Ballymena is a former
local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
with
borough status in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. It was one of twenty-six districts created on 1 October 1973 and covered the town of
Ballymena and the surrounding area which includes small towns including
Broughshane
Broughshane ( , formerly spelt Brughshane, ) is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northeast of Ballymena and north of Antrim, on the A42 road. It is part of Mid and East Antrim District Council and had a population of 2 ...
,
Cullybackey
Cullybackey or Cullybacky () is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 3 miles north-west of Ballymena, on the banks of the River Main, and is part of Mid and East Antrim district. It had a population of 2,569 people in the ...
, Galgorm,
Ahoghill and
Portglenone
Portglenone (from ga, Port Chluain Eoghain , meaning 'landing place of Eoghan's meadow') is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 8.5 miles (14 km) west of Ballymena. It had a population of 1,174 people in ...
. The borough had an area of and a population of 64,044 according to the 2011 census. The borough had a central location within Northern Ireland and was served by the
M2 motorway This is a list of roads designated M2:
Europe
* M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England
* M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary
* N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland
* M-2 highway (Monteneg ...
and with a station on the
Belfast-Derry/Londonderry railway line.
Belfast International Airport itself was only away and the
Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...
is from Ballymena. It was also accessible to the seaports of
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...
and Belfast, 20 and away respectively. As of 2015 it has been replaced by
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council.
History
On 2 December 2021, the councils chief ex ...
.
Parliamentary and assembly representation
Together with the neighbouring Borough of
Ballymoney
Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated i ...
and part of the District of
Moyle, it formed the
North Antrim constituency for elections to the
Westminster Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
and
Northern Ireland Assembly.
[
]
See also
*
Local government in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into 11 districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland, local councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom; for example they have no responsibility f ...
References
External links
Ballymena Borough Council
{{Authority control
Politics of County Antrim
Ballymena
Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015
Boroughs of Northern Ireland