{"id":1001600,"date":"2026-06-03T01:02:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T01:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1001600\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T01:02:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T01:02:46","slug":"new-mayors-hold-top-positions-on-northern-ireland-councils-for-the-coming-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1001600\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mayors hold top positions on Northern Ireland councils for the coming year"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are some new faces at the helm of our 11 local authorities\"Councils<\/p>\n

Councils across Northern Ireland welcomed new mayors on Monday<\/p>\n

This week marks the selection of 11 new mayors and council chairs across our local authorities.<\/p>\n

The largely ceremonial role of mayor rotates on a yearly cycle and is shared among the major parties in the chamber. It includes chairing Council meetings, attending civic and ceremonial events, welcoming visitors, and supporting initiatives that promote community wellbeing and local pride.<\/p>\n

The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act states that councils\u2019 annual general meetings must take place in June during which new mayor and deputy mayors are nominated. It comes ahead of council elections across Northern Ireland<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n

While most council areas welcomed new mayors on Monday, selections will take place throughout this week.<\/p>\n

Here’s our run down of the new faces selected so far to hold the top positions on Northern Ireland councils for the coming year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Belfast City Council\"Lord<\/p>\n

Lord Mayor Councillor Donnelly<\/p>\n

The new Irish-speaking Lord Mayor of Belfast<\/a> has said diversity will be at the heart of her message over the coming year.<\/p>\n

Installed at the full council meeting on Monday evening, is Sinn F\u00e9in Councillor R\u00f3is-M\u00e1ire Donnelly, a 30-year-old operations manager in the community sector.<\/p>\n

A native of Ballymurphy in West Belfast<\/a>, R\u00f3is-M\u00e1ire has been a councillor for three and a half years, representing the Black Mountain District Electoral Area. In her coming term she says she wants to focus on young people, the cost of living crisis, the Irish language, and the epidemic of violence against women and girls.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Abernethy<\/p>\n

R\u00f3is-M\u00e1ire Donnelly replaced DUP<\/a> Councillor Tracy Kelly in the mayoral role. Alliance <\/a>Ormiston Councillor Hedley Abernethy was appointed Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast.<\/p>\n

Derry City and Strabane District Council\"Grace<\/p>\n

Grace U\u00ed Niallais, new Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council(Image: \u00a9nwpresspics)<\/p>\n

Sinn Fein<\/a>\u2019s Cllr Grace U\u00ed Niallais accepted the Mayoral chain for Derry City and Strabane District Council <\/a>on Monday evening from her predecessor Cllr Ruair\u00ed McHugh at the Council\u2019s AGM in the Guildhall. The new Mayor will be supported in her role by the SDLP<\/a> Deputy Mayor Councillor Catherine McDaid.<\/p>\n

Formally accepting the chain of office, Mayor U\u00ed Niallais said pledged to be \u201ca Mayor for All\u201d and prioritise action on Violence Against Women and Girls<\/a> as she outlined her priorities for the year ahead during her inaugural address at the Guildhall.<\/p>\n

Antrim and Newtownabbey\"The<\/p>\n

The newly appointed Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Henry Cushinan and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alison Bennington<\/p>\n

Councillor Henry Cushinan has been appointed as the first Sinn Fein Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey<\/a>, with the DUP’s Councillor Alison Bennington appointed as Deputy Mayor for the incoming year.<\/p>\n

Councillor Cushinan was also the first elected Sinn Fein Councillor in legacy Antrim Borough Council in 1985 and was re-elected to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in 2015 and 2019.<\/p>\n

The new Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alison Bennington represents the Glengormley Urban District Electoral Area (DEA) and has served as a Councillor from 2019.<\/p>\n

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council\"Councillor<\/p>\n

Councillor Mary O\u2019Dowd, new Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Councillor Mary O\u2019Dowd has been formally installed as the new Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elected to represent the Lurgan<\/a> District Electoral Area in May 2023, Councillor O\u2019Dowd described her appointment as \u201can incredible honour\u201d. In her inaugural address, she set out her ambition to lead an inclusive and successful council that puts every citizen at its heart and champions fairness, opportunity, and progress for all.<\/p>\n

\"Deputy<\/p>\n

Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Lavelle McIlwrath<\/p>\n

DUP Councillor Lavelle McIlwrath has been appointed Deputy Lord Mayor for the incoming year. Elected to represent the Portadown District Electoral Area in 2019, Councillor McIlwrath previously served on Armagh City and District Council, having been co-opted in December 2013, a role he held until June 2015.<\/p>\n

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council\"The<\/p>\n

The DUP’s Dawn Huggins is taking on the role of mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens with deputy mayor, Alderman Sandra Hunter<\/p>\n

Causeway Coast and Glens<\/a> Council made history this week with female Mayor and Deputy Mayor appointments.<\/p>\n

The DUP’s Dawn Huggins is taking on the role of mayor while UUP<\/a> Alderman Sandra Hunter, who represents the Causeway DEA, will serve as deputy.<\/p>\n

In her opening Mayoral address, Councillor Huggins said: \u201cTo be entrusted with this role by my colleagues in this chamber is both a privilege and a responsibility that I accept with humility and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bann DEA representative takes over the chain of office from Councillor Oliver McMullan.<\/p>\n

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council\"Sinn<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Cllr Debbie Coyle has been appointed Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council for the year ahead, while party colleague Cllr Stephen McCann has been selected as Vice Chair for the incoming term.<\/p>\n

Two Sinn F\u00e9in councillors have been appointed Chair and Vice Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council<\/a> with Councillor Debbie Coyle nominated as Council Chair and Councillor Stephen McCann as Vice Chair.<\/p>\n

The new Chair has pledged to champion equality, support local communities and raise awareness of domestic abuse through her chosen charity, Fermanagh <\/a>and Omagh<\/a> Women\u2019s Aid.<\/p>\n

The Enniskillen<\/a> councillor becomes only the fourth woman to serve as Chair since Fermanagh and Omagh District Council was established in 2015.<\/p>\n

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council\"The<\/p>\n

The DUP’s Thomas Gordon has been named as the new mayor of Mid and East Antrim and the UUP’s Bethany Carson-Ferris is deputy mayor<\/p>\n

Alderman Thomas Gordon has been named as the new Mayor of Mid and East Antrim<\/a>, while Councillor Bethany Carson-Ferris (UUP), who represents Carrick Castle area has been appointed Deputy Mayor.<\/p>\n

Alderman Thomas Gordon (DUP), who represents Bannside, takes up the role of Mayor from Councillor Jackson Minford who served as the Borough\u2019s First Citizen during 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

Speaking following the appointment, the new Mayor said it was a great honour to assume the role: \u201cOver the next year, I want to use this role to celebrate the people and places that make our Borough special, support initiatives that bring communities together, as well as champion the opportunities we have across industry, tourism and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mid Ulster District Council\"Councillor<\/p>\n

Councillor Deirdre Varsani (SF) is the new Mid Ulster Chair, with Councillor Eva Cahoon (DUP) named as Deputy Chair<\/p>\n

Dungannon<\/a> Councillor Deirdre Varsani (Sinn F\u00e9in) has been named as the new Chair of Mid Ulster<\/a> with Cookstown<\/a> Councillor Eva Cahoon (DUP) named as Deputy Chair.<\/p>\n

Originally from Armagh, Cllr Varsani also spent 13 years working in London and has been a resident of Dungannon for the past 26 years. She is a former teacher and vice-principal who has a long-standing interest in heritage, history, culture, sport and the Irish language.<\/p>\n

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council\"Councillor<\/p>\n

Councillor Glyn Hanna (DUP) has been appointed Newry, Mourne and Down Chairperson, with Councillor Doire Finn (SDLP) elected as Deputy Chairperson<\/p>\n

Councillor Glyn Hanna (DUP) has been appointed Chairperson in Newry, Mourne and Down<\/a>, with Councillor Doire Finn (SDLP) elected as Deputy Chairperson.<\/p>\n

In his inaugural speech as Chairperson, Cllr Hanna said it was an honour to take up the role and he was \u201cproud and humbled\u201d to serve as the first Unionist Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council since its creation in 2015.<\/p>\n

Other councils<\/p>\n

Ulster Unionist Craig Blaney is expected to be the next Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council<\/a>. The Bangor<\/a> Central councillor will officially take up his chain of office on Wednesday, June 3, at the council\u2019s annual meeting.<\/p>\n

His deputy will be a DUP councillor although the party has yet to announce who that will be.<\/p>\n

Mr Blaney was deputy mayor from 2022 to 2023 and said the opportunity to be Mayor is \u2018something very special indeed\u2019. As a local businessman, Mr Blaney said he was keen to \u2018shine a light\u2019 on local business, entrepreneurship and town centre regeneration.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council<\/a> will select their new Mayor and Deputy Mayor on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"\"Get political analysis and headlines from James McCarthy direct to your inbox<\/p>\n

Sign up here for our Party Lines newsletter<\/a> and get the latest political analysis and headlines from Belfast Live’s Political Reporter James McCarthy direct to your inbox twice a week.<\/p>\n

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are some new faces at the helm of our 11 local authorities Councils across Northern Ireland welcomed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1001601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[6416,5818,5824,1499,5822,5813,5817,80195,89729,80196,5116,83640,84431,6408,5819,83641,5816,5814,5821,5820,1144,285,925,11528,16,15719,15,102462],"class_list":["post-1001600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-alliance-party","tag-antrim-and-newtownabbey-borough-council","tag-ards-and-north-down-borough-council","tag-armagh-city","tag-banbridge-and-craigavon-borough-council","tag-belfast-city-council","tag-causeway-coast-and-glens-borough-council","tag-co-derry","tag-co-fermanagh","tag-co-tyrone","tag-cookstown","tag-derry-city-and-strabane-council","tag-dungannon","tag-dup","tag-fermanagh-and-omagh-district-council","tag-lisburn-city-and-castlereagh-district-council","tag-mid-and-east-antrim-borough-council","tag-mid-ulster-district-council","tag-mourne-and-down-district-council","tag-newry","tag-northern-ireland","tag-politics","tag-sdlp","tag-sinn-fein","tag-uk","tag-ulster-unionist-party","tag-united-kingdom","tag-violence-against-women-and-girls"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}