Carrickfergus Borough Council

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Carrickfergus Borough

Geography
Area - Total - % Water	Ranked 25th 82 km² ? %
Admin HQ	Carrickfergus
ISO 3166-2	GB-CKF
ONS code	95V
Demographics
Population - Total (2005) - Density	Ranked 20th 39,175 479 / km²
Community	Protestant: 85.1% Catholic: 8.7%
Politics
Carrickfergus Borough Council http://www.carrickfergus.org
MPs	Sammy Wilson

Carrickfergus Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The Council headquarters are in Carrickfergus and the Council administers the town, on the north shore of Belfast Lough, and surrounding area, which extends from Greenisland in the south-west to Whitehead in the east. The Borough is 32 square miles, with a population of nearly 38,000.

The Carrickfergus Borough Council area consists of 3 electoral areas: Carrick Castle, Kilroot and Knockagh Monument. In the last elections in 2005 17 representatives for the area were elected from the following political parties: 8 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 4 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 3 Alliance Party and 2 Independents. The Mayor of Carrickfergus is Alderman David Hilditch (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor Eric Ferguson (UUP).

There is no other council in Ireland which is more Protestant in population, even though many Irish people believe Dun Laoighre/Rathdown Council on Dublin's affluent southside to be the most Protestant in behaviour. There are no nationalist parties, such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) or Sinn Féin on the council.

The next election is due to take place in May 2009. NB - the current council is likely to be the last of Carrickfergus, when the system is reformed to make way for only seven councils - to replace the current 26 in Northern Ireland.

Carrickfergus Borough Council owes its origin to the 1973 local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland. At that time the original Carrickfergus Borough Council, Whitehead Urban District Council and part of the Larne Rural District Council area were amalgamated to create the present Carrickfergus Borough Council area.

Together with the neighbouring district of Larne and part of Newtownabbey, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.