Cllr Tracy Kelly to become DUP's first female lord mayor of Belfast
South Belfast councillor Tracy Kelly is set to become the city's first female lord mayor from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).She is expected to be voted into the top position in Belfast at a council meeting on Monday night.It will make her the second female unionist to become the city's lord mayor. The late Grace Bannister held the position in 1981, and there is a footbridge in east Belfast named in her honour.The next deputy lord mayor is set to be west Belfast councillor Paul Doherty of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
'I never thought I would be lord mayor'
Kelly, 47, is from the Donegall Road area of south Belfast and used to work in community development, which sparked her interest in politics.She is currently office manager at the DUP constituency office of MLA Edwin Poots, who is the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.She previously worked for MLA Christopher Stalford, who died suddenly three years ago, aged 39.He had encouraged her to become involved in politics, and she was first elected to the council in 2019."He asked me to run in that election," she told BBC News NI."Him and constituents pressurised me into running in the 2019 election. I never thought I would ever sit in city council - never mind be lord mayor."
The DUP has held the position of lord mayor in Belfast nine times, and among those to wear the chain of office were Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson and current party leader Gavin Robinson.Asked about being the first female from the party in the role, Kelly said: "I feel very privileged to be the first female. Women are now taking more and more leadership roles."She pointed out that the DUP has already had a female leader, Arlene Foster, who became first minister, and Emma Little-Pengelly is the current deputy first minister.Looking ahead to her year in office, she said: "My aim as lord mayor is to ensure that nobody is left behind."Over the years Belfast has evolved and changed dramatically, since the Troubles especially."But there's communities out there that are disengaged from the city centre, they don't feel part of this change."And there's also young people who are disengaged from education, employment and training. I want to reach out to them."Away from politics, Kelly is a football fan and supports Linfield and Liverpool.The outgoing lord mayor is Micky Murray of the Alliance Party, who described himself as the first "openly gay" first citizen in Belfast.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Oxtoby sees NI's 'growth' after securing play-off
Northern Ireland boss Tanya Oxtoby believes their 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Nations League in Zenica shows the "growth" of her Simone Magill's composed finish was cancelled out by Sofija Krajsumovic's equaliser for Bosnia, but NI saw out the draw which secured second place in the group and a promotion is an improvement on their third-place finish in the last edition of the Nations League, and despite the nervy nature of the draw, Oxtoby praised the application of her players to grind out a result."It's always a difficult place to come with the travel, I thought we should have scored a few more in the first half and we conceded a sloppy one, but to show the character to see the game out that's all that matters at this point," she said."In international football there are no easy games, I said all along every game was going to be competitive in this group and you have to show the character and resilience."You have to win when it's not pretty and get results when it's not pretty and we've certainly done that when there have been times previously when we haven't, so for me, that is growth." NI success 'takes everyone' Northern Ireland will now face one of Austria, Belgium, Denmark or Iceland in the play-offs in October after those four sides finished third in their respective League A groups, with the draw taking place on was keen to stress that NI being in a position to reach League A for the first time takes a whole squad effort, particularly after a difficult trip to get to Bosnia."When you talk about the culture of the group, everyone adds value and contributes to what we're doing," she added."I said to the players whether you played or not you have contributed to the success of the group, it takes everyone."The travel day wasn't exactly smooth but to see the way the group look after each other in the airport that pleases me no end because that is the foundation you build team character and resilience on."
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Rathlin Island: RSPB hail 'record-breaking' corncrake count
The presence of six calling male corncrakes on Rathlin Island this breeding season has been hailed as a "record-breaking" Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Northern Ireland (RSPB NI) has said it is the highest number recorded in recent memory and marks a huge step in the fight to protect the bird the 1970s, the Corncrake population has declined significantly, leading to the species being red-listed in both the UK and Republic of record number of male corncrakes being recorded on the island this breeding season has been largely attributed to the efforts of an ongoing RSPB NI volunteer-led project. The Giving Corncrake a Home Project, which was launched back in 2010, helps provide tall vegetation for corncrakes to hide the past 15 years, the charity's staff, volunteers, and local landowners have worked to recreate suitable breeding habitats for the corncrake on the island. This includes planting nettle rhizomes to provide the early, dense vegetation cover corncrakes need to nest project has been hailed as helping the bird return to Rathlin Island in 2014. Why are nettles important for corncrakes? Corncrakes are a secretive bird that prefer to nest in they return from their winter in Africa, tall vegetation on Rathlin Island is in scarce nettles are chosen due to their fast-growing nettles are native to Rathlin, more are required from sites across Northern Ireland in order to create the ideal habitat around the field typically have two broods per breeding season and will also nest in the centre of the field once the grass grows. Liam McFaul, an RSPB warden on Rathlin Island, said it has been incredibly sad to watch the corncrake population decline over the decades, and spoke of the significance of this year's record count."When I was growing up, corncrakes were everywhere, you couldn't step outside without hearing them. Now, even one call is rare. "That's why creating early cover with nettle rhizomes is so important. "Without it, corncrakes could have disappeared from Rathlin for good." How to identify a corncrake Corncrakes are classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern secretive bird gives a rasping rattle as its breeding call - mostly heard at night, sometimes for hours on prefer to nest in meadows and hay fields in areas with lots of tall plant cover, where they spend most of their time hidden from are summer visitors to Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, wintering in central and southern are round-bodied and long-necked, like a water rail, but with a short, stubby plumage is mostly yellowish-brown, with darker streaks on the back and pale bars on the flanks. There are grey patches on the throat and above the eye. 'Now aiming for ten' RSPB NI's east area manager, Claire Barnett, has been part of the project for more than a decade and reflected on her time working as a senior conservation officer when she first heard the returning corncrake calls on the island."I remember being out on Rathlin in 2014, walking the fields and hearing the corncrake call as they were becoming re-established," she said. "It was a moment of hope, but I never imagined we'd one day be hearing six - it's incredible. "This is down to years of hard work by our team, the community and volunteers. "We're aiming for ten calling male Corncrakes on Rathlin, and with the right habitat and care, we're confident we can get there."
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Midfielder Fallon joins Coleraine from Linfield
Midfielder Stephen Fallon has joined Coleraine after leaving Irish Premiership champions Linfield upon the expiration of his 28-year-old won six league titles, two Irish Cups, three League Cups and a County Antrim Shield during his nine years with the Blues after arriving from Swansea has been a bit-part player in recent seasons due to a number of injury becomes the Bannsiders' third summer addition after the arrival of Kodi Lyons-Foster from Glentoran and Joel Cooper from the Blues."He's had a difficult few years with injury but having spoken to the medical staff here, they have been isolated injuries and we feel we can get on top of that and get him right," Coleraine boss Ruaidhri Higgins told the club's website."Once we get him right then we have a hell of a player on our hands. He's a talented midfield player and one of the best in the country."He knows how to win, he has been a really key player in some of Linfield's title wins and he brings that respect straight away when he walks into the changing room."
