Ards (borough)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other Ards (named after the Ards Peninsula) was a local government district in Northern Ireland with the status of borough. It was one of twenty-six districts formed on 1 October 1973, and had its headquarters in Newtownards. It was merged with neighbouring North Down on 1 May 2015 to form the new Borough of Ards and North Down. Other towns in the defunct Borough included Portaferry, Comber, and Donaghadee, and the population of the area was 78,078 according to the 2011 census.

Strangford Lough is at the heart of the area, and is the largest inlet in Ireland with internationally renowned wildlife. The Irish Sea coast stretches from Donaghadee to Portaferry. Mount Stewart, a National Trust property on the shore of Strangford Lough, is in the area, as well as Northern Ireland's only aquarium, Exploris, in Portaferry and Grace Neill's pub in Donaghadee.

Borough council

The borough was governed by Ards Borough Council (Ulster-Scots: Burgh Cooncil o' the Airds, Newton an' Blathewick). The borough was divided into four district electoral areas: Newtownards, Ards West, Ards East and Ards Peninsula, from which 23 members were elected. As of February 2011 the following parties were represented on the council: 11 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party, and 1 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and there was 1 Independent councillor. The next 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 district council elections took place in 2011

Mayor of Ards

On creation in 1973 Ards District Council adopted the charter of incorporation of the municipal borough of Newtownards, to become Ards Borough Council. The charter also granted the chairman of the council the title "Mayor of Ards".

Year	Name	Political affiliation		Deputy	Deputy's affiliation
1973–75	John Algie	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	D. Hamilton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1975–77	Henry Cosbey	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	J. B. Caughey	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1977–79	John Scott	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Hamilton McKeag	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1979–81	Hamilton McKeag	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Robert Gaw	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1981–83	Robert Gaw	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Jim McBriar	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1983–84	Jim McBriar	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Oliver Johnston	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1984–85	Oliver Johnston	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Gladys McIntyre	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1985–86	Gladys McIntyre	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Robert Ambrose	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1986–87	Robert Ambrose	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Simpson Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1987–88	Simpson Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Tom Benson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1988–89	Tom Benson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	John Hamilton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1989–1990	John Hamilton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Robert Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1990–91	Robert Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Jim Shannon	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1991–92	Jim Shannon	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	David Smyth	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1992–93	David Smyth	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Wilbert Magill	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1993–94	Wilbert Magill	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	John Shields	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1994–95	John Shields	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	St Clair McAlister	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1995–96	St Clair McAlister	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Robert Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
June – December 1996	Robert Gibson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Ronnie Ferguson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
January – June 1998	Ronnie Ferguson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	George Ennis	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
June 1998 – June 1999	George Ennis	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Alan McDowell	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
1999–2000	Alan McDowell	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Tom Hamilton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2000–01	Tom Hamilton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Margaret Craig	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2001–02	Margaret Craig	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Jeff Magill	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2002–03	Jeff Magill	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Jim McBriar	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2003–04	Jim McBriar	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Hamilton Gregory	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2004–05	Hamilton Gregory	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Angus Carson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2005–06	Terry Williams	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Angus Carson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2006–07	Angus Carson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Robin Drysdale	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2007–08	Robin Drysdale	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Jim Fletcher	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2008–09	Jim Fletcher	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	William Montgomery	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2009–10	William Montgomery	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	David Smyth	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2010–11	David Smyth	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Mervyn Oswald	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2011–12	Mervyn Oswald	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Hamilton Gregory	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color
2012–2013	Hamilton Gregory	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	Stephen McIlveen	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color

2013 Stephen McIlveen Democratic Unionist Party

Source: Freedom of Information request to Ards Borough Council

Parliamentary and assembly representation

In elections for the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly most of the borough was included in the Strangford constituency, with part (Donaghadee North, Donaghadee South and Millisle) in the North Down constituency.

Town twinning

The borough of Ards had a sister city (twinning) relationship with the city of Peoria, Arizona, USA. As a result of this relationship, regular exchange visits were made between the two communities by artists, educators, business, political and community leaders.

See also

• Local government in Northern Ireland

External links

• Ards Borough Council
• Armagh & Down Tourism