Mid Ulster councillor allowances revealed

The figures, release by the Council show that during the 2019/2020 financial year, 47 councillors were paid a total of £711,832.

The highest earning councillor in Mid Ulster in the 2019/2020 financial year was SDLP Councillor Martin Kearney who pocketed  a total of £33,753.

In his year as Chair of the Council, the Carntogher representative received the same annual basic allowances as the 32 other members who served the district for the full financial year – £15,071.

However, he received £274 as a special responsibility allowance and a further £12,081 in Chairperson allowance.

Cllr Kearney also received £6,155 in mileage allowance and £172 for what the Council categorises as ‘subsistence (including accommodation)’.

DUP Councillor, Clement Cuthbertson was next on the list. The councillor, who served as Vice Chair for the majority of the 2019/2020 financial year, took home £24,343.

Cllr Cuthbertson claimed £15,071 in basic allowance, £6,472 in Vice Chairperson allowance and £2,626 in mileage allowance.

The Dungannon representative claimed £88 for ‘public transport and other travel incidentals and £86 for ‘subsistence (including accommodation)’.

The next highest earner on Mid Ulster District Council in the 2019/2020 financial year was Sinn Fein’s Cathal Mallaghan who took home £23,056.

Councillor Mallaghan, took home the standard £15,071 allowance and was given a special responsibility allowance of £7,000.

The Cookstown representative also claimed a total of £985 in mileage allowances.

Another Cookstown Councillor, UUP group leader, Councillor Trevor Wilson claimed a total allowance of £23,025.

Councillor Wilson claimed the standard, £15,071 allowance and a special responsibility allowance of £7,000. He also claimed £954 in mileage allowance.

Mid Ulster District Council’s Chair for the first few weeks of the 2019/2020 financial year, Councillor Sean McPeake took home £20,856 during the financial year.

The Carntogher representative took home the £15,071 standard allowance, £1,919 in Chairperson allowance and £3,866 in ‘total travel and subsistence’ allowance.

His Vice Chair, DUP Councillor Francis Burton took home a total of £19,405.

The Clogher Valley representative took home £15,071 in basic allowance, £1,028 in Vice Chairperson allowance and a total of £3,306 in ‘total travel and subsistence allowance’.

Two other Mid Ulster councillors claimed more than  £20,000 in allowances in the 2019/2020 financial year. They were Sinn Fein’s Dominic Molloy, who took home a total of £22,390 and the DUP’s Wilburt Buchanan who received £21,879.

Cllr Molloy claimed the standard allowance of £15,071 and a special responsibility allowance of £6,040. He also claimed a total of £1,279 in mileage allowance.

Cllr Buchanan took home a standard allowance of £15,071 and a special responsibility allowance of £6,040. On top of this, he claimed a total of £768 in mileage allowance.

The records also show that Mid Ulster District Council spent a total of £19,837 for Councillors’ Support Services.

Within this total, £17,699 was spent on the provision of, and upgrading of, ICT equipment and associated services while a total of £2,138 was spent on courses/conferences and visits.

The complete list of Mid Ulster District Council’s councillor allowances can be found at https://www.midulstercouncil.org/your-council/councillor-and-committees/councillor-allowances.