Armagh City and District Council is a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It includes the city of Armagh, as well as the surrounding area and its population is about 54,000. City status was officially conferred in 1995. Armagh has a long reputation as an administrative centre and the headquarters of the Southern Education and Library Board and the Southern Health and Social Services Board are currently located in the city. The Armagh Outreach Centre was established in 1995 and is linked to the Queen's University of Belfast. The heads of both the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland reside in the city which was established by St Patrick as the Christian capital of Ireland. It also has some important Georgian architecture.
The district consists of four electoral areas: Armagh City, Cusher, Crossmore and The Orchard, from which 22 councillors are elected for a period of four years by proportional representation. At the last election in 2011 members were elected from the following political parties: 6 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 6 Sinn Féin, 5 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 4 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and independent Councillor Paul Berry, a former DUP councillor. The current mayor of Armagh is Councillor Freda Donnelly (DUP). The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011. The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the most recent district council elections took place in 2011
Together with part of the district of Newry and Mourne, it forms the Newry & Armagh constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
Read more about Armagh City And District Council: Lord Mayor
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