Super-council showdown in Magherafelt’s Meadowbank arena

However the move has not gone down well in Cookstown. Councillors there, claim a verbal agreement had been reached for Cookstown leisure centre to be the venue, where the new super-councillors will be unveiled after the election on
May 22.

According to the minutes of a Cookstown council meeting, the current chief executive of Magherafelt John McLaughlin, who is also the Deputy Returning Officer for the elections, said in an email that “Cookstown Leisure Centre is not large enough to hold three/four counts simultaneously”.

Mr McLaughlin said he had decided to switch the count to Meadowbank, which has previously staged major events including the televised Paul McCloskey fight.

Cookstown councillors responded: “The Committee recommended that Mr McLaughlin was advised that Cookstown District Council did not accept his claims and would raise the matter at the next Statutory Transition Committee meeting.”

This is the latest in a series of skirmishes, where the three council areas - Magherafelt, Cookstown and Dungannon - appear to be vying for supremacy.

In November of last year, the MAIL reported how Dungannon Council lodged a paper outlining the potential for Dungannon to become the civic administrative capital of the new super
council.

Last month Derry GAA legend Anthony Tohill was unveiled as the new Chief Executive of the Mid Ulster Super Council.