The first meeting of the newly formed Newry, Mourne and Down Council convened on Tuesday 10 June in the Downshire Civic Centre, Downpatrick with all of the 41 recently elected members in attendance.

The new Council was convened as a result of legislation passed by the NI Assembly to dissolve the Local Government Act 1972 and restructure local government in NI under a new Local Government Act 2014.

This Council, which will be known as the Shadow Council for the next ten months, is a significant milestone in the creation of a new single Council for the Down District and Newry & Mourne District Council areas, which will be established on 1 April 2015.

Councillor Charlie Casey from Newry was appointed as Presiding Councillor of the new Council and Councillor Declan McAteer from Crotlieve was appointed as the Deputy Presiding Councillor. These positions will be held for this first term, June 2014 - March 2015.

Public Services delivered by Councils will remain largely unaffected by the restructuring. However, the new Council will have transferred powers and functions from central government. Functions transferring include: Planning, Community Planning, Regeneration and some aspects of Housing.

The new Council Chief Executive will initially be supported by a small team of officials who will work towards transferring staff to the new Council, decide on its own budget and set the new district rate.

Shadow Council meetings will take place every month and are open to the public to attend. A second Council meeting was held on Tuesday 8 July 2014 in Downshire Civic Centre.

Pictured - Shadow Council Presiding Councillor Charlie Casey (L), Deputy Presiding Councillor Declan McAteer (R) and (Centre) Chief Executive Designate for the new Council of Newry, Mourne and Down, Mr Liam Hannway.