South Down (Assembly constituency)

South Down
County Constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly
South Down shown within Northern Ireland
Districts	Down, Banbridge, Newry and Mourne
Current constituency
Created	1973
Assembly Members	Chris Hazzard Harold McKee Sinead Bradley Colin McGrath Caitríona Ruane Jim Wells

South Down is an electoral constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1973. It usually shares boundaries with the South Down UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1983 to 1986 as the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes and from 1996 to 1997 when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983–95 constituency boundaries, was still in session.

Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998.

Some of the most high-profile MLA's for the constituency include Caitríona Ruane, Margaret Ritchie, and John McCallister.

For further details on the history and boundaries of the constituency, see South Down (UK Parliament constituency).

Members

Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)

In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The seven members elected from South Down were:

• Patrick O'Donoghue Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Eddie McGrady Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Frank Feely Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Brian Faulkner Ulster Unionist Party (pro-White Paper)
• Ronald Broadhurst Ulster Unionist Party (pro-White Paper)
• Herbert Heslip Ulster Unionist Party (anti-White Paper)
• Cecil Harvey Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975)

In 1975 elections were held to a Constitutional Convention which sought (unsuccessfully) to generate a consensus on the future of the province. The seven members elected from South Down were:

Election	Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)
1975		Patrick O'Donoghue (SDLP)		Eddie McGrady (SDLP)		Frank Feely (SDLP)		Brian Faulkner (UPNI)		Peter Brush (UUP)		Herbert Heslip (UUP)		Cecil Harvey (Vanguard)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)

In 1982 elections were held for an Assembly for Northern Ireland to hold the Secretary of State to account, in the hope that this would be the first step towards restoring devolution. South Down elected seven members as follows:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1982		Patrick O'Donoghue (SDLP)		Eddie McGrady (SDLP)		Frank Feely (SDLP)		Raymond McCullough (UUP)		William Brown (UUP)		Jim Wells (DUP)		George Graham (DUP)
1985 by-election								Jeffrey Donaldson (UUP)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Forum (1996)

In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from South Down. They were as follows:

Election	Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)
1996		Mick Murphy (Sinn Féin)		Margaret Ritchie (SDLP)		Hugh Carr (SDLP)		Eddie McGrady (SDLP)		Dermot Nesbitt (UUP)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Assembly (1998–present)

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1998		Mick Murphy (Sinn Féin)		Eamonn O'Neill (SDLP)		P. J. Bradley (SDLP)		Eddie McGrady (SDLP)		Dermot Nesbitt (UUP)		Jim Wells (DUP)
2003		Caitriona Ruane (Sinn Féin)		Willie Clarke (Sinn Féin)				Margaret Ritchie (SDLP)
2007										John McCallister (UUP/Independent)
2011						Karen McKevitt (SDLP)
April 2012 co-option				Chris Hazzard (Sinn Féin)				Seán Rogers (SDLP)
2016						Colin McGrath (SDLP)		Sinead Bradley (SDLP)		Harold McKee (UUP)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

2016

2016 Assembly election: South Down – 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	DUP	Jim Wells	12.3	5,033	5,183	6,470
	UUP	Harold McKee	8.5	3,481	3,812	5,168	5,567	6,141
	Sinn Féin	Chris Hazzard	12.3	5,045	5,142	5,144	5,321	5,321.50	7,277.50
	SDLP	Sinead Bradley	12.3	5,059	5,231	5,241	5,828	5,834	6,144
	Sinn Féin	Caitríona Ruane	10.2	4,191	4,240	4,244	4,335	4,335	5,415	6,664.50
	SDLP	Colin McGrath	10.4	4,288	4,429	4,440	5,033	5,038	5,121	5,190	5,397
	SDLP	Seán Rogers	8.7	3,564	3,699	3,721	4,076	4,086.50	4,227.50	4,309	4,595.75
	Sinn Féin	Michael Gray-Sloan	8.6	3,520	3,571	3,572	3,665	3,665
	Alliance	Patrick Brown	5.4	2,200	2,841	2,869
	TUV	Henry Reilly	6.6	2,718	2,800
	Independent	John McCallister	2.8	1,156
	Green (NI)	John Hardy	2.0	820
Electorate: 77,409   Valid: 41,075   Spoilt: 570 (1.37%)   Quota: 5,868   Turnout: 53.80%

2011

2011 Assembly Election: South Down - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9
	SDLP	Margaret Ritchie	20.4	8,506
	Sinn Féin	Caitriona Ruane	14.3	5,955	6,192.15
	DUP	Jim Wells	12.5	5,200	5,284.84	5,354.56	5,404.28	6,543.28
	UUP	John McCallister	10.6	4,409	4,480.92	4,624.88	4,714.77	5,679.90	6,329.60
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke	9.3	3,882	3,957.95	3,992.50	4,094.15	4,101.46	4,103.20	6,777.20
	SDLP	Karen McKevitt	9.0	3,758	4,318.79	4,432.71	4,675.33	4,702.43	4,707.27	4,842.93	5,277.28	5,347.46
	SDLP	Eamon O'Neill	6.4	2,633	3,844.72	3,959.19	4,222.77	4,251.35	4,259.47	4,449.46	4,826.14	4,882.98
	Sinn Féin	Naomi Bailie	7.3	3,050	3,150.44	3,161.06	3,305.46	3,306.77	3,308.51
	UKIP	Henry Reilly	5.6	2,322	2,353.29	2,373.70	2,398.94
	Green (NI)	Cadogan Enright	2.7	1,107	1,227.28	1,238.75
	Alliance	David Griffin	2.7	864	915.15
Electorate: 73,240   Valid: 41,276   Spoilt: 825 (1.94%)   Quota: 5,961   Turnout: 58.10%

2007

2007 Assembly Election: South Down - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11
	Sinn Féin	Caitriona Ruane	13.7	6,334	6,336	6,337	6,337	6,428	6,450	6,676
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke	11.1	5,138	5,145	5,152	5,154	5,259	5,273	5,412	7,382
	SDLP	Margaret Ritchie	12.7	5,838	5,870	5,887	5,892	6,026	6,055	6,429	6,945
	SDLP	P. J. Bradley	12.3	5,652	5,662	5,682	5,684	5,772	5,829	6,190	6,286	6,650.32
	DUP	Jim Wells	12.0	5,542	5,546	5,605	5,763	5,792	6,188	6,240	6,248	6,250.97	8,462.97
	UUP	John McCallister	9.6	4,447	4,448	4,553	4,637	4,819	5,230	5,370	5,377	5,384.92	6,046.91	7,720.91
	SDLP	Michael Carr	6.4	2,972	2,976	2,986	2,989	3,062	3,093	3,354	3,422	3,830.87	3,853.87	3,882.87
	DUP	William Burns	5.7	2,611	2,613	2,667	2,721	2,741	3,040	3,061	3,062	3,064.97
	Sinn Féin	Eamonn McConvey	5.8	2,662	2,678	2,679	2,679	2,703	2,703	2,778
	Green (NI)	Ciaran Mussen	3.5	1,622	1,646	1,675	1,685	2,008	2,043
	UKIP	Henry Reilly	2.7	1,229	1,229	1,239	1,326	1,354
	Alliance	David Griffin	1.5	691	700	743	755
	Independent Republican	Martin Cunningham	0.9	434	441	448	448
	UK Unionist	Frederick Wharton	0.9	424	424	443
	NI Conservatives	Peter Bowles	0.8	391	391
	Labour Party NI	Malachi Curran	0.3	123
Electorate: 71,704   Valid: 46,110   Spoilt: 513 (1.10%)   Quota: 6,588   Turnout: 65.02%

2003

2003 Assembly Election: South Down
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9
	DUP	Jim Wells	15.0	6,789
	SDLP	P. J. Bradley	11.8	5,337	5,337.36	5,355.36	5,682.96	7,136.96
	UUP	Dermot Nesbitt	11.8	5,368	5,411	5,420	5,759.04	5,797.20	5,802.72	5,822.72	8,325.72
	Sinn Féin	Caitriona Ruane	11.3	5,118	5,118	5,124	5,211.08	5,415.08	5,450.04	6,024.42	6,026.54	6,035.54
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke	9.0	4,083	4,083.08	4,092.08	4,185.16	4,268.20	4,278.78	5,920.74	5,926.44	5,934.44
	SDLP	Margaret Ritchie	9.4	4,261	4,261.76	4,313.76	4,665.32	4,848.36	4,921.50	5,419.96	5,477.96	5,733.96
	SDLP	Eamonn O'Neill	8.7	3,942	3,942.92	3,963.92	4,220.24	4,692.32	5,215.34	5,350.34	5,411.52	5,697.52
	UUP	Jim Donaldson	6.4	2,885	2,984.52	2,989.52	3,254.96	3,264.12	3,265.96	3,269.42
	Sinn Féin	Eamonn McConvey	6.2	2,806	2,806.12	2,833.12	2,961.16	2,986.16	2,990.30
	SDLP	Marion Fitzpatrick	5.3	2,382	2,382.44	2,409.44	2,555.64
	Green (NI)	Raymond Blaney	1.8	799	799.76	851.76
	NI Women's Coalition	Trudy Miller	1.2	565	565.60	589.60
	Alliance	Neil Powell	1.1	489	489.48	495.48
	UK Unionist	Nelson Wharton	0.5	245	360.64	362.72
	Independent	Malachi Curran	0.4	162	162.08
	Workers' Party	Desmond O'Hagan	0.3	115	115.08
Electorate: 70,149   Valid: 45,346   Spoilt: 666   Quota: 6,479   Turnout: 46,012 (65.6)

1998

1998 Assembly Election: South Down - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11
	SDLP	Eddie McGrady	20.2	10,373
	Sinn Féin	Mick Murphy	12.2	6,251	6,418.33	6,514.51	6,517.51	6,574.08	7,761.08
	UUP	Dermot Nesbitt	10.7	5,480	5,507.84	5,524.03	5,788.90	6,133.54	6,137.99	6,137.99	7,770.99
	SDLP	P. J. Bradley	10.8	5,571	6,218.28	6,313.44	6,317.31	6,485.16	6,563.40	6,665.52	6,716.39	6,739.49	7,390.23
	DUP	Jim Wells	9.4	4,826	4,830.06	4,840.35	5,261.35	5,270.35	5,272.35	5,273.27	5,631.85	5,792.85	5,849.34	8,170.34
	SDLP	Eamonn O'Neill	7.0	3,582	4,752.73	4,889.94	4,892.52	5,006.57	5,144.92	5,289.36	5,323.39	5,342.29	6,120.06	6,163.20
	SDLP	Hugh Carr	7.3	3,731	4,132.36	4,230.24	4,232.24	4,379.71	4,438.47	4,501.03	4,517.90	4,528.40	5,114.14	5,186.72
	UK Unionist	Frederick Wharton	5.0	2,576	2,577.16	2,581.16	2,886.45	2,904.74	2,905.74	2,906.20	3,125.36	3,271.66	3,313.71
	NI Women's Coalition	Anne Carr	3.2	1,658	1,811.41	2,000.03	2,009.32	2,563.74	2,675.11	2,785.05	2,890.12	2,955.57
	UUP	Norman Hanna	3.8	1,939	1,946.83	1,962.28	2,481.15	2,642.73	2,646.73	2,647.65
	Sinn Féin	Garret O'Fachtna	3.0	1,520	1,603.81	1,697.41	1,697.70	1,716.73
	Alliance	Anne-Marie Cunningham	2.9	1,502	1,586.39	1,675.63	1,697.50
	Independent Unionist	George Graham	3.0	1,562	1,567.51	1,578.51
	Labour Party NI	Malachi Curran	1.0	498	634.01
	Workers' Party	Des O'Hagan	0.2	130	151.17
	Independent Labour	Patrick O'Connor	0.2	121	148.84
	Natural Law	Thomas Mullins	0.1	33	38.51
Electorate: 71,027   Valid: 51,353   Spoilt: 989 (1.89%)   Quota: 7,337   Turnout: 73.69%

1996 Forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.

Party		Candidate(s)	Votes	Percentage
	SDLP	Eddie McGrady Hugh Carr Margaret Ritchie Marietta Farrell John Doris	20,220	43.2
	UUP	Dermot Nesbitt Frederick Wharton Gerry Douglas Albert Colmer William Martin	10,379	22.2
	Sinn Féin	Mick Murphy Frank McDowell Martin Gough Deidre Clark	6,142	13.1
	DUP	William Alexander John Finlay William Burns	5,060	10.8
	Alliance	Julian Crozier Michael Healy	1,685	3.6
	Labour coalition	Malachi Curran Patrick O'Connor Edna Furey James Masson Michael Kearney	927	2.0
	PUP	George Graham James McDonald	497	1.1
	NI Women's Coalition	Bronagh Lawson Claire Hannah Lynn Carvill Ursula Leahy	464	1.0
	Ulster Democratic	Norma Coulter Denis Paisley	404	0.9
	Green (NI)	Maggie Burch Eugene O'Shea Christopher Busby	251	0.6
	NI Conservatives	Paul Megarity Michael Henderson	197	0.4
	Workers' Party	Marie O'Hagan Eddie O'Hagan	162	0.4
	Ulster Independence	Samuel Pollock Stanley Watson James McElrath	130	0.3
	Democratic Partnership	William Leneghan Sean O'Baoill	117	0.2
	Democratic Left	Veronica McEneaney Jim Ryan	65	0.1
	Natural Law	Desmond Garrett William McCarthy	30	0.1
	Independent Chambers	George Chambers Doreen Larmour	18	0.0

1982

1982 Assembly election: South Down - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	SDLP	Frank Feely	12.5%	7,391
	SDLP	Eddie McGrady	12.4%	7,313	7,636
	UUP	William Brown	8.8%	5,220	5,227	5,234	5,441	7,593
	SDLP	Patrick O'Donoghue	10.0%	5,916	6,252	6,440	6,449	6,455	8,181
	UUP	Raymond McCullough	9.8%	5,802	5,808	5,809	5,903	6,451	6,458	6,471	6,497	9,553
	DUP	George Graham	6.9%	4,075	4,081	4,082	5,366	5,533	5,543	5,548	5,552	6,518	7,596
	DUP	Jim Wells	6.4%	3,779	3,783	3,783	5,361	5,474	5,488	5,503	5,505	5,663	5,937
	Alliance	Patrick Forde	6.2%	3,646	3,999	4,027	4,047	4,148	4,346	4,707	4,709	4,879	5,101
	UUP	William Coulter	6.4%	3,787	3,794	3,795	3,828	4,490	4,497	4,508	4,663
	Sinn Féin	Cyril Toman	5.7%	3,393	3,772	3,795	3,805	3,806
	UUP	William Martin	6.0%	3,562	3,567	3,568	3,798
	DUP	Ethel Smyth	5.9%	3,495	3,507	3,508
	Workers' Party	Thomas Moore	2.8%	1,676
Electorate: 93,261   Valid: 59,055   Spoilt: 2,137 (3.49%)   Quota: 7,382   Turnout: 65.60%

1975

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	SDLP	Frank Feely	9,730	Elected
	Vanguard	Cecil Harvey	8,843	Elected
	SDLP	Eddy McGrady	7,257	Elected
	SDLP	Patrick O'Donoghue	6,657	Elected
	UUP	Herbert Heslip	6,380	Elected
	UUP	Peter Brush	6,293	Elected
	Unionist Party NI	Brian Faulkner	6,035	Elected
	DUP	David Herron	3,752	Not elected
	Alliance	Anthony Williamson	1,612	Not elected
	Alliance	Denys Rowan-Hamilton	1,509	Not elected
	Republican Clubs	Raymond Blaney	1,002	Not elected
	Unionist Party NI	Ronald Broadhurst	994	Not elected
	Republican Clubs	Gerard O'Hanlon	680	Not elected

1973

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	UUP	Brian Faulkner	16,287	Elected
	SDLP	Eddy McGrady	7,870	Elected
	SDLP	Frank Feely	6,857	Elected
	Vanguard	Cecil Harvey	5,006	Elected
	SDLP	Patrick O'Donoghue	4,322	Elected
	DUP	David Herron	4,016	Not elected
	UUP	Herbert Heslip	3,838	Elected
	Independent	Rory McShane	2,785	Not elected
	Independent Republican	James O'Reilly	2,000	Not elected
	UUP	William Martin	1,996	Not elected
	UUP	Ronald Broadhurst	1,515	Elected
	Alliance	Anthony Williamson	1,489	Not elected
	Alliance	Michael O'Shea	1,475	Not elected
	Alliance	Denys Rowan-Hamilton	1,316	Not elected
	Independent	Arthur Doran	653	Not elected
	Republican Clubs	Noel Collins	648	Not elected
	Republican Clubs	Edward O'Hagan	612	Not elected
	National Front	William Annett	591	Not elected
	Republican Clubs	Samuel Dowling	499	Not elected
	Liberal	Berkley Farr	263	Not elected