# 2001 Down District Council election

Elections to Down District Council were held on 7 June 2001 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

## Election results

Down District Council Election Result 2001 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| SDLP | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 43.5 | 41.2 | 12,308 | 4.8 |
| UUP | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26.1 | 21.8 | 6,507 | 2.3 |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17.4 | 17.2 | 5,156 | 9.6 |
| DUP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.7 | 14.3 | 4,276 | 2.4 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 1,521 | 5.1 |
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 115 | 2.3 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Down District Council election, 2001 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | SDLP | SDLP | UUP | UUP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | DUP | DUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ballynahinch | 39.4 | 2 | 24.0 | 1 | 13.6 | 1 | 23.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Downpatrick | 52.7 | 4 | 9.3 | 1 | 21.1 | 1 | 2.4 | 0 | 14.5 | 1 | 7 |
| Newcastle | 44.6 | 3 | 15.7 | 1 | 27.6 | 2 | 9.0 | 0 | 3.1 | 0 | 6 |
| Rowallane | 25.1 | 1 | 41.8 | 3 | 4.4 | 0 | 26.2 | 1 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 41.2 | 10 | 21.8 | 6 | 17.2 | 4 | 14.3 | 2 | 5.5 | 1 | 23 |

## Districts results
### Ballynahinch

1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP 2001: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin 1997-2001 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
Ballynahinch - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SDLP | Patrick Toman* | 16.74% | 1,150 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Anne Marie McAleenan* | 14.01% | 962 | 965 | 1,456 | | | |
| | DUP | Jim Wells | 12.55% | 862 | 951 | 956 | 961 | 1,358 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Branniff | 13.64% | 937 | 937 | 985 | 1,123 | 1,125 | 1,125.85 |
| | UUP | Harvey Bicker* | 11.50% | 790 | 839 | 855 | 902 | 1,022 | 1,125.7 |
| | UUP | John Cochrane | 9.81% | 674 | 778 | 789 | 817 | 911 | 1,018.95 |
| | DUP | William Alexander* | 8.63% | 593 | 640 | 644 | 649 | | |
| | SDLP | Francis Casement* | 8.62% | 592 | 598 | | | | |
| | UUP | John Reid | 2.65% | 182 | | | | | |
| | DUP | Alan McIlroy | 1.83% | 126 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,997 Valid: 6,868 (68.70%) Spoilt: 137 Quota: 1,145 Turnout: 7,005 (70.07%) ||||||||||

### Downpatrick

1997: 5 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2001: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1997-2001 Change: Independent gain from SDLP
Downpatrick - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Sinn Féin | Éamonn McConvey | 13.61% | 1,147 | | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Peter Craig* | 12.78% | 1,077 | | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Dermot Curran* | 12.15% | 1,024 | 1,028.64 | 1,041.54 | 1,060.54 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | John Doris* | 10.11% | 852 | 854.96 | 858.04 | 865.14 | 882.14 | 915.32 | 915.32 | 1,178.32 | |
| | SDLP | Ann Trainor | 10.07% | 849 | 853.8 | 855.06 | 861.1 | 876.12 | 890.22 | 891.22 | 1,118.22 | |
| | Independent | Raymond Blaney | 9.91% | 835 | 838.44 | 839.68 | 868.78 | 895.78 | 947.88 | 961.88 | 1,025.6 | 1,051.84 |
| | UUP | Jack McIlheron* | 9.28% | 782 | 782.32 | 782.44 | 791.52 | 805.52 | 809.52 | 962.6 | 970.84 | 976.58 |
| | Sinn Féin | Liam Johnston | 7.51% | 633 | 697.88 | 698.54 | 701.54 | 707.54 | 742.02 | 744.04 | 787.36 | 800.07 |
| | SDLP | Gerard Mahon* | 4.79% | 404 | 405.36 | 405.84 | 409.84 | 414.92 | 420.92 | 420.92 | | |
| | SDLP | John Irvine | 2.76% | 233 | 234.92 | 235.42 | 236.44 | 241.52 | 252.76 | 252.76 | | |
| | DUP | John Foster | 2.41% | 203 | 203.08 | 203.12 | 203.12 | 203.12 | 203.12 | | | |
| | Independent | Patrick O'Connor | 2.05% | 173 | 174.28 | 174.34 | 186.36 | 192.44 | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Desmond O'Hagan | 1.36% | 115 | 115.24 | 115.26 | 117.28 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Helen Honeyman | 1.20% | 101 | 101.08 | 101.38 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 13,109 Valid: 8,428 (64.29%) Spoilt: 238 Quota: 1,054 Turnout: 8,666 (66.11%) |||||||||||||

### Newcastle

1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Women's Coalition 2001: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 1997-2001 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Women's Coalition
Newcastle - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | SDLP | Eamon O'Neill* | 16.92% | 1,308 | | | |
| | UUP | Gerald Douglas* | 15.67% | 1,211 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Willie Clarke | 15.05% | 1,163 | | | |
| | SDLP | Carmel O'Boyle* | 12.94% | 1,000 | 1,087.84 | 1,143.84 | |
| | SDLP | Peter Fitzpatrick* | 9.06% | 700 | 774.08 | 824.2 | 1,163.2 |
| | Sinn Féin | Hugh McDowell* | 12.57% | 972 | 985.6 | 1,036.92 | 1,084.44 |
| | DUP | Stanley Priestley | 8.99% | 695 | 695.16 | 707.16 | 719.48 |
| | SDLP | Charles McGrath | 5.67% | 438 | 461.2 | 495.68 | |
| | Independent | David Allister | 3.14% | 243 | 246.2 | | |
| Electorate: 11,339 Valid: 7,730 (68.17%) Spoilt: 160 Quota: 1,105 Turnout: 7,890 (69.58%) ||||||||

### Rowallane

1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 2001: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1997-2001 Change: No change
Rowallane - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SDLP | Margaret Ritchie* | 21.00% | 1,440 | | | | | |
| | DUP | William Dick* | 17.47% | 1,198 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Burgess | 16.23% | 1,113 | 1,117.41 | 1,144.41 | | | |
| | UUP | Albert Colmer* | 14.98% | 1,027 | 1,035.4 | 1,051.24 | 1,058.71 | 1,262.71 | |
| | UUP | Edward Rea | 10.62% | 728 | 732.83 | 760.83 | 762.25 | 901.46 | 1,018.5 |
| | SDLP | Kathleen Stockton | 4.07% | 279 | 525.12 | 565.59 | 823.93 | 845.35 | 847.66 |
| | DUP | William Walker | 8.74% | 599 | 600.47 | 622.68 | 623.68 | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Anthony Lacken | 4.43% | 304 | 319.96 | 322.96 | | | |
| | Independent | James Marks | 2.46% | 169 | 172.36 | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,464 Valid: 6,857 (65.53%) Spoilt: 142 Quota: 1,143 Turnout: 6,999 (66.89%) ||||||||||