Castle (District Electoral Area) Explained

Castle
Type:Belfast City Council DEA
Year:2014
Seats:6 (2014–)
Members Label:Councillors

Castle is one of the ten district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the north of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Bellevue, Cavehill, Chichester Park, Duncairn, Fortwilliam and Innisfayle. Castle, along with Oldpark district and parts of the Court district and Newtownabbey Borough Council, forms the Belfast North constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament. The district is bounded to the east by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Newtownabbey Borough Council and Belfast Lough, to the south by North Street and to the west by the Cavehill Road.

The district takes its name from the current Belfast Castle, which is located on Cave Hill in the north of the district, while the southern section of the district is part of the city centre and forms one of Belfast's main cultural areas, known as the Cathedral Quarter. The east of the area also contains the Port of Belfast. Castle is served by the M2 and M5 motorways and the Yorkgate railway station.

Castle is one of the most mixed areas in the city, with just over half of the district's population being Protestant at the 2001 Census. There are a number of peace lines in the district, for example along the Whitewell Road.

History

Castle was created for the 1985 local elections. All six wards came from the former Area H, with only the Cliftonville ward and northern section of the Waterworks ward omitted from the new district. One of the district's six wards, Castleview, was renamed Innisfayle in 2014.

Amenities

Sport

Education

Wards

Map width = 110px Ward !width = 100px Population
(2011 Census) !
width = 90px Catholic !width = 90px Protestant !width = 90px Other !width = 100px No Religion !width = 100px Area !width = 80px Density !Ref
1 Bellevue 4,910 63.7% 29.3% 1.1% 6% 2.96 km21,659/km2 [1]
2 Castleview 4,722 38.1% 54.2% 1.2% 6.5% 1.41 km23,349/km2 [2]
3 Cavehill 4,820 57.1% 37.7% 0.9% 4.3% 3.41 km21,413/km2 [3]
4 Chichester Park 5,452 74.3% 17.2% 1.6% 6.9% 0.95 km25,739/km2 [4]
5 Duncairn 4,901 23.6% 63.9% 2.2% 10.3 9.24 km2530/km2 [5]
6Fortwilliam 4,561 41.3% 50.3% 1.2% 7.2% 1.03 km24,428/km2 [6]
Castle 29,366 50.3% 41.5% 1.4% 6.9% 19 km2 1,546/km2

Councillors

ElectionCouncillor
(Party)
Councillor
(Party)
Councillor
(Party)
Councillor
(Party)
Councillor
(Party)
Councillor
(Party)
2023Fred Cobain
(DUP)
Dean McCullough
(DUP)
Brónach Anglin
(Sinn Féin)
Sam Nelson
(Alliance)
Carl Whyte
(SDLP)
Conor Maskey
(Sinn Féin)
May 2022 Co-OptionMal O'Hara
(Green Party)
April 2020 Co-OptionNuala McAllister
(Alliance)
January 2020 Co-OptionGuy Spence
(DUP)
2019John Finucane
(Sinn Féin)
July 2017 DefectionLydia Patterson
(DUP)
David Browne
(UUP)
Pat Convery
(SDLP)/
(Independent)
Mary Ellen Campbell
(Sinn Féin)
2014
2011Tierna Cunningham
(Sinn Féin)
2005Nigel Dodds
(DUP)
Ian Crozier
(DUP)
Cathal Mallaghan
(SDLP)
2001Alban Maginness
(SDLP)
Danny Lavery
(Sinn Féin)
1997Nelson McCausland
(UUP)/
(Independent Unionist)
Tom Campbell
(Alliance)
1993Jonathan Stevenson
(SDLP)
John Carson
(UUP)
1989Frank Millar
(Independent Unionist)
Tom Campbell
(Alliance)
1985Alfred Redpath
(UUP)

2023 Election

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green

2019 Election

2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2014-2019 Change: Green gain from UUP

2014 Election

2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2014-2019 Change: Alliance gain from Sinn Féin

2011 Election

2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

2005 Election

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2001-2005 Change: No change

2001 Election

1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin,

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Alliance

1997 Election

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin

1993-1997 Change: Alliance and Sinn Féin gain from UUP and SDLP, Independent Unionist joins UUP

1993 Election

1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1989-1993 Change: UUP and SDLP gain from Independent Unionist and Alliance

1989 Election

1985: 2 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1985-1989 Change: Independent Unionist gain from UUP

1985 Election

1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

See also

References

  1. Web site: Ward Information for Bellevue ward 95GG08. NISRA. 22 December 2013.
  2. Web site: Ward Information for Castleview ward 95GG13. NISRA. 22 December 2013.
  3. Web site: Ward Information for Cavehill ward 95GG14. NISRA. 22 December 2013.
  4. Web site: Ward Information for Chichester Park ward 95GG16. NISRA. 22 December 2013.
  5. Web site: Ward Information for Duncairn ward 95GG20. NISRA. 22 December 2013.
  6. Web site: Ward Information for Fortwilliam ward 95GG24. NISRA. 22 December 2013.