John Finlay is new Mayor of Ballymoney - Stevenson deputy

The veteran DUP representative was elected unopposed at the annual meeting in Riada House last Thursday night.

His deputy is another DUP member, Councillor Ian Stevenson. Again, there were no other nominations.

Cllr. Finlay and Cllr. Stevenson were each proposed by the party leader on the council, Alderman Bill Kennedy and seconded by Alderman Frank Campbell.

Cllr. Robinson vacated her position with a detailed breakdown of notable achievements and activities during her tenure as first Citizen.

Recently honoured in the Queen’s Birthday’s list, Cllr. Robinson said it had been a momentous year and added that she had been proud to represent the Borough at many functions and events.

On taking office, Cllr. Finlay, who was first elected to the council in 1998, described the position as a great honour and thanked the council for their confidence in him.

“I will treat you all fairly,” he said before adding “it’s a great honour to be Mayor of this great town. We can only go from strength to strength in these hard times.

“There is plenty of work to do and we cannot rest on our laurels,” he said.

All committee members were re-elected en bloc but changes were made with some members wither resigning or switching their positions on internal and external bodies.

Meanwhile, Moyle SDLP Councillors Dónal Cunningham and Catherine McCambridge have paid tribute to outgoing Council chair Councillor Sandra Hunter.

“The position of Chair is the most visible sign of local democratic leadership. In an extremely busy year Councillor Sandra Hunter put people first, she has been an excellent ambassador for Moyle furthering the interests of the area whenever and wherever the occasion arose.”

“Sandra made every effort to be available to all sections of the community; her warm and friendly personality was appreciated and warmly welcomed in every section of the Moyle Community. She will be a hard act to follow.”