THE UUP were in buoyant mood as counting concluded in the unionist-dominated council of Antrim and Newtownabbey. With less than half the electorate
turning out to vote, the DUP was returned as the largest party with 15 seats but saw its share of the vote fall noticeably.
By contrast, the UUP was celebrating a boost in support and an increase in representation to 12 councillors from the 10 it won last time out.
Among those returned was Antrim mayor Roderick Swann, who topped the poll in the Dunsilly district electoral area with 1,111 votes. his victory on Saturday, on the second day of counting at Valley Leisure Centre, came shortly after party colleague Mark Cosgrove had also led the way in the Glengormley Urban.
The quick succession of UUP wins were met with loud cheers around the main count hall.
Mr Swann said he was "absolutely delighted" not only for himself but for the party.
"It appears province-wide we are on the up," he said. he claimed the party had been successful after getting rid of "deadwood".
"There are a percentage of people who defected to the DUP [who] have now come back to us," he said.
"I think our leader is doing a very good job." elsewhere, Sinn Fein saw a drop in support, with current councillor Gerry O'Reilly among those losing out.
Alliance managed to retain just four of the seven seats it held on the larger Antrim and Newtownabbey councils, although leader David Ford described the performance as "solid".
"We saw fantastic performances in Antrim town and urban Newtownabbey but the boundary changes undoubtedly made a negative impact on us and made the rural areas more difficult than they had been under the previous DeAs," he said.
While the SDLP saw its overall share of the vote fall slightly, the party managed to hold its four seats.
Long-standing councillor Thomas Burns - who was elected in the Airport ward - said he was "absolutely delighted".
"It's a very unionist-dominated council and the SDLP is going in with four people, not having lost anybody along the road," he said.
Meanwhile, there were celebrations in the TUV camp when the party saw two candidates elected on a six per cent share of the vote on its electoral debut in the area.
David Arthurs, who took a seat in Ballyclare, said the party only ran four people and could be delighted with a 50 per cent success rate.
"We said we were going to shake things up and you can see across the spectrum, we have done that," he said.
Electorate: 94,225 Turnout: 44,303 (47%) Spoiled vote: 614 (1.4%)
AIRPORT (Quota: 1,032)
Anne-Marie Logue (SF) 1,212 (19.6%) Thomas Burns (SDLP) 975 (15.8%) Matthew Magill (DUP) 923 (14.9%) Paul Michael (UUP) 798 (12.9%) Mervyn Rea (UUP) 726 (11.7%) Roy Thompson (DUP) 609 (9.8%) Alan Lawther (All) 546 (8.8%) Heather Fee (NI21) 277 (4.4%) Oran Keenan (SDLP) 121 (1.9%)
Elected Anne-Marie Logue (SF) 1st count Thomas Burns (SDLP) 2nd count Matthew Magill (DUP) 4th count Paul Michael (UUP) 5th count Mervyn Rea (UUP) 5th count
ANTRIM (Quota: 849)
Adrian Cochrane-Watson (UUP) 785 (13.2%) Nigel Kells (DUP) 662 (11.1%) Noel Maguire (SF) 632 (10.6%) John Smyth (DUP) 631 (10.6%) Neil Kelly (All) 620 (10.4%)
Roisin Lynch (SDLP) 608 (10.2%) Drew Ritchie (UUP) 572 (9.6%) Richard William Cairns (TUV) 560 (9.4%) Brian Graham (DUP) 540 (9%) Sian O'Neill (All) 185 (3.1%) George Young (NI21) 144 (2.4%)
Elected Nigel Kells (DUP) 3rd count Adrian Cochrane-Watson (UUP) 4th count John Smyth (DUP) 4th count Neil Kelly (All) 5th count Drew Ritchie (UUP) 5th count Roisin Lynch (SDLP) 7th count
MACEDON (Quota: 848)
Billy DeCourcy (DUP) 844 (14.2%) Billy Webb (All) 830 (13.9%) David Hollis (TUV) 645 (10.8%) Thomas William Hogg (DUP) 581 (9.7%) Bronach Anglin (SF) 558 (9.4%) Paul Hamill (DUP) 538 (9%) John Scott (UUP) 538 (9%) Ken Wilkinson (PUP) 503 (8.4%) Victor Robinson (DUP) 462 (7.7%) Dineen Walker (DUP) 256 (4.3%) Dominic Mullaghan (SDLP) 178 (3%)
Elected Billy DeCourcy (DUP) 2nd count Billy Webb (All) 2nd count
Paul Hamill (DUP) 6th vote Thomas William Hogg (DUP) 6th count David Hollis (TUV) 6th count John Scott (UUP) 7th vote
THREEMILEWATER (Quota: 944)
Fraser Agnew (UUP) 1,275 (19.3%) Tom Campbell (All) 745 (11.2%) William Ball (DUP) 738 (11.1%) Ben Kelso (UUP) 587 (8.8%) Stephen Ross (DUP) 557 (8.4%) Pamela Barr (DUP) 526 (7.9%) Trevor Mawhinney (TUV) 524 (7.9%) Lynn Frazer (All) 424 (6.4%) Gary Grattan (NI21) 369 (5.5%) Darren William Logan (PUP) 343 (5.1%) Robert Hill (DUP) 293 (4.4%) Jackie Shaw (PUP) 225 (3.4%)
Elected (6 seats) Fraser Agnew (UUP) 1st count William Ball (DUP) 4th count Tom Campbell (All) 7th count Ben Kelso (UUP) 7th count Pamela Barr (DUP) 9th count Stephen Ross (DUP) 9th count
DUNSILLY (Quota: 998)
Roderick Swann (UUP) 1,111 (19%)
Linda Clarke (DUP) 892 (15%) Trevor Beatty (DUP) 886 (15%) Henry John Cushinan (SF) 778 (13%) Anthony Brady (SF) 702 (12%) Brian Duffin (SDLP) 677 (11%) Julian McGrath (All) 490 (8%) Ryan Wilson (SDLP) 450 (8%)
Elected Roderick Swann (UUP) 1st count Brian Duffin (SDLP) 3rd count Linda Clarke (DUP) 4th count Trevor Beatty (DUP) 4th count Henry John Cushinan (SF) 5th count
BALLYCLARE (Quota: 936)
Mandy Girvan (DUP) 930 (17%) Jim Bingham (UUP) 819 (15%) Vera McWilliam (UUP) 815 (15%) David Arthurs (TUV) 750 (13%) Tim Girvan (DUP) 584 (10%) Pat McCrudden (All) 553 (10%) Jordan Greer (DUP) 493 (9%) Gary English (NI21) 312 (6%) Scott McDowell (PUP) 214 (4%) David McMaster (Ind) 104 (2%) Robert Moore (Ind) 39 (0.6%)
Elected Mandy Girvan (DUP) 2nd count Jim Bingham (UUP) 4th count
Tim Girvan (DUP) 5th count Vera McWilliam (UUP) 5th count David Arthurs (TUV) 6th count
GLENGORMLEY URBAN (Quota: 929)
Mark Cosgrove (UUP) 1,193 (16%) Audrey Ball (DUP) 897 (12%) Michael Goodman (SF) 857 (12%) John Blair (All) 796 (11%) Phillip Brett (DUP) 756 (10%) Noreen McClelland (SDLP) 737 (10%) Gerry O'Reilly (SF) 695 (9%) Sam Flanagan (DUP) 484 (7%) Michael Maguire (UUP) 411 (6%) Sam Nelson (All) 346 (5%) Mary Higgins (NI21) 255 (3%)
Elected Mark Cosgrove (UUP) 1st count Audrey Ball (DUP) 3rd count John Blair (All) 4th count Phillip Brett (DUP) 6th count Michael Maguire (UUP) 7th count Noreen McClelland (SDLP) 7th count Michael Goodman (SF) 7th count
n DEAs still to be counted: Dunsilly, Ballyclare and Glengormley Urban