Councillors Gillian McCollum and Vicky Moore selected as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Ards and North Down
Alliance Councillors Gillian McCollum and Vicky Moore have been appointed as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Ards and North Down for the 2025/26 term.
The decision will be ratified at a meeting of the council’s annual AGM on Wednesday (4 June).
Cllr Gillian McCollum said: “Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to Cllr Cathcart who has carried out his mayoral duties with great passion and commitment over his respective term.
“The overarching theme of my upcoming year as mayor is that of belonging.
“As a former school governor, chair of several PTAs, and through work with volunteers and local charitable organisations, I believe passionately in the power of community and what can be achieved when we work together.
“While Vicky and I want to use these offices to advocate for so many worthy causes, supporting families living with learning disabilities, tackling the outworking of NI’s mental health crisis, ending violence against women and girls, and combatting the scourge of poverty in our society that underlines all these problems are issues that are particularly close to my heart.
“With that in mind, I’m looking forward to supporting St Vincent De Paul, Women’s Aid, and Orchardville as my chosen charities.
“Business development is also high on my agenda, and how we can grow our non-domestic rate base. We have a responsibility to ensure value for money for ratepayers, support local businesses, and make our area as prosperous as possible, and this is something I will continue championing.
“Ards and North Down belongs to each of us equally and we are all equally worthy of belonging to Ards and North Down, and I want to be a mayor for everyone who calls the borough home.
“I’m ready to take on the role with energy, enthusiasm, and dedication, and I’m excited for the year ahead.
Cllr Vicky Moore added: “Ards and North Down is both my own life-long home and that of generations of my family before me, and I’m so incredibly honoured to take up the mantle of Deputy Mayor.
“For me, one of the most important parts of this role is being able to give a platform to the invaluable work being done by so many people who live and work here – people who are often left to fill in the gaps left by statutory organisations, and who truly make Ards and North Down what it is.
“Gillian has chosen such extremely worthy charities to highlight, and I’m looking forward to working with them.
“I’m committed to serving the borough, representing the voices of everyone right across the community on the issues that matter to us all, and I can’t wait to hit the ground running.”
