Good Morning Ladies & Gentlemen
For those of you who do not already know me, I’m Jill Macauley…. I currently represent the Mournes DEA of Newry Mourne & Down District Council.
I was co-opted just over 2 years ago, after the successful election of my predecessor Harold McKee to the Assembly back in May 2016, and to date I’m enjoying every minute!
I serve alongside my good friends and colleagues Cllr David Taylor in Slieve Gullion and Cllr Robert Burgess in Rowallane.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council covers the southeast of Northern Ireland, including Southern County Armagh and the largest part of County Down.
It incorporates 3 of Northern Ireland’s 8 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty from Lecale, the Mourne Mountains and Ring of Gullion, and has an extensive coastline stretching from Strangford Lough to Carlingford Lough.
With a population of just under 172,000 in the Newry, Mourne & Down District, this makes it the 3rd biggest council in Northern Ireland (and in my obviously ‘unbiased’ opinion the most beautiful!)
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has 41 elected members representing seven district electoral areas.
Crotlieve
Downpatrick
Newry
Rowallane
Slieve Croob
Slieve Gullion
The Mournes
Out of these 41 Councillors, we have a grand total of 8 Unionists!
As the only female Unionist Councillor (of any persuasion) in our whole district, I want to help change the face of local government on behalf of this great Party.
As we are very much the minority community in our District, this brings many challenges, but I can assure you that we as an Ulster Unionist Party Council grouping punch well above our weight and work extremely hard to build strong ties and respectful relationships with our council colleagues to get things done.
I’m sure many of you are all too aware of the Raymond McCreesh Park issue that blights our Council…
The Raymond McCreesh Park issue is still ongoing within our Council but the Ulster Unionist Party has been to the forefront in challenging Republican and Nationalist representatives on the matter to the point where progress has been made through Council plans to dispose of the park.
We have long campaigned and sought to have that decision overturned. Without the pressure applied by our Party in terms of highlighting all that was wrong about naming a children’s play Park after a convicted terrorist there would have been no movement on this issue.
We continue to closely monitor the situation and will fight to the very end to ensure that this morally incomprehensible matter is consigned to history books.
It’s not all bad news for Unionists!...
After the Royal Wedding this year we were absolutely delighted when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were conferred the titles of Baron and Baroness Kilkeel, by the Queen to mark the occasion of their marriage.
As local councillor representing the Mournes, I shared the immense pride and excitement that this title brings for our local community in the Kingdom of Mourne.
After such positive coverage of the royal couple on their wedding day throughout the world, it was great to see the town of Kilkeel highlighted to the world stage.
Because we felt that this was such a wonderful opportunity for our district, the Ulster Unionist group brought forward a Notice of Motion congratulating the Royal couple on their new titles and extended a warm welcome to them to when they visit our wonderful District.
As this Royal wedding reflected all that is good about the inclusiveness and diversity of the United Kingdom and its esteemed and changing monarchy; We challenged our Nationalist counterparts to think outside the stereotypical box and back something that they may not be the biggest supporters of.
This Motion was successfully voted through Council and received great coverage from our Local and National press, and most importantly helped our Unionist residents feel included and respected.
I firmly believe that the simple principles that make you a good local representative are… Standing up for what you believe in, the ability to engage and communicate with people, and most importantly a strong backbone!
With that, the three of us will continue to promote a positive and progressive vision for the future development of our District, and will most certainly work hard with all our prospective candidates to deliver an even stronger Ulster Unionist representation in Newry, Mourne & Down at next year’s Council Election.