Belfast Area F

Area F was one of the eight district electoral areas (DEA) which existed in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1973 to 1985. Containing the inner parts of west and south Belfast, the district elected six members to Belfast City Council and contained the wards of Clonard; Cromac; Donegall; Falls; Grosvenor; and Saint George's wards. Most of the DEA formed part of the Belfast West constituency, with a small part in Belfast South.

History

The area was created for the 1973 local government elections. It contained the whole of the former Saint George's ward, centred on the Sandy Row area. It also contained smaller sections of the former Cromac, Falls, Saint Anne's and Smithfield wards. It was abolished for the 1985 local government elections. The depopulated Falls and Grosvenor wards were merged to form a single Falls ward, which, together with Clonard, formed part of the new Lower Falls DEA. The Donegall ward, which was renamed Blackstaff in 1985, became part of the Balmoral DEA. The Cromac and Saint George's wards were merged to form the Shaftsbury ward, which became part of the new Laganbank DEA.

Results

1973

Belfast F^[1]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref
	UUP	H. Fletcher	3,441
	UUP	James Stewart	3,320
	SDLP	Paddy Devlin	2,242
	DUP	William Spence	1,190
	UUP	T. G. Murphy	1,000
	Republican Clubs	John Sullivan	735
	Republican Clubs	S. O'Hare	700
	Republican Clubs	Dornan	560
	Republican Clubs	Sean Flynn	538
	SDLP	Owen Allen	475
	Alliance	Maureen Smyth	370
	NI Labour	Magee	232
	SDLP	Desmond Gillespie	230
	Alliance	Woods	230
	NI Labour	W. Ritchie	165
	Republican Labour	Clarke	129
	Communist Party	Betty Sinclair	110
	Republican Labour	McKenna	72
	Republican Labour	Marron	29
Turnout			16,390

1977

Belfast F^[1]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref
	SDLP	Owen Allen	1,886
	UUP	James Stewart	1,681
	Republican Clubs	Jim Sullivan	1,099
	UUP	Harry Fletcher	1,081
	Alliance	Will Glendinning	1,077
	DUP	Billy Dickson	949
	SDLP	T. Lappin	899
	DUP	J. H. Parkes	525
	UUP	T. G. Murphy	369
	Republican Clubs	S. O'Hare	306
	Communist Party	James Stewart	115
Turnout			11,040
	Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist

1981

Belfast F^[1]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref
	DUP	Billy Dickson	1,913
	Irish Republican Socialist	Sean Flynn	1,639
	Workers' Party	J. Sullivan	1,002
	DUP	Eric Smyth	952
	SDLP	Owen Allen	898
	Alliance	Will Glendinning	844
	UUP	James Stewart	719
	SDLP	H. G. Fitzmaurice	719
	UUP	L. Cust	638
	UUP	H. Fletcher	621
	SDLP	Mary Smyth	389
	SDLP	T. Lappin	227
	Alliance	Paul Maguire	215
Turnout			11,428
	Democratic Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist
	Irish Republican Socialist gain from Republican Clubs

1984 by-election

The by-election was held after Flynn, the IRSP councillor, was disqualified for non-attendance.^[2] It was the second seat on Belfast City Council that Sinn Féin won, following a by-election win in Area D in June 1983.

Area F by-election, 28 March 1984
Party		Candidate	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Sinn Féin	Sean McKnight	2981	3027	3216	3216	3624
	DUP	Clarke Gibson	1843	1846	1849	3098	3559
	UUP	H. Fletcher	1608	1609	1610
	Alliance	Pip Glendinning	1079	1246	1883	2060
	SDLP	Sean Mullan	1040	1153
	Workers' Party	Gerry McCann	691

References

1 2 3 The Local Government Elections 1973–1981: Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections
↑ Belfast Telegraph, 30 March 1984, p1-4

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