Power sharing likely to be raised at Council agm

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Ards Borough Council meet this morning, Thursday, to decide who would fill the top two civic posts for the next 12 months.

Current Mayor, DUP Councillor Billy Montgomery will vacate the position of First Citizen, and his deputy, Councillor David Smyth of the UUP, looks set to step up, after he was nominated to fill the post of Mayor at the April Council meeting.

Retired Newtownards businessman, Mr Smyth, was first elected to the Council in 1985, and has already served as Mayor from 1992 -1993. He is currently the Chair of Ards Community Safety Partnership and was a founder member of Ards Business Centre.

When Mr Smyth was elected to the position of Deputy Mayor last year, there was expected to be elections on to the new Council, an amalgamation of Ards and neighbouring North Down, next year, under the Review of Public Adminstration (RPA). It was then believed that he would be Ards€ last mayor. Following last week€s announcement that RPA has been postponed, it is uncertain how long the life of the present Council will be extended, and how many times the Council will again select a Mayor.

For the past 10 years, the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor have rotated between the UUP and DUP. It is believed the DUP met on Tuesday evening, when they decided to put forward the name of Councillor Mervyn Oswald for the position. Mr Oswald, a former Director with Ards Borough Council, was elected to his Council seat in 2005.

Read the full report in this week's Chronicle.