2023 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council election

Main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections

The 2023 election to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.^[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.^[2]

2023 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council election

← 2019 18 May 2023 2027 →
All 41 council seats 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Michelle O'Neill[n 1] Colum Eastwood Jeffrey Donaldson Party Sinn Féin SDLP DUP Last election 16 11 3 Seats won 20 8 5 Seat change 4 3 2 Popular vote 37,032 13,170 9,124 Percentage 48.3% 17.2% 11.9% Swing 11.8% 5.8% 3.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Naomi Long No leader Doug Beattie Party Alliance Independent UUP Last election 2 5 4 Seats won 5 2 1 Seat change 3 3 3 Popular vote 7,176 3,608 4,062 Percentage 9.4% 4.7% 5.3% Swing 2.0% 7.8% 4.7%
Newry, Mourne and Down 2023 Council Election Results by DEA (Shaded by the plurality of FPVs)
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election TBC

41 members were returned to the council via Single Transferable Vote.

Election results

Newry, Mourne and Down Borough Council Election Result 2023

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Sinn Féin	20	4	0	4	48.78	48.32	37,032	11.79
	SDLP	8	0	3	3	19.51	17.18	13,170	5.86
	DUP	5	2	0	2	12.20	11.90	9,124	3.40
	Alliance	5	3	0	3	12.20	9.36	7,176	1.92
	Independent	2	0	3	3	4.88	4.71	3,608	7.78
	UUP	1	0	3	3	2.44	5.30	4,062	4.73
	Aontú	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.31	1,002	0.21
	TUV	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.15	880	New
	Green (NI)	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.77	589	0.32
Total		41						76,643

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

The 2023 LG election in NMD saw the further decline of the SDLP and UUP, whereas Sinn Fein and Alliance made gains, with the DUP also gaining two councillors.

Districts summary

Results of the 2023 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council election by DEA

District Electoral Area (DEA)	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total cllrs
	Sinn Féin		SDLP		DUP		Alliance		UUP		Independents and others
Crotlieve	45.67	3 1	17.74	1 1	4.57	0	5.03	0	3.42	0	23.57	2	6
Downpatrick	43.45	2 1	30.71	2 1	3.27	0	13.75	1 1	2.45	0	6.37	0 1	5
Newry	65.15	4 1	18.15	2	0.00	0	7.94	0	2.72	0	6.04	0 1	6
Rowallane	10.78	0	16.42	1	34.17	2	24.59	2 1	12.91	0 1	1.12	0	5
Slieve Croob	47.56	3 1	11.68	0 1	19.34	1 1	13.28	1	4.30	0 1	3.85	0	5
Slieve Gullion	67.92	5	16.00	1	2.45	0	2.03	0	8.15	1	3.46	0	7
The Mournes	41.87	3	12.91	1	25.65	2 1	8.27	1 1	3.82	0 1	7.47	0 1	7
Total	48.32	20 4	17.18	8 3	11.90	5 2	9.36	5 3	5.30	1 3	7.93	2 3	41

District results

Crotlieve

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x Independent, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Crotlieve - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Sinn Féin	Selina Murphy	14.20%	1,863	1,879.00
	SDLP	Declan McAteer*	9.40%	1,233	1,310.00	1,324.00	1,473.00	1,577.00	1,683.00	1,683.25	2,507.25
	Independent	Mark Gibbons*	8.47%	1,111	1,143.00	1,150.00	1,242.00	1,610.00	1,721.00	1,721.75	1,793.75	1,888.75
	Sinn Féin	Kate Murphy	10.65%	1,397	1,402.00	1,403.00	1,453.00	1,491.00	1,493.00	1,494.50	1,611.50	1,771.50	1,774.62
	Sinn Féin	Mickey Ruane*	10.57%	1,387	1,413.00	1,413.00	1,446.00	1,570.00	1,574.00	1,575.00	1,618.00	1,669.00	1,670.04
	Independent	Jarlath Tinnelly*	7.95%	1,043	1,059.00	1,063.00	1,142.00	1,252.00	1,306.00	1,306.25	1,367.25	1,504.25	1,513.35
	Sinn Féin	Gerry O'Hare*	10.25%	1,345	1,350.00	1,350.00	1,376.00	1,389.00	1,391.00	1,391.00	1,447.00	1,512.00	1,512.26
	SDLP	Karen McKevitt*	6.94%	911	948.00	964.00	1,130.00	1,189.00	1,305.00	1,305.25
	DUP	Keith Parke	4.57%	600	603.00	946.00	957.00	965.00
	Independent	Jim Boylan	6.24%	818	841.00	850.00	926.00
	Alliance	Daniel Neary	5.03%	660	710.00	742.00
	UUP	Ricky McGaffin	3.42%	448	451.00
	SDLP	Anne Sheridan	1.40%	183
	Green (NI)	Hugh O'Reilly	0.73%	96
	Independent	Finbarr Lambe	0.18%	23
Electorate: 21,313   Valid: 13,118 (61.55%)   Spoilt: 140   Quota: 1,875   Turnout: 13,258 (62.21%)

Downpatrick

2019: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Independent

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and Alliance gain from SDLP and Independent

Downpatrick - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Sinn Féin	Oonagh Hanlon*	19.32%	1,579
	SDLP	Gareth Sharvin*	15.99%	1,307	1,325.59	1,348.72	1,360.98	1,388.78
	Alliance	Cadogan Enright*	13.75%	1,124	1,131.67	1,172.67	1,209.67	1,334.80	1,377.80
	Sinn Féin	Philip Campbell	14.19%	1,160	1,262.70	1,266.70	1,268.70	1,271.70	1,377.70
	SDLP	Conor Galbraith	7.22%	590	597.41	608.41	617.41	641.41	705.06	711.06	718.34	721.23	1,166.23
	Sinn Féin	Louise Rooney	9.94%	812	866.08	877.21	877.47	877.60	946.11	946.11	950.03	959.38	1,057.38
	SDLP	Aurla King	7.50%	613	620.67	629.67	643.67	666.67	705.80	712.80	716.16	717.86
	Independent	Éamon Mac Con Midhe	4.94%	404	409.46	415.72	418.72	435.72
	DUP	Sharon Harvey	3.27%	267	267.26	268.26	388.26
	UUP	Alexander Burgess	2.45%	200	200.52	201.52
	Green (NI)	Declan Walsh	1.43%	117	117.65
Electorate: 15,691   Valid: 8,173 (52.09%)   Spoilt: 113   Quota: 1,363   Turnout: 8,286 (52.81%)

Newry

2019: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

2023: 4 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Independent

Newry - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Sinn Féin	Valerie Harte*	19.95%	2,085
	Sinn Féin	Cathal King*	18.96%	1,982
	Sinn Féin	Geraldine Kearns*	12.05%	1,259	1,719.88
	Sinn Féin	Aidan Mathers	14.19%	1,483	1,526.96
	SDLP	Michael Savage* †	8.95%	935	949.84	1,151.03	1,192.47	1,203.34	1,382.34
	SDLP	Doire Finn	9.20%	961	994.04	1,120.89	1,211.33	1,226.98	1,357.98
	Alliance	Helena Young	7.94%	830	845.68	925.33	963.69	988.12	1,199.12
	Aontú	Sharon Loughran	3.04%	318	322.20	356.42	372.94	386.24
	UUP	Andrew McCracken	2.72%	285	285.00	287.95	289.35	289.35
	Independent	Mariya Krupska	2.00%	209	213.76	237.95	248.03	272.10
	Workers' Party	Nicola Grant	1.00%	104	106.24	123.94	130.66
Electorate: 19,901   Valid: 10,451 (52.51%)   Spoilt: 172   Quota: 1,494   Turnout: 10,623 (53.38%)

Rowallane

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Rowallane - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	Jonny Jackson*	17.60%	1,414
	SDLP	Terry Andrews*	16.42%	1,319	1,335	1,860
	DUP	Callum Bowsie*	16.57%	1,331	1,337	1,340
	Alliance	Tierna Kelly	12.01%	965	996	1,118	1,403
	Alliance	David Lee-Surginor*	12.58%	1,011	1,056	1,199	1,347
	UUP	Robert Burgess*	11.66%	937	1,018	1,021	1,024
	Sinn Féin	Dermot Kennedy	10.78%	866	872
	UUP	Rachel Gracey	1.26%	101
	Green (NI)	Ali McColl	1.12%	90
Electorate: 15,865   Valid: 8,034 (50.64%)   Spoilt: 81   Quota: 1,340   Turnout: 8,115 (51.15%)

Slieve Croob

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and DUP gain from SDLP and UUP

Slieve Croob - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Alan Lewis*	19.34%	1,723
	Sinn Féin	Jim Brennan*	17.61%	1,569
	Sinn Féin	Róisín Howell*	16.19%	1,443	1,443.14	1,447.14	1,484.39	1,531.39
	Alliance	Andrew McMurray* †	13.28%	1,183	1,189.02	1,244.02	1,246.77	1,327.02	1,521.02
	Sinn Féin	Siobhan O'Hare	13.76%	1,226	1,226.42	1,232.42	1,259.87	1,301.47	1,305.87
	SDLP	Hugh Gallagher*	8.48%	756	758.80	771.80	778.50	1,082.18	1,170.54
	UUP	Walter Lyons	4.30%	383	603.36	604.50	604.55	607.25
	SDLP	Will Polland	3.20%	285	286.40	299.40	302.45
	Aontú	Rosemary McGlone	2.75%	245	245.70	248.70	249.50
	Green (NI)	Seana Pitt	1.10%	98	98.70
Electorate: 15,797   Valid: 8,911 (56.41%)   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 1,486   Turnout: 9,003 (56.99%)

Slieve Gullion

2019: 5 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2023: 5 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Slieve Gullion - 7 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Sinn Féin	Aoife Finnegan*	13.16%	1,934
	Sinn Féin	Áine Quinn	13.15%	1,932
	Sinn Féin	Declan Murphy*	12.98%	1,907
	SDLP	Pete Byrne*	9.85%	1,447	1,462.30	1,468.30	1,472.54	1,473.35	1,554.56	1,670.23	2,404.23
	Sinn Féin	Mickey Larkin*	10.61%	1,558	1,573.26	1,579.30	1,640.54	1,645.61	1,669.12	1,719.61	1,795.24	1,946.24
	Sinn Féin	Oonagh Magennis*	8.96%	1,316	1,368.55	1,376.60	1,379.62	1,387.95	1,411.32	1,445.60	1,511.77	1,617.77
	UUP	David Taylor*	8.15%	1,197	1,197	1,198	1,198	1,198.09	1,226.09	1,570.09	1,592.15	1,628.15
	Sinn Féin	Barra Ó'Muirí*	9.06%	1,331	1,339.30	1,343.30	1,348.86	1,385.76	1,393.08	1,432.23	1,463.35	1,503.35
	SDLP	Killian Feehan	6.15%	903	904.20	913.20	913.72	917.72	1,015.85	1,102.07
	Aontú	Liam Reichenberg	2.99%	439	439.50	446.50	447.66	448.05	489.09
	DUP	Linda Henry	2.45%	360	360.10	360.10	360.14	360.14	360.14
	Alliance	Caolán Gregory	2.03%	298	298.90	321.95	322.47	323.10
	Green (NI)	Molly Ní Mhánais	0.47%	69	69.15
Electorate: 22,734   Valid: 14,691 (64.62%)   Spoilt: 266   Quota: 1,837   Turnout: 14,957 (65.79%)

The Mournes

2019: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: DUP and Alliance gain from UUP and Independent

The Mournes - 7 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	DUP	Glyn Hanna*	17.50%	2,340
	Sinn Féin	Michael Rice*	15.26%	2,040
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke*	14.32%	1,915
	Sinn Féin	Leeanne McEvoy*	12.29%	1,643	1,643.56	1,946.14
	SDLP	Laura Devlin*	10.25%	1,370	1,372.80	1,379.64	1,476.76	1,516.30	1,679.41
	DUP	Henry Reilly*	8.15%	1,089	1,622.96	1,623.68	1,623.86	1,626.14	1,626.31	1,638.11	1,835.11
	Alliance	Jill Truesdale	8.27%	1,105	1,108.64	1,116.38	1,140.32	1,206.76	1,249.09	1.505.94	1,626.94
	TUV	Harold McKee*	6.58%	880	962.68	963.06	963.24	966.24	966.24	972.61	1,163.12
	UUP	Lloyd Douglas	3.82%	511	537.88	538.06	538.60	539.60	540.45	557.70
	SDLP	Dominic O'Reilly	2.67%	357	359.62	386.52	439.26	443.16	467.13
	Green (NI)	Sean O Baoill	0.89%	119	119.28	120.36	127.02
Electorate: 22,227   Valid: 13,369 (60.15%)   Spoilt: 179   Quota: 1,672   Turnout: 13,548 (60.95%)

Changes during the term

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Electoral Area	Party		Outgoing	Co-optee	Reason
13 November 2023	Newry		SDLP	Michael Savage	Killian Feehan	Savage resigned.[4]
24 May 2024	Slieve Croob		Alliance	Andrew McMurray	Helena Young	McMurray was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[5]
8 March 2025	Slieve Gullion		Sinn Féin	Aoife Finnegan	Martin Hearty	Finnegan was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[6]

Notes

1. The leader of Sinn Féin is Mary Lou McDonald, who sits as a TD in the Irish Dáil Éireann for Dublin Central. O'Neill is the leader of the party in Northern Ireland.