It included much of the south of County Armagh and the south of County Down and had a population of over 99,000. Council headquarters were in Newry, the largest settlement and only city in the area; it has a population of 28,850. Other towns in the council area included Crossmaglen and Bessbrook in County Armagh and Warrenpoint, Rostrevor, Hilltown, Annalong and Kilkeel (an important fishing port) in Down.
In April 2014 the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland criticised Newry and Mourne District Council for retaining the name of a children's play park called after the IRA hunger striker, Raymond McCreesh. McCreesh had been arrested with a weapon used in the infamous Kingsmill massacre of Protestant workmen. Twenty nationalist councillors - including six (non-republican) SDLP representatives - voted to uphold his name in the December 2012 vote, but unionists campaigned against the decision. The Equality Commission concluded that their investigation has found that little consideration appears to have been given by the council to the impact its decision, in this instance, might have on Ulster Protestants/unionists or to the damage it might cause to good relations[3]
Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the council was due to merge with Down District Council in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 1539 km2 and a population of 150,886.[10] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011.[11] The merger ultimately took place in April 2015 to form Newry City, Mourne and Down District Council.
Population
The area covered by Newry and Mourne District Council had a population of 99,480 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.[12]