Memories of Warrenpoint

Urban District Council

Jim McCart

I had an early interest in politics and joined the Irish Labour Party when it was first established in Warrenpoint in 1945. I became a Councillor with Warrenpoint U. D. Council in 1964 and was the last elected Chairman of that Council.

At that time the Clerk was Noel Slattery, who was followed by Paul Higgins. After he left in 1970, the Ministry of Development would not sanction a new appointment and insisted that we share the Clerk with Newry Urban Council. At that time Gerald Cronin was Clerk, and he brought some of his staff to Warrenpoint including the Finance Officer, Joseph Morgan and Maureen Daly who was the Clerk’s personal assistant. I remember commenting at the time, that the sharing of the Clerk with Newry, was the start of amalgamation of Councils.

The Council met in Warrenpoint Town Hall and there were twelve Councillors, who came from a variety of backgrounds, from shopkeepers, factory workers, building trade to boarding house owners. There were two electoral Wards in the town, the East Ward which was represented by five Unionist Councillors, and the West Ward by seven Nationalists.

Small Urban Councils like Warrenpoint had a lot of power, but no money. I remember that there were a number of improvement schemes that needed to be done, but while government grants were available, finding the Council share of expenditure was virtually impossible. This was due to the small amount of rates that could be raised, as there were only about 3,000 people in Warrenpoint in the mid-1960s.

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a turbulent time for local government, with some Councils only meeting intermittently. This was exacerbated by the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972. Warrenpoint U.D. Council did not meet and we received a letter technically removing us from office. A Commissioner was brought in to run the Council, and ten months later we had the elections for the new Newry and Mourne District Council.

I stood in the election for the new Council and topped the poll. I served in the new Council until I retired in 2001.

At that time, being a Councillor was a part-time role, with only two or three meetings each month. These took place at 7pm, which reflected the working life of Councillors. It was an unpaid position, with very little in the way of out-of-pocket expenses even for the Chairman of Council.

Warrenpoint Swimming Baths

Built by Warrenpoint Urban District Council, the Baths were opened on 8th June 1908, and were the first of their kind in Ireland.