Memories of Newry No. 1 & 2

Rural District Councils

Kevin O’Neill

I started work in 1962 as a junior clerk for Newry No. 1 Rural District Council (Co. Down side) and Newry No. 2 Rural District Council (Co. Armagh side). Both Councils shared the same Clerk and administrative staff, but had separate professional staff such as engineers and architects. The Clerk, W.B. O’Donoghue, was from Forkhill and had served in the First World War. The administrative capital for both Councils was at Monaghan Row, adjacent to Daisy Hill Hospital, reflecting the former association of local government with the Board of Guardians.

No. 1 R.D. Council comprised seventeen Councillors and No. 2 R.D. Council comprised nineteen Councillors. At that time the Councillors reflected the rural nature of the Councils, and were farmers, merchants and auctioneers. Most Councillors were Independent, and not party political, and usually had a ‘standing’ or prominence in the community, which was important for election.

Councillors that stand out from this period include Malachy Trainor who was always lobbying to get more houses built in Creggan, south Armagh. In the 1960s both Councils were heavily involved in building houses.

for Newry No. 1 R.D. Council, while Nicholas O’Dywer and Partners were the consulting engineers for No. 2 R.D. Council. J. L. O’Hagan & Co. were the architects for No.1. The Council resident engineer for No. 1 was William Ellison and for No. 2 Peter McMahon. Danny McRandal was the architect for all the housing in No. 2 Council. Other officials that spring to mind, include Hugh Townson, No.2 R.D. Council Public Health Inspector, who commented on the changeover to the larger Council in 1973; “Absolute mistake moving citizens further from seat of power, in England we had Parish Councils, bigger is not always better”.

The Rural Councils also had responsibility for water, sewerage, housing and public health, and the staff and consultants employed reflected these diverse functions. In the 1960s Major Reside was the consulting engineer

The review of local government in 1973 saw the absorption of the Newry Rural District Councils into Newry and Mourne District Council. The new Council was more party political than the former Councils. Its first Chairman was John McAteer (Independent) from Ballyholland. There were also more sub-meetings because of this; the calibre of Councillor also changed, and there was a Unionist-Nationalist divide. In the old Council system, meetings were held at 1pm; in the new Council meetings were now held in the evenings. Electoral voting also changed, with the single transferable vote system introduced.

The first Clerk of Newry and Mourne District Council was Paddy O’Hagan from Hilltown, and after he retired, I became Clerk and occupied that position from 1988 - 1999.