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Belfast: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Belfast City Council: NI district (ni district), Northern Ireland. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code N09000003.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Life in Belfast: the official facts

Facts about the people who live here: their pay, homes, health and more, from official statistics. They describe the place, not you, and every council gets the same list. Each shows when it was measured.

Show the figures for:

Showing: Belfast.

People living here
351,927 people 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsAn official estimate of everyone who lives in the area, in the middle of the year.
Typical age
36 years 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsHalf the people who live here are younger than this and half are older.
Money to live on, per person, per year
£21,429 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage household income per person after taxes, with benefits added: what people have to spend or save.
Typical weekly pay, before tax
£575 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsFor employees who live here: half earn more than this each week, half earn less.
Children growing up in poverty
22.1% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsThe share of children under 16 in families on low incomes once housing costs are paid.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits
4.0% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsThe share of people aged 16 to 64 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work.
Average price of a home
£184,768 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
Years in good health: women
56.6 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a girl born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Years in good health: men
56.9 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a boy born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Greenhouse gases, per person
4.1 tonnes per person 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroEmissions from the area in a year, shared out per resident, in tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.
Homes and businesses that can get the fastest broadband
95.7% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars
77.5 per 100,000 people 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublic charging points at all speeds, for every 100,000 people.
Businesses trading here
11,895 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Belfast from the ONS

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

60 seats in 2026. Run by: NULL, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Sinn Féin 22, Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P. 14, Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 11, SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party) 4, Green Party (NI) 3, Independent / Other 2, Ulster Unionist Party 2, People Before Profit Alliance 1, Traditional Unionist Voice - TUV 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 60 councillors, by ward
  • Dónal Lyons (SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)) — Balmoral
  • Geraldine McAteer (Sinn Féin) — Balmoral
  • Micky Murray (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Balmoral
  • Sarah Bunting (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Balmoral
  • Tara Brooks (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Balmoral
  • Áine McCabe (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Arder Carson (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Ciaran Beattie (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Micheal Donnelly (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Paul Doherty (Independent / Other) — Black Mountain
  • Rois-Maire Donnelly (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Ronan McLaughlin (Sinn Féin) — Black Mountain
  • Áine Groogan (Green Party (NI)) — Botanic
  • Conor McKay (Sinn Féin) — Botanic
  • Emmet McDonough-Brown (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Botanic
  • Gary McKeown (SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)) — Botanic
  • Tracy Kelly (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Botanic
  • Brónach Anglin (Sinn Féin) — Castle
  • Carl Whyte (SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)) — Castle
  • Conor Maskey (Sinn Féin) — Castle
  • Dean McCullough (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Castle
  • Fred Cobain (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Castle
  • Sam Nelson (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Castle
  • Caoimhín McCann (Sinn Féin) — Collin
  • Joe Duffy (Sinn Féin) — Collin
  • Matt Garrett (Sinn Féin) — Collin
  • Michael Collins (People Before Profit Alliance) — Collin
  • Séanna Walsh (Sinn Féin) — Collin
  • Siobhán McCallin (Sinn Féin) — Collin
  • Christina Black (Sinn Féin) — Court
  • Claire Canavan (Sinn Féin) — Court
  • Frank McCoubrey (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Court
  • Ian McLaughlin (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Court
  • Nicola Verner (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Court
  • Ron McDowell (Traditional Unionist Voice - TUV) — Court
  • Bradley Ferguson (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Lisnasharragh
  • Brian Smyth (Green Party (NI)) — Lisnasharragh
  • Davy Douglas (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Lisnasharragh
  • Eric Hanvey (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Lisnasharragh
  • Michael Long (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Lisnasharragh
  • Séamas De Faoite (SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)) — Lisnasharragh
  • JJ Magee (Sinn Féin) — Oldpark
  • Jordan Doran (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Oldpark
  • Nichola Bradley (Sinn Féin) — Oldpark
  • Paul McCusker (Independent / Other) — Oldpark
  • Ryan Murphy (Sinn Féin) — Oldpark
  • Tomás Ó Néill (Sinn Féin) — Oldpark
  • Andrew McCormick (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Ormiston
  • Anthony Flynn (Green Party (NI)) — Ormiston
  • Christine Bower (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Ormiston
  • Hedley Abernethy (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Ormiston
  • James Lawlor (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Ormiston
  • Jenna Maghie (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Ormiston
  • Jim Rodgers (Ulster Unionist Party) — Ormiston
  • David Bell (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Titanic
  • Fiona McAteer (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Titanic
  • Pádraig Donnelly (Sinn Féin) — Titanic
  • Ruth Brooks (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Titanic
  • Sammy Douglas (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Titanic
  • Sonia Copeland (Ulster Unionist Party) — Titanic

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.