Photo: Suzanne Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0Newry, Mourne and Down has the highest average rates bill in Northern Ireland
Downpatrick is run by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, its only council: Northern Ireland has one tier of local government. No party holds a majority; Sinn Féin has the most seats, 20 of 41. Its MP is Chris Hazzard (Sinn Féin), member for South Down. At Stormont, South Down elects five MLAs: 2 Sinn Féin, 1 SDLP, 1 DUP and 1 Alliance.
May 2027
Council and Assembly elections are both due.
Electoral Office for Northern Ireland ↗How Downpatrick is run, in three numbers
No party holds a majority
In May 2023 Sinn Féin won the most seats on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, 20 of 41, short of the 21 a majority needs. It ran 24 candidates across the council’s seven district electoral areas and 20 were elected. Who’s in charge ↓
One council area
All of Downpatrick is in the Downpatrick district electoral area. Downpatrick elected 2 SDLP, 2 Sinn Féin and 1 Alliance from 11 candidates; 6 others were not elected. Turnout there was 53%, 49th of Northern Ireland’s 80 areas. Councillors ↓
Rates up 25% since 2020–21
The average home in Newry, Mourne and Down paid £1,312 in rates in 2025–26, 25% more than the £1,049 of 2020–21 (Northern Ireland: 24%). About 47% of a bill is the council’s district rate; the rest is the Executive’s regional rate, which rose faster this year. Rates ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results, the UK Parliament Members API, and Land & Property Services and Department of Finance rates.
No party holds a majority on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Seats on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, as elected in May 2023, and how the other ten councils compare.
- Sinn Féin2024 stood
- SDLP815 stood
- Alliance58 stood
- DUP58 stood
- Independent26 stood
- UUP18 stood
As elected on 18 May 2023, with each party’s candidates.
A party needs 21 of the 41 seats to outvote the rest. No party has that: Sinn Féin is largest with 20. Northern Ireland’s councils share out the chair, deputy chair and committee chairs among the parties in proportion to their seats, so the council is run by several parties together. SDLP is second with 8 seats, from 15 candidates.
Northern Ireland’s 11 councils
Seats by party as elected in May 2023, largest party named. Only one of the 11 has a single-party majority.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), who was elected at each count. A councillor who stands down is replaced by co-option from the same party.
One council, and Stormont for the rest
Downpatrick has no county council and no town or parish council: since 2015 Northern Ireland has had 11 councils, each the only council for its area.
Bins and recycling, leisure centres, parks and cemeteries, local planning, building control, environmental health, licensing, tourism and local economic development, and the community plan.
www.newrymournedown.org ↗Its departments run what English county councils do and more: schools (the Education Authority), health and social care, roads and street lighting (DfI Roads), and housing (the Northern Ireland Housing Executive). It also sets the regional rate.
northernireland.gov.uk ↗NI Water supplies water and sewerage (paid for through the rates, not a separate bill), Libraries NI runs the libraries, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland the police, overseen by the Policing Board.
Who to ask
Green: the council. Gold: a Stormont department or one of its agencies. Gray: another public body. The police district shares the council’s boundary, so Newry, Mourne and Down’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership covers the same ground as the council.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Downpatrick, from the most recent elections. Sinn Féin’s MPs, South Down’s included, don’t take their seats at Westminster.
- 1Newry, Mourne and Down District Council1 district electoral area · 5 councillorsSDLP 2 · Sinn Féin 2 · Alliance 1 · all 5
- 2Northern Ireland AssemblySouth Down · 5 MLAsCathy MasonColin McGrathDiane ForsythePatrick BrownSinéad Ennis
- 3House of CommonsSouth Down
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own.
5 councillors represent Downpatrick
- Cadogan Enright
- Conor Galbraith
- Gareth Sharvin
- Oonagh Hanlon
- Philip Campbell
Also stood: Alexander Burgess (UUP), Aurla King (SDLP), Declan Walsh (Green), Louise Rooney (Sinn Féin), Sharon Harvey (DUP), Éamonn Mac Con Midhe (Independent).
Each district electoral area elects five to seven councillors by single transferable vote: voters number the candidates in order, and a candidate who reaches the quota is elected, with spare votes passed on to the next preference. An area can reach beyond the town. A councillor who stands down is replaced by their party (co-option), so the names can change without an election.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), who stood and who was elected on 18 May 2023. Democracy Club. First-preference votes and turnout: How Downpatrick voted ↓
First preferences in Downpatrick, May 2023
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,363. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party
The tick is the party’s share across all 80 areas in 2023.
8,286 of Downpatrick’s 15,691 voters turned out, 52.8%, 6th of Newry, Mourne and Down’s seven areas (council 58.3%) and 49th of Northern Ireland’s 80 (average 54.7%). With 8,173 valid votes and five seats the quota was 1,363. Only Oonagh Hanlon passed it on first preferences; transfers filled the other seats. Conor Galbraith (SDLP) was 7th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Louise Rooney (Sinn Féin), 5th on first preferences.
Electoral Office for Northern Ireland: 2023 result sheets and turnout by district electoral area (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Votes are first preferences at the first count.
Who stood, and who was elected
Every candidate for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, by party: the light bar is candidates, the solid bar those elected.
Share of candidates elected, Northern Ireland
Parties with 10 or more candidates across all 11 councils.
80 candidates stood for 41 seats across Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in May 2023, 2.0 for each seat (Northern Ireland: 1.75). By candidates per seat, Downpatrick ranked 5th (11 for 5) of Northern Ireland’s 80 areas, where 1st is the most contested. Sinn Féin elected 20 of its 24 candidates; SDLP won 8 of 15 and Alliance won 5 of 8.
The 2023 council election: same source as Councillors, above. Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0): candidates and who was elected, 18 May 2023, all 80 district electoral areas.
Downpatrick is in South Down for the Assembly
Five MLAs for each of 18 constituencies, elected by single transferable vote. A party replaces an MLA who stands down, so names may have changed. The Assembly’s constituencies are the Westminster ones as they were before 2024.
Also stood (7): Harold McKee (TUV), Jill Macauley (UUP), Karen McKevitt (SDLP), Noeleen Lynch (Green), Patrick Clarke (Independent), Paul McCrory (People Before Profit), Rosemary McGlone (Aontú).
South Down elected 2 Sinn Féin, 1 SDLP, 1 DUP and 1 Alliance from 12 candidates. Across Northern Ireland Sinn Féin won the most seats (27), the first time a nationalist party had done so, ahead of the DUP (25) and Alliance (17). The Executive is formed by the parties in proportion to their seats, and the First Minister and deputy First Minister, from the largest parties on each side, hold equal power.
- Sinn Féin27
- DUP25
- Alliance17
- UUP9
- SDLP8
- Independent2
- TUV1
- People Before Profit1
First preferences in South Down, May 2022
55,631 of 84,046 voters turned out, 66.2%, 5th of 18 (Northern Ireland 63.6%). The quota for five seats was 9,159. Sinéad Ennis and Cathy Mason passed it on first preferences; transfers filled the other seats.
Assembly: same source as Councillors, above. Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), candidates and who was elected, 5 May 2022, all 18 constituencies; first preferences and turnout: Electoral Office for Northern Ireland result sheets (Crown copyright, OGL v3.0); constituencies: ONS Westminster constituencies, December 2022 boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Downpatrick is in South Down constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result. Westminster elections are first past the post, so these have vote shares.
45,243 votes for candidates · majority 9,280
Sinn Féin, MP since 8 June 2017.
turnout in July 2024: 45,243 votes from 76,248 registered voters. Northern Ireland: 57%.
Majority 9,280 of 45,243 votes (20.5%): wider than in 67% of Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies.
On more than one ballot
- Assembly 2022: elected
- Westminster 2024: not elected, 10,418 votes
- Council 2023 · Downpatrick: not elected
- Westminster 2024: not elected, 444 votes
- Assembly 2022: elected
- Westminster 2024: not elected, 7,349 votes
- Assembly 2022: not elected
- Westminster 2024: not elected, 797 votes
4 people stood for more than one of Downpatrick’s three tiers between 2022 and 2024.
Turnout, July 2024
Votes cast over the electorate, Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies (average 57%).
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate. Other ballots: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0).
An average rates bill of £1,364 in Newry, Mourne and Down
The 11th-lowest average of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils for 2026–27.
Where an average bill goes
Homes in Northern Ireland pay domestic rates, not council tax: the home’s capital value (what it would have sold for in January 2005) times the rate poundage. In Newry, Mourne and Down for 2026–27 that’s 1.0558p in the pound, so the average bill of £1,364 is a home valued at about £129,000. The council sets the district rate (0.4999p, the 7th-lowest of the 11) and the Executive the regional rate (0.5559p, the same everywhere). This year the district rate rose 2.8% and the regional rate 5%.
Rates paid per home since 2020–21
Rates paid per home in Newry, Mourne and Down rose from £1,049 in 2020–21 to £1,312 in 2025–26, 25%, against 24% across Northern Ireland. The rates also pay for water and sewerage; there is no separate water bill. Housing Benefit and Rate Relief cover some or all of a bill on a low income, and Lone Pensioner Allowance takes 20% off for people 70 or over living alone.
2026–27 bill by the home’s 2005 value
Homes valued over £400,000 pay on £400,000. Land & Property Services publishes every home’s capital value.
Rates bills in Northern Ireland’s 11 councils
Average domestic rates bill per home, 2026–27 (2025–26 payments at 2026–27 poundages).
Land & Property Services, domestic rates paid by council area 2020–21 to 2025–26; Department of Finance rate poundages (Open Government Licence v3.0). Not available as open data: what each council spends by service.
Having a say in how Downpatrick is run
It takes about five minutes online; in Northern Ireland you need photo ID to vote at a polling station.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors, its MLAs and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗Potholes and broken pavements go to DfI Roads, not the council: nidirect has the form.
nidirect ↗Search applications near you on the Northern Ireland Planning Portal; commenting needs a free account.
nidirect ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
newrymournedown.org ↗The council’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership holds public meetings with the local police.
newrymournedown.org ↗Polling stations, postal votes and the free Electoral Identity Card.
Electoral Office for NI ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council and Assembly candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Downpatrick is run
Which council runs Downpatrick?
Downpatrick is run by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, one of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils. There is no county or town council; schools, health, roads and housing are run by the Executive’s departments and agencies.
Who controls Newry, Mourne and Down District Council?
No party has a majority. As elected in May 2023, Sinn Féin 20 · SDLP 8 · Alliance 5 · DUP 5 · Independent 2 · UUP 1 of 41 seats. Top posts are shared among the parties by size.
Who are Downpatrick’s councillors?
Downpatrick is in the Downpatrick district electoral area, which elected Cadogan Enright (Alliance), Conor Galbraith (SDLP), Gareth Sharvin (SDLP), Oonagh Hanlon (Sinn Féin), Philip Campbell (Sinn Féin), all in May 2023.
Who is the MP for Downpatrick?
Chris Hazzard (Sinn Féin) is the MP for South Down, which covers Downpatrick.
Is South Down a marginal seat?
No. The 2024 majority was 20.5% of votes cast, the 6th-widest of Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies.
Who are the MLAs for Downpatrick?
In May 2022 South Down elected Cathy Mason (Sinn Féin), Colin McGrath (SDLP), Diane Forsythe (DUP), Patrick Brown (Alliance) and Sinéad Ennis (Sinn Féin). A party replaces an MLA who stands down, so check the Assembly’s website for who sits now.
Is there council tax in Downpatrick?
No. Homes in Northern Ireland pay domestic rates, based on the home’s value in 2005; the average bill in Newry, Mourne and Down is about £1,364 a year for 2026–27, and it includes water.
How much are rates on a £100,000 home in Downpatrick?
A home valued at £100,000 in January 2005 pays £1,056 a year in 2026–27: £500 to the council and £556 to the Executive.
How many candidates stood in Downpatrick in 2023?
11 candidates stood for 5 seats in Downpatrick.
When are the next elections in Downpatrick?
The next council and Assembly elections are both due in May 2027. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 data zones and ONS constituency boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates and results (CC BY 4.0) · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · Land & Property Services and Department of Finance domestic rates (OGL v3.0). Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.