Council election: DUP seeking to consolidate grip as Ulster Unionists nip at their heels

While it was the largest party by a slim margin at the last election, the DUP is confident of tightening its grip on Causeway Coast and Glens Council this time around.
The Giant's Causeway, Co AntrimThe Giant's Causeway, Co Antrim
The Giant's Causeway, Co Antrim

Stretching from the shores of Lough Foyle to the Glens of Antrim, the council is currently composed of 60% unionist members – mostly from the heartlands of Ballymoney and Coleraine – but there remains strong pockets of nationalist support in the constituency.

The DUP took 11 of the 40 available seats back in 2014, but has since increased that number to 13 after two unionist councillors defected to the party. However, the UUP were hot on their heels, securing only one less seat despite being 10% behind in first preference votes.

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With 15 candidates this time around, the DUP believes it has a realistic prospect of making gains in the largely nationalist areas of Benbradagh and the Glens.

The Causeway Coast and Glens council areaThe Causeway Coast and Glens council area
The Causeway Coast and Glens council area

To that end, it has put forward Bill Kennedy in the Glens, a well-known businessman who is heavily involved in the Armoy Road Race.

And in Benbradagh, the DUP is fielding Edgar Scott, who in the last election came within around 40 votes of taking a seat from Sinn Fein.

One talking point is whether former DUP councillor Ian Stevenson, who is running as an independent in Ballymoney, will manage to secure a seat after he was convicted last year of sexually assaulting a female work colleague. He maintains his innocence and is appealing his sentence.

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The UUP is running 11 candidates this time, the same number as Sinn Fein, who currently hold seven seats.

Among those looking to pick up a seat for the republican party in the Glens is former East Antrim MLA Oliver McMullan.

North Antrim area is traditionally a strong area for the TUV, and the party is confident of winning back a seat it lost when Sharon McKillop defected to the DUP last year.

In her place, the party is fielding Cyril Quigg, the grand nephew of famous Bushmills man Robert Quigg, who won the Victoria Cross for bravery at the Battle of the Somme.

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Recently formed republican party Aontú is running two hopefuls – including high-profile candidate Francie Brolly, a former Sinn Fein MLA who resigned from the party last year over its stance on abortion.

The SDLP and Alliance are both running six candidates, while the PUP is fielding two hopefuls, including Russell Watton who topped the poll in Coleraine in 2014.

DUP MLA Mervyn Storey acknowledged a “general apathy and disconnect” that voters have with the political process, largely due to the ongoing Brexit crisis.

But he added: “As we have shown at Westminster, there is strength in the DUP and we want to maximise our position on the council, so it is vital that people come out and vote.”

YOUR CANDIDATES

BALLYMONEY

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William Blair (TUV)John Finlay (DUP)David Hanna (UKIP)Peter McCully (Alliance)Tom McKeown (UUP)Cathal McLaughlin (Sinn Fein)Alan McLean (DUP)Leanne Peacock (Sinn Fein)Ian Stevenson (Independent)Ivor Wallace ( DUP)Darryl Wilson (UUP)John Wilson (TUV)

BANN

Sean Bateson (Sinn Fein) Sam Cole (DUP)Elizabeth Collins (TUV)Helena Dallat O’Driscoll (SDLP)Richard Holmes (UUP)William King (UUP)Michelle Knight-McQuillan (DUP)Charlie McConaghy (Alliance)Adrian McQuillan (DUP)Timmy Reid (PUP)

BENBRADAGH

Orla Beattie (SDLP)Proinnsias Brolly (Aontu)Robert Carmichael (UUP)Boyd Douglas (TUV)Seam McGlinchey (Sinn Fein)Kathleen McGurk (Sinn Fein)Dermot Nicholl (Sinn Fein) Edgar Scott (DUP)Christine Turner (Alliance)

CAUSEWAYDavid Alexander (Independent)Mark Coulson (Green Party)Mark Fielding (DUP)Rebecca Hanna (UKIP)Norman Hillis (UUP)Sandra Hunter (UUP)John McAuley (DUP)Chris McCaw (Alliance)Sharon McKillop (DUP)Stewart Moore (TUV)Angela Mulholland (SDLP)Cyril Quigg (TUV)Emma Thompson (Sinn Fein)

COLERAINE

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Philip Anderson (DUP)Ciaran Archibald (Sinn Fein)Yvonne Boyle (Alliance)Trevor Clarke (DUP)George Duddy (DUP)David Harding (Conservative)William McCandless (UUP)Stephanie Quigley (SDLP)Amanda Ranaghan (UKIP)Russell Watton (PUP)John Wisener (UUP)

LIMAVADY

Francie Brolly (Aontu)Aaron Callan (DUP)Colin Cartwright (TUV)Brenda Chivers (Sinn Fein)Kevin Hayward (Allliance)Raymond Kennedy (UUP)James McCorkell (DUP)Alan Robinson (DUP)Ashleen Schenning (SDLP)

THE GLENS

Joan Baird (UUP)Bill Kennedy (DUP)Ambrose Laverty (Independent)Margaret Anne McKillop (SDLP)Oliver McMullan (Sinn Fein)Cara McShane (Sinn Fein)Kieran Mulholland (Sinn Fein)