Council described as 'a cold house' for non-DUP members

No sooner had the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor been voted in at Monday's AGM, when Mr Campbell requested a suspension of Standing Orders so he could stress his extreme disquiet that for the third year in a row the DUP had conspired to snap up virtually all the council's top positions.

Mr Campbell said this constituted an "abuse of power which was deeply damaging to community relations in the borough".

"It makes a mockery of the council's Good Relations' scheme which is to have regard to and seek to accommodate good relations between those of different races, relgious beliefs and political opinions to name but a few examples," he said.

"There is no point in appealing to reason, common sense or goodwill, as none of these qualities are in evidence on the DUP side."

Hitting back, Alderman Paul Girvan of the DUP claimed that the Alliance party had “historically” held key positions on the council including those of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, as well as committe Chair and Vice-Chair posts.

Speaking after the AGM, the SDLP's Councillor Noreen McClelland said that Newtownabbey Council remained a "cold house" for those who held different political and religious views from the DUP.

"Yet again we see the DUP, using their majority in this council to exclude those councillors with differing political and religious views from positions of civil responsibility and leadership,” she said.

"Newtownabbey is a place where we should be welcoming everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, political or religious views.

"How can we as a council be seen to be welcoming all, when the representatives of people with different political and religious views are deemed not worthy to hold positions of authority? Northern Ireland is changing. Councils across the north are learning that unionists and nationalists can work together to build better communities.

"However, Newtownabbey remains locked in the failed politics of the past, with an open disregard for those who do not hold the political and religious views of the DUP."