1981 Newry and Mourne District Council election

Elections to Newry and Mourne District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used six district electoral areas to elect a total of 30 councillors.

Election results
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary
!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! %
 * - class="unsortable" align="centre"

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | IIP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Anti H-Block !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * 31.9
 * 2
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|35.4
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 23.1
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 9.6
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|64.0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|4
 * 8.9
 * 0
 * 8.5
 * 0
 * 2.8
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 15.8
 * 0
 * 4
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|40.0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|2
 * 26.0
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 22.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 11.8
 * 0
 * 4
 * align="left"|Area D
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|37.1
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 19.1
 * 2
 * 25.8
 * 2
 * 3.9
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 14.1
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Area E
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|40.0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 7.6
 * 0
 * 7.6
 * 1
 * 3.7
 * 0
 * 30.1
 * 2
 * 11.0
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area F
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|43.4
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|2
 * 16.2
 * 1
 * 21.6
 * 1
 * 5.6
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 13.2
 * 0
 * 6
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 41.7
 * 16
 * 18.7
 * 6
 * 11.4
 * 4
 * 9.5
 * 2
 * 6.1
 * 2
 * 12.6
 * 0
 * 30
 * }
 * 6.1
 * 2
 * 12.6
 * 0
 * 30
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP

1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP

1977-1981 Change: No change

Area B
1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist

1981: 4 x SDLP

1977-1981 Change: SDLP (two seats) gain from Alliance and Independent Nationalist

Area C
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP

1981: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Area D
1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist

1981: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 2 x IIP

1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Alliance, Independent Nationalist joins IIP

Area E
1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Republican

1981: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Anti H-Block, 1 x IIP

1977-1981 Change: Anti H-Block (two seats) gain from SDLP and Independent Republican, Independent Nationalist joins IIP

Area F
1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1981: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x IIP

1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Alliance