Craigavon Borough Council
# Craigavon Borough Council

Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.

The headquarters of the council were in Craigavon, on the shores of Lough Neagh, a new town built between Lurgan and Portadown. The council area included the large towns of Lurgan and Portadown, as well as smaller ones including Waringstown and Donaghcloney. The average council budget of £15.5 million provided a wide range of services to the 93,023 people living in the area.

The council area consisted of four electoral areas – Central, Loughside, Lurgan and Portadown – in which 26 councillors were elected every four years. The council held an annual meeting in June, at which a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor were elected. Parties elected in 2011, the last elections for the council, were Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) nine seats, Sinn Féin eight, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) six, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) four, and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland one.

The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 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. The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the 2011 Northern Ireland local elections took place to fill the last body on the council before being dissolved The proposed reform took effect on 1 April 2015.

Together with part of the district of Banbridge, it was part of the Upper Bann constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.

## Summary of seats won 1973–2011

| | 1973 | 1977 | 1981 | 1985 | 1989 | 1993 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2011 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ulster Unionist (UUP) | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Alliance (APNI) | 4 | 3 | 1 | | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | 1 |
| Vanguard (VUPP) | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| Democratic Unionist (DUP) | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Independent Nationalist (IN) | 1 | | | | | | 2 | | | |
| United Ulster Unionist (UUUP) | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | |
| Workers' Party (WP) | | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | | |
| Sinn Féin (SF) | | | | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Independent Unionist (IU) | | | | | | 1 | | 1 | 1 | |

Note: The Workers' Party were known as The Republican Clubs in 1977 and Workers Party Republican Clubs in 1981.

Source:

## Mayor of Craigavon

| Year | Name | Political affiliation | Deputy | Deputy's affiliation |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1973–75 | Joseph A. Johnston | Ulster Unionist | James McCammick | Vanguard |
| 1975–76 | James McCammick | Vanguard | Tom Creith | Ulster Unionist |
| 1976–77 | Tom Creith | Ulster Unionist | Herbert Whitten | Ulster Unionist |
| 1977–78 | Sydney Cairns | Ulster Unionist | Brian T. English | Alliance |
| 1978–79 | Herbert Whitten | Ulster Unionist | David Calvert | DUP |
| 1979–80 | Alan Locke | Ulster Unionist | James McDonald | SDLP |
| 1980–81 | Frank Dale | Ulster Unionist | Sean Hagan | Alliance |
| 1981–82 | Mary Simpson | Ulster Unionist | David Calvert | DUP |
| 1982–83 | Sam Gardiner | Ulster Unionist | James Gillespie | Ulster Unionist |
| 1983–84 | James Gillespie | Ulster Unionist | Frederick Baird | DUP |
| 1984–85 | Arnold Hatch | Ulster Unionist | Patrick J. Crilly | SDLP |
| 1985–87 | George Savage | Ulster Unionist | James Gillespie | Ulster Unionist |
| 1987–88 | Sydney Cairns | Ulster Unionist | Arnold Hatch | Ulster Unionist |
| 1988–89 | Sam Gardiner | Ulster Unionist | James McCammick | Ulster Unionist |
| 1989–91 | James McCammick | Ulster Unionist | Joy Savage, then Joe Trueman | Ulster Unionist |
| 1991–92 | Joe Trueman | Ulster Unionist | Fred Crowe | Ulster Unionist |
| 1992–93 | Fred Crowe | Ulster Unionist | Sam Lutton | Ulster Unionist |
| 1993–94 | Joy Savage | Ulster Unionist | Ruth Allen | DUP |
| 1994–95 | Brian Maguinness | Ulster Unionist | Sean McKavanagh | SDLP |
| 1995–96 | Meta Crozier | Ulster Unionist | Hugh Casey | SDLP |
| 1995–96 | Meta Crozier | Ulster Unionist | Hugh Casey | Independent Labour |
| 1996 – Dec 96 | Hugh Casey | Independent Labour | Sam Lutton | Ulster Unionist |
| Dec 1996 – 97 | Sam Lutton | Ulster Unionist | Hugh Casey | Independent Labour |
| 1998–99 | Mervyn Carrick | DUP | Dolores Kelly | SDLP |
| 1999–00 | Dolores Kelly | SDLP | Fred Crowe | Ulster Unionist |
| 2000–01 | Fred Crowe | Ulster Unionist | Mark Neale | Ulster Unionist |
| 2001–02 | Sam Gardiner | Ulster Unionist | Jonathan Bell | DUP |
| 2002–03 | Jonathan Bell | DUP | Sydney Anderson | DUP |
| 2003–04 | Ignatius Fox | SDLP | David Simpson | DUP |
| 2004–05 | David Simpson | DUP | Ignatius Fox | SDLP |
| 2005–06 | George Savage | Ulster Unionist | Robert Smith | DUP |
| 2006–07 | Kenneth Twyble | Ulster Unionist | Mary McAlinden | SDLP |
| 2007–08 | Robert Smith | DUP | Kenneth Twyble | Ulster Unionist |
| 2008–09 | Sydney Anderson | DUP | Arnold Hatch | Ulster Unionist |
| 2009–10 | Meta Crozier | Ulster Unionist | Philip Weir | DUP |
| 2010–11 | Stephen Moutray | DUP | Kieran Corr | Independent |
| 2011–12 | Alan Carson | DUP | George Savage | Ulster Unionist |
| 2012–13 | Carla Lockhart | DUP | Arnold Hatch | Ulster Unionist |
| 2013–14 | Mark Baxter | DUP | Colin McCusker | Ulster Unionist |
| 2014–15 | Colin McCusker | Ulster Unionist | Catherine Seeley | Sinn Féin |

Source: Freedom of Information request to Craigavon Borough Council

## Final council makeup

Below is a list of members who made up the final sitting of the council before it was dissolved.

| Name | Party |
| - | - |
| Jonathan Buckley | DUP |
| Phil Moutray | DUP |
| Robert Smith | DUP |
| Mark Baxter | DUP |
| Margaret Tinsley | DUP |
| Alan Carson | DUP |
| Darryn Causby | DUP |
| Gladys McCullough | DUP |
| Carla Lockhart | DUP |
| Catherine Seeley | Sinn Féin |
| Mark O'Dowd | Sinn Féin |
| Liam Mackle | Sinn Féin |
| Mairead O'Dowd | Sinn Féin |
| Paul Duffy | Sinn Féin |
| Gemma McKenna | Sinn Féin |
| Thomas O'Connor | Sinn Féin |
| Noel McGeown | Sinn Féin |
| Kyle Savage | Ulster Unionist |
| Arnold Hatch | Ulster Unionist |
| Ronald Harkness | Ulster Unionist |
| Colin McCusker | Ulster Unionist |
| Meta Crozier | Ulster Unionist |
| Kenneth Twyble | Ulster Unionist |
| Declan McAlinden | SDLP |
| Joseph Nelson | SDLP |
| Conrad Dixon | Alliance |

## Council services

* Coney Island, Lough Neagh is owned by the National Trust and was managed on their behalf by Craigavon Borough Council.

## Population

The area covered by Craigavon Borough Council had a population of 93,023 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

