June is a strange month in our twenty-six council chambers. Selecting the Mayor or Council Chairman seems too often to be the highlight of the year. For DUP and Sinn Fein at least.
Power Sharing and D’Hondt give way to naked tribalism. Take Strabane…16 councillors. (SF 8…DUP4…UUP1…SDLP 1….Independent 2). The DUP took the Chair. Sinn Féin could have blocked them of course but new Chair of the Council Thomas Kerrigan cannot bring himself to shake hands with SF councillors. A similar situation in Omagh Council.
Take Craigavon Council. DUP cannot bring themselves to tolerate a Sinn Féin Mayor …so block the candidate.
But isnt it curious that DUP and Sinn Féin are getting on so well at Stormont level. Mark Durkan put it well a few months ago…..DUP and Sinn Féin are “setting up a one party state with an orange wing and a green wing”.
To maximise their vote DUP play the “croppy lie down” card at Council level. To maximise their vote Sinn Féin play the “martyr” to Unionist intransigence. DUP and Sinn Féin are actually facilitating each other. Which means that genuine power-sharing and actually not playing games in Council Chambers and actually working for a community is always the best option.
Thus the election of SDLP veteran to the Chair of Ballymena Council is a sign of maturity on behalf of the overwhelmingly unionist council. And the election of Sharon Haughey (one of the brightest of the younger folks in SDLP) to be Lord Mayor of Armagh is a very good development.
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 
Mr Fitz, Agree with you about Sharon and best of luck to her. I disagree with regard to the blatant sectarianism evident in certain other councils however. It is not in the gift of Unionist councillors to dictate who they will or will not deal with. That is a matter for the electorate.
Your point about a sectarian power play is well made. What is your view about how the SDLP should address this? I am thinking of the numerous instances of where Unionist councils refused to engage with the SDLP in the past when they had the opportunity and now find themselves having to deal with a situation where any power they have is in the gift of Nationalist councillors or, your good friends (lol, not) in Alliance.
By the way, what did you make of the Alliance ridiculousness in Belfast last night regarding the same sex marriage debate?