DUP the big winners in council election

When the votes were finally all tallied in the early hours of Tuesday morning they had won 14 of the 30 seats - two up on their total at the end of the last council.

Sein Fein also increased their representation after winning five or the seven seats in Dunmurry Cross.

The Ulster Unionists lost two seats and are also on five.

Alliance retained three seats and although the SDLP lost one seat in Dunmurry, they were able to claim a first victory in Lisburn Town North.

Among the casualties of the election was former Mayor Cecil Calvert. He had been elected in 2005 for the DUP but switched to the TUV. After not being selected by them for the Assembly, Mr Calvert ran as an independent but failed to win back his seat.

Also failing to be re-elected were the UUP’s David Archer and the SDLP’s Matthew McDermott.

There will be a full report and analysis in this week’s Ulster Star