Castle (District Electoral Area)

Castle is one of the ten district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the north of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Bellevue, Cavehill, Chichester Park, Duncairn, Fortwilliam and Innisfayle. Castle, along with Oldpark district and parts of the Court district and Newtownabbey Borough Council, forms the Belfast North constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament. The district is bounded to the east by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Newtownabbey Borough Council and Belfast Lough, to the south by North Street and to the west by the Cavehill Road.

The district takes its name from the current Belfast Castle, which is located on Cave Hill in the north of the district, while the southern section of the district is part of the city centre and forms one of Belfast's main cultural areas, known as the Cathedral Quarter. The east of the area also contains the Port of Belfast. Castle is served by the M2 and M5 motorways and the Yorkgate railway station.

Castle is one of the most mixed areas in the city, with just over half of the district's population being Protestant at the 2001 Census. There are a number of peace lines in the district, for example along the Whitewell Road.

History
Castle was created for the 1985 local elections. All six wards came from the former Area H, with only the Cliftonville ward and northern section of the Waterworks ward omitted from the new district. One of the district's six wards, Castleview, was renamed Innisfayle in 2014.

Amenities



 * Albert Memorial Clock
 * Belfast Castle
 * Belfast Exposed photographic gallery
 * Belfast Harbour
 * Belfast Hebrew Congregation
 * Belfast Zoo
 * Cavehill
 * Dividers Sculpture
 * Giant's Park
 * McHugh's Bar
 * Merchant Hotel
 * The Northern Whig Bar
 * NvTv (Northern Visions Television)
 * Obel Tower
 * St Anne’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland)
 * The Big Fish, sculpture

Sport
 * Seaview, Crusaders F.C. home ground
 * Skegoneill Avenue, Brantwood F.C. home ground

Education
 * Castle High School
 * Dominican College
 * Hazelwood College
 * Seaview Primary School
 * St Patrick's College
 * University of Ulster, Belfast Campus

2023 Election
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green

2019 Election
2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2014-2019 Change: Green gain from UUP

2014 Election
2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2014-2019 Change: Alliance gain from Sinn Féin

2011 Election
2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

2005 Election
2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2001-2005 Change: No change

2001 Election
1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin,

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Alliance

1997 Election
1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin

1993-1997 Change: Alliance and Sinn Féin gain from UUP and SDLP, Independent Unionist joins UUP

1993 Election
1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1989-1993 Change: UUP and SDLP gain from Independent Unionist and Alliance

1989 Election
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1985-1989 Change: Independent Unionist gain from UUP

1985 Election
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist