Antrim (named after the town of Antrim) was a

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 ...

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 in 1973, and was granted borough status on 9 May 1977."Letters Patent bearing date the 9th day of May, 1977, have passed the Great Seal of Northern Ireland, granting a Charter of Incorporation to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Antrim." The borough covered an area of some and had a population of 53,428 according to the 2011 census. It was situated about north-west of

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 ...

. It bordered the north and east shores of Lough Neagh, the largest fresh water lake in the United Kingdom, and included the towns of Antrim,

Toomebridge Toome or Toomebridge () is a small village and townland on the northwest corner of Lough Neagh in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies in the civil parish of Duneane in the former barony of Toome Upper, and is in the Antrim and Newtown ...

, Crumlin,

Randalstown Randalstown is a townland and small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. The town is bypassed by the ...

, Parkgate and

Templepatrick Templepatrick (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim. It is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has sever ...

. The council headquarters were located on the outskirts of Antrim town. Although the borough was not within the Belfast Metropolitan Area, it housed the city's international airport and many commuter villages.

Borough council

The borough was sub-divided into three electoral areas: Antrim South-East, Antrim North-West and Antrim Town, from which 19 members were elected. As of February 2011, the following political parties were represented: 5 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 5

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

(UUP), 3

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

, 3 Alliance Party, 2

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP) and 1

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place ...

. An election was held every four years using the

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system. A mayor and deputy mayor were elected from among the councillors at the borough council's annual meeting in June. For the civic year 2012/2013 the Mayor of Antrim was Roy Thompson (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor was Roderick Swann (UUP).

Economy

The economy of the area revolved around construction, distribution, transport and hospitality. It had a well-developed transport infrastructure that provided easy access to all the main external gateways for Northern Ireland and all parts of the region. Antrim Town lies on two of the main transport corridors, the Belfast – Derry corridor and the Southern corridor. Belfast International Airport was located within the borough, only from Antrim town.

Parliamentary representation

Together with part of the districts of

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...

and Lisburn, it formed the South 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.

References

External links

Antrim Borough CouncilBelfast International Airport
{{Authority control Politics of County Antrim Antrim, County Antrim Boroughs of Northern Ireland Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015

Borough council

Economy

Parliamentary representation

See also

References

External links