Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin wins first seat at DUP-dominated Lisburn and Castlereagh

The Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Uel Mackin was re-elected
The Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Uel Mackin was re-elected The Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Uel Mackin was re-elected

THE Leisureplex in Lisburn is a typically happy place where people can enjoy thrills, spills and splashes.

It was Alliance making the biggest splash last night.

The party suggested a lot of new voters, dipping their toe in the water for the first time, helped boost its vote in Lisburn and Castlereagh.

Alliance caused ripples when it topped the poll in each of the seven district electoral areas - and by a big margin in some.

David Honeyford received 1,524 first preferences in Killultagh while Owen Gawith scored a huge 1,616 in Downshire West - more than 500 above the quota.

Mr Honeyford, the son of a Presbyterian minister, who has done work with the Orange Order and GAA, stood for NI21 in 2014.

He benefited from those would-be NI21 votes and also likely from the absence of the SDLP's Máiría Cahill who did not defend her seat due to an administrative issue. She said she was unwilling to make public her home address, due to a restraining order protecting her from an individual.

Sinn Féin had zero success here last time, and was pleased when Gary McCleave became the first member to win a seat since the new council was created. He took a seat away from the SDLP in Killultagh.

He may also have benefited from Ms Cahill's absence, and also received more than 400 transfers from the SDLP. He said his success showed that the politics of Lisburn and Castlereagh had "changed for the better".

Even for a council election where party politics and issues like Brexit should matter not a jot or tittle, it appears they do to some degree.

DUP heavyweights Jeffrey Donaldson, Edwin Poots and Paul Given were all in attendance and were stunned by the news that former blind water skiing champion Janet Gray had failed to win her seat back.

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Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council

40 seats

Change since 2014:

DUP 15 (-5), UUP 11 (+3), All 9 (+2), SDLP 2 (-1), SF 2 (+2), Green 1 (+1), TUV 0 (-1), NI21 0 (-1)

Turnout: 50 per cent

Castlereagh East (6 seats, Quota 998)

Martin Gregg (All) 1,212

Sharon Skillen (DUP) 1,174

Tim Morrow (All) 936

David Drysdale (DUP) 849

John Laverty (DUP) 813

Hazel Legge (UUP) 723

Tommy Jeffers (DUP) 638

Andrew Girvin (TUV) 637

Elected

Martin Gregg (All) 1st count


Sharon Skillen (DUP) 1st count


Tim Morrow (All) 2nd count


David Drysdale (DUP) 5th count


John Laverty (DUP) 5th count


Hazel Legge (UUP) 5th count

Castlereagh South (7 seats, Quota 1,135)

Sorcha Eastwood (All) 1,629

Nathan Anderson (DUP) 1,503

Michelle Guy (All) 1,236

Ryan Carlin (SF) 1,069

John Gallen (SDLP) 975

Simon Lee (Green) 648

Michael Henderson (UUP) 628

Rachael McCarthy (SDLP) 463

Jason Elliott (DUP) 335

Geraldine Rice (Ind) 237

Vasundhara Kamble (DUP) 208

Nicola Girvin (TUV) 146

Elected

Sorcha Eastwood (All) 1st count


Nathan Anderson (DUP) 1st count


Michelle Guy (All) 1st count


John Gallen (SDLP) 7th count


Ryan Carlin (SF) 8th count


Simon Lee (GRN) 8th count


Michael Henderson (UUP) 10th count

Downshire East (5 seats, Quota 1,030)

Aaron McIntyre (All) 1,318

Andrew Gowan (DUP) 1,133

James Baird (UUP) 950

Uel Mackin (DUP) 905

Alex Swan (UUP) 726

Janet Gray (DUP) 721

Owen Beckett (SDLP) 422

Elected

Aaron McIntyre (All) 1st count


Andrew Gowan (DUP) 1st count


James Baird (UUP) 3rd count


Uel Mackin (DUP) 4th count


Alex Swan (UUP) 4th count

Downshire West (5 seats, Quota 1,040)

Owen Gawith (All) 1,616

Caleb McCready (DUP) 1,012

John Palmer (UUP) 915

Allan Ewart (DUP) 670

Jim Dillon (UUP) 667

Vince Curry (DUP) 647

Morgan Crone (SDLP) 308

Luke Robinson (Green) 230

Neil Johnston (Con) 169

Elected

Owen Gawith (All) 1st count


Caleb McCready (DUP) 3rd count


John Palmer (UUP) 5th count


Allan Ewart (DUP) 7th count


Jim Dillon (UUP) 7th count

Killultagh (5 seats, Quota 1,253)

David Honeyford (All) 1,524

Thomas Beckett (DUP) 1,006

Gary McCleave (SF) 994

James Tinsley (DUP) 979

William Leathem (DUP) 871

Ross McLernon (UUP) 707

Ally Haydock (SDLP) 695

Alexander Redpath (UUP) 632

Stuart Brown (Ind) 107

Elected

David Honeyford (All) 1st count


Ross McLernon (UUP) 4th count


Gary McCleave (SF) 6th count


Thomas Beckett (DUP) 7th count


James Tinsley (DUP) 7th count


Lisburn North (6 seats, Quota 1,047)

Stephen Martin (All) 1,483

Jonathan Craig (DUP) 1,187

Johnny McCarthy (SDLP) 852

Scott Carson (DUP) 846

Nicholas Trimble (UUP) 719

Joe Duffy (SF) 654

Stuart Hughes (UUP) 578

Lindsay Reynolds (DUP) 425

Gary Hynds (Con) 423

Alan Love (Ukip) 156

Elected

Stephen Martin (All) 1st count


Jonathan Craig (DUP) 1st count


Johnny McCarthy (SDLP) 2nd count


Scott Carson (DUP) 6th count


Scott Trimble (UUP) 7th count


Stuart Hughes (UUP) 7th count

Lisburn South (6 seats, Quota 995)

Amanda Grehan (All) 929

Jenny Palmer (UUP) 877

Andrew Ewing (DUP) 738

Alan Givan (DUP) 735

Tim Mitchell (UUP) 715

Paul Porter (DUP) 706

Paul Corr (SDLP) 649

Jonny Orr (Ind) 534

Alison Chittick (TUV) 384

Rhoda Walker (DUP) 354

Ricky Taylor (Democratic and Veterans Party) 242

Helen Love (Ukip) 99

Elected

Jenny Palmer (UUP) 4th count


Andrew Ewing (DUP) 4th count


Amanda Grehan (All) 5th count


Alan Givan (DUP) 6th count


Tim Mitchell (UUP) 6th count


Paul Porter (DUP) 6th count