Look ahead to Local Government Election 2023 - Ballyarnett Ward

The Local Elections on May 18 will see a total of 462 councillors elected to 11 local councils across the North of Ireland.

Forty of those will be elected onto Derry City and Strabane District Council.

You can keep up-to-date with all the Local Government Election 2023 developments in Derry News and online at Derry Now on our dedicated Election Page.

Derry City and Strabane District Council comprises seven wards: Ballyarnett, Derg, Faughan, Foyleside, Sperrin, The Moor, and Waterside.

Today we take a closer look at each of the wards.

The overall turnout in Derry City and Strabane District Council electoral area for 2019 Local Government Election was 56.21% with a total of 60,695 valid votes cast. A total of 1,103 ballots were rejected.

Ballyarnett 

Ballyarnett comprises the district electoral areas of Shantallow East, Galliagh, Shantallow and Carnhill. It has 6 seats.

In 2014, Ballyarnett returned 3 Sinn Féin, 2 SDLP and 1 Independent candidate.

In 2019, it returned 3 SDLP, 2 Sinn Féin and 1 Aontú candidate. The SDLP and Aontú gained a seat from Sinn Féin and the Independent.

There are nine candidates standing in Ballyarnett. They are: Colm Cavanagh (Alliance); Damien Doherty (People Before Profit); Cllr Emmet Doyle (Aontú); Cllr Sandra Duffy (Sinn Féin); Cllr Rory Farrell (SDLP); Catherine McDaid (SDLP); Cllr John McGowan (Sinn Féin); Patrick Murphy (Sinn Féin); and Cllr Brian Tierney (SDLP).

In 2019, the total number of the Ballyarnett electorate was 17,425. There were 9,575 (54.95%) valid votes cast. There were 199 spoilt votes and the quota was set at 1,368 votes.

The first preference tallies were: Angela Dobbins (SDLP) 1,392 votes (elected); Brian Tierney (SDLP) 1,235 votes (elected); Rory Farrell (SDLP) 1,170 votes (elected); Anne McCloskey (Aontú) 1,032 votes (elected); Aileen Mellon (Sinn Féin) 848 votes (elected); Nuala Crilly (People Before Profit) 826 votes; Caoimhe McKnight (Sinn Féin)  656 votes; Warren Robinson (Independent) 639 votes; Neil McLaughlin (Sinn Féin) 538 votes; and Danny McCloskey (Alliance) 340 votes.

In the Ballyarnett Ward there were three changes during the Council term. On November 11, 2020, Cllr Anne McCloskey (Aontú) resigned and Emmet Doyle (Aontú) was co-opted on as her replacement. On July 19, 2021, Cllr Aileen Mellon (Sinn Féin) resigned and Damien Mullan (Sinn Féin) was co-opted as her replacement. On November 24, 2021, Cllr Damien Mullan (Sinn Féin) resigned and John McGowan was co-opted as his replacement.