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The council of the districts are variously styled 'District Council', 'Borough Council', 'City Council' and 'City and District Council' - see the articles for the full name.
The current pattern of local government in Northern Ireland, with 26 councils, was established in 1973 by the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 to replace the previous system established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . The system is based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report , of June 1970 , which presupposed the continued existence of the Government Of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority. Councillors are elected for a 4-year term of office under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. Elections were last held in May 2005 . In order to qualify for election, a councillor must be
For local government purposes, Northern Ireland was previously divided into six for more details. COMBINATIONS The districts are combined for various purposes. There are five Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland, as follows There are four Health and Social Services Boards In the Eurostat Nomenclature Of Territorial Units For Statistics (NUTS), Northern Ireland is divided into five parts at level 3 2005 PROPOSALS Compared to unitary authorities in England , the Northern Ireland districts have small populations (average population of about 65,000). The district structure and the structure of other areas of public services in Northern Ireland were reviewed by the of Northern Ireland, the borders have been set just about as different to those of the counties as Northern Ireland's geography permits in order to ensure a fairer distribution of population. The new authorities will have a number of new powers in such areas as planning, local roads functions, regeneration, and fostering community relations, which will be transferred from the existing joint boards and other bodies, that are much closer in size to the proposed local authorities. Legislation will be introduced to prevent serving councillors also being Members Of The Northern Ireland Assembly (the so-called Dual Mandate that was also recently abolished in the Republic). Many people feel that the 7 'new' councils should be the original counties ( County Antrim , County Armagh , County Derry/Londonderry , County Down , County Fermanagh and County Tyrone ) and that Belfast City should have its own council. The following combinations will be the starting point for a Local Government Boundary Review {Link without Title} : # Belfast # (North-East) Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Larne, Moyle # (Around Antrim) Antrim, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Newtownabbey # (Down) Ards, Castlereagh, Down, North Down # (South) Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Newry and Mourne # (North-West) Derry, Limavady, Magherafelt, Strabane # (South-West) Cookstown, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh, Omagh Initital reaction from Northern Ireland's political parties, except for Sinn Féin , has been hostile, emphasising the reduction in local representation and frequently expressing a fear that the province will be carved up on sectarian lines. Areas 2, 3 and 4 would have substantial Protestant , and 5, 6 and 7 Catholic majorities, with Belfast very nearly equally balanced. Former Secretary Of State For Northern Ireland , Paul Murphy , has criticised the proposals as too severe. {Link without Title} Another issue is where to place the District Headquarters of each district, with many towns hoping to be the headquarters of their districts. SEE ALSO
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