Given we kicked off Slugger four years ago, on the very day of the announcement the first Sinn Fein Mayor of Belfast, it seems appropriate to note the election of the SDLP’s Pat McCarthy as Lord Mayor and the DUP’s Ruth Patterson as his deputy. The big news (if it is such) is that McCarthy got the backing of all parties, except Sinn Fein. In the strictest sense of rotation the office should have fallen to Sinn Fein, but the tiny Alliance group of four which holds the balance of power, made it known it would not back that party’s prospective candidate, the former IRA bomber Caral ni Chuilin.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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