide protection for all minorities.

"It would ensure that within each and every council area there would be a minority of at least 20 per cent.

"Those who advocate 11 or 15 are failing to tell people that this would result in significant minorities being trapped within council areas where their rights would not be represented or protected.

"Adherence to firm equality and power sharing legislation would be inbuilt prerequisites for councillors serving into these new councils and the exclusion of minorities like we presently have in Lisburn, Newtownabbey, Ballymena etc would not be able to happen.

"Within the Review of Public Administration and the changes to health, education and council bodies the rights of public sector workers must be fully protected."

Shape of NI 'super councils' emerging

By Mark Devenport
Political editor, BBC Northern Ireland

They are sometimes called the government's Plan B should the Stormont Assembly fail to get off the ground. Now more details are emerging about what the planned seven new super councils might look like.

Voters will be asked to go to the polls in two years' time to elect so-called shadow councils.

In 2009, the new bodies will take over from the existing 26 councils.

Over the summer, the Department of Environment's Local Government Reform Task Force has been considering in detail how the new councils should operate.

Sub-committees have reported on areas like governance, relations between local government and central government and questions raised about the kind of headquarters the new councils will need, and what should be done with property already in council portfolios.

A key issue tackled by the governance sub-committee is what kind of protection there should be for the nationalist or unionist minorities within the new council areas.

'Current deadlock'

A committee, which includes representatives from the five main parties, has suggested the answer could be weighted majority voting, by which three quarters or more of the new councillors will have to agree contentious matters.

That is a change from the system negotiated during the Good Friday Agreement for use at the Stormont assembly.

At Stormont, politicians have to designate themselves as unionists or nationalists. Difficult issues require parallel consent - meaning that both communities can veto a proposal they do not like.

The system was designed as a guarantee against the majority community freezing the other side out of power. But critics say it has contributed to the current deadlock at the assembly.

Instead, the latest blueprint for the new councils suggests weighted majority voting. If 20% of councillors do not like a proposal, they can "call it in" - basically demanding it is given special consideration.

Only if 75% of councillors approve, can the policy proceed. Looking at the planned seven new councils, unionists will be in the majority east of the River Bann, while nationalists will be in a majority to the west.

The weighted majority system would appear to guarantee minority interests in six of the seven proposed new councils.

For example, in the North West council area, where unionists are likely to be around 28%, they would be able to stop a proposal they oppose.

However, in the proposed greater Antrim council, nationalists could have a problem, as they may constitute a minority of only 15%.

That is not enough to trigger the "call in" nor enough to block a 75% vote. For that reason, nationalists indicate they may agree to the system in principle but still want to argue about the precise threshold.

Besides the idea for weighted majority voting, it is proposed that council jobs should be allocated in proportion to party strengths.

It is recommended a new Commissioner for Local Government should keep an eye on the conduct of individual councillors.

There is also a suggestion for a new Communities Minister, within the Office of First and Deputy First Minister, whose job would be to act as a champion for local government.

A Partnership Panel would bring together representatives of central government and the councils.

The details of all of this are yet to be agreed, as are the precise boundaries of the new councils and where their headquarters will be.

But the progress made so far in the latest blueprint appears in stark contrast to the continuing deadlock at Stormont.