Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Northern Ireland, from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district. Located in the east of the city, the district elected seven members to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

and contained the wards of

Ballyhackamore Ballyhackamore () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, it is a suburb of Belfast located on the Upper Newtownards Road. It is also a ward in the UK Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast. The Sunday Times named Ballyhackamore th ...

; Belmont;

Cherryvalley Cherryvalley is an electoral ward of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. Along with neighbouring Stormont and Malone in south Belfast, Cherryvalley is considered one of Northern Ireland's most affluent and exclusive residential areas with ...

; Island; Knock; Stormont; and Sydenham. Victoria, along with wards from the neighbouring Pottinger district and

Castlereagh Borough Council Castlereagh may refer to: People * Marquess of Londonderry, subsidiary title Viscount Castlereagh, used as courtesy title for the Marquess's eldest son; in particular ** Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769–1822), later 2nd Marquess of Lon ...

, formed the Belfast East constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament. The district was bounded to the west by the Victoria Channel, to the north by

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...

, to the northeast by

North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council. Its ...

, to the south and east by

and to the southwest by the Newtownards Road.

History

The DEA was created for the 1985 local elections as the successor to the former Area B, which all seven wards in the new Victoria had been part of. An eighth ward, Bloomfield, which had been in Area B, was placed in the new Pottinger electoral area. It was abolished in 2015, making way for the new DEAs that were used for the 2014 local elections. It was largely replaced by the new Ormiston District Electoral Area. Five of Victoria's wards joined Ormiston, with the Sydenham ward and the areas which had been part of the abolished Island ward becoming part of the new Titanic District Electoral Area.Map
from th

. Se

The district contained many key pieces of Belfast's transport infrastructure, including

George Best 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 (for ...

and the eastern portion of

Belfast Harbour Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

. The area is served by the Bridge End and Sydenham

railway stations A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

and the A2 and A20 major road routes. The district is also home to Parliament Buildings, the meeting place of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Victoria was once the site of much of Belfast's heavy industrial manufacturing facilities, however these have suffered a significant decline since the mid-twentieth century, although companies such as

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

and Harland and Wolff continue to have significant operations in the area.

Former BCDR mainline

The

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

had a mainline through

Knock railway station Knock railway station was on the Belfast and County Down Railway which ran from Belfast to Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Belfast and County Down Railway on 6 May 1850. It was originally call ...

which linked Belfast direct to

Downpatrick railway station Downpatrick railway station was on the Belfast and County Down Railway, which ran its longest route from Belfast to Downpatrick in Northern Ireland. Today it is the headquarters of the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. History Downpatrick ...

as well as to

Newcastle, County Down Newcastle () is a small seaside resort town in County Down, Northern Ireland, which had a population of 7,672 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. It lies by the Irish Sea at the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mount ...

, there was also the branch from Comber railway station to Newtownards and

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and ...

. The mainline opened in 1850 was closed in 1950 by the

Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRT ...

Titanic-quarter

The Titanic Quarter is a major economic and cultural regeneration programme that is centred on Queen's Island and the former Harland and Wolff shipyard. The project has seen the construction of new hotels, apartment blocks and business facilities, with a number of high-profile relocations, including the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The area has also become a centre for learning and research with the opening of the

Catalyst Inc Catalyst, formerly known as the Northern Ireland Science Park, was established in March 1999 to create a self-sustaining, internationally recognised, knowledge-based science park in Northern Ireland offering a commercial and research driven centr ...

, in addition to

Belfast Metropolitan College Belfast Metropolitan College, also known as ''Belfast Met'', is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications. With over 37,000 enrolments a ...

moving one of its key

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

campuses to the Quarter, while

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

have also located their Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) within the Science Park. The Quarter's name comes from the

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

which was constructed in the old shipyard, with a number of projects aimed at exploiting the tourism value of the Titanic's connection to Belfast, including the Samson and Goliath cranes used to construct the ship and the Paint Hall.

Other amenities

Other amenities in the Victoria district electoral area include: *

Ashfield Boys' High School Ashfield Boys' High School is a secondary school in Belfast. Notable alumni * David McCreery - Professional footballer, played for Northern Ireland, QPR, Manchester United and Newcastle United. * Gary Moore - World-Class Guitarist - Skid R ...

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

The Comber Greenway The Comber Greenway is a traffic-free section of the National Cycle Network that runs along the old Belfast-Comber railway line. The cycle path starts on Dee Street in east Belfast and finishes at Comber in County Down. As well as a cycling pat ...

, a traffic-free section of the National Cycle Network, along the old Belfast-Comber railway line * HMS Caroline * Holywood Exchange, a major retail development *

Odyssey Arena The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 20 ...

, a major entertainment complex * Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock * The Oval Stadium, home ground of

Glentoran F.C. Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Stormont Estate The Stormont Estate is an estate east of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main Parliament Buildings, which is surrounded by woods and parkland, and is often referred in contemporary media as the met ...

Dundonald House Dundonald House (, Ulster-Scots: ''Dundoanal Haa'') is a government building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the Stormont Estate along with several other Northern Ireland Civil Service buildings. It is the headquarters of the Dep ...

Stormont Castle Stormont Castle is a manor house on the Stormont Estate in east Belfast which is home to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Executive Office. It is a Grade A listed building. History Stormont Castle was completed c.1830 and was reworked in ...

Stormont House Stormont House (also called Speaker's House) is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was designed by Ralph Knott, although Sir Edwin Lutyens has been credited with so ...

* Strandtown Primary School * Strathearn School * Wilgar Park, the home ground of

Dundela F.C. Dundela Football Club, nicknamed "The Duns" is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club from Belfast, currently playing in the NIFL Championship, and plays its home matches at Wilgar Park. The club's colours are green and white. The hom ...

Wards

Councillors

2011 elections

References

{{coord missing, County Antrim Former District Electoral Areas of Belfast 1985 establishments in Northern Ireland 2014 disestablishments in Northern Ireland