The Alliance party group at Belfast City Hall has nominated Councillor Carole Howard as their candidate for the position of High Sheriff, which will be voted upon at the November meeting of Belfast City Council on Tuesday.
The last time that Alliance held the post was in 2000 and since then Unionist Councillors have always taken the position, which is the judicial representative of Her Majesty the Queen in Belfast.
Alliance Group Leader, Cllr. Michael Long said: “Alliance believes that it is important that all civic posts are as representative of the wider community as possible and the positions of Lord Mayor and Deputy are allocated using d’Hondt. Under that system, Alliance would be entitled to two positions as High Sheriff in this term, given that nationalist and republicans do not generally apply for the post, but we are content if the various Unionist parties wish to take the posts between themselves for the rest of the term if we hold the post on this occasion.
“I am delighted that my colleague for Lisnasharragh has agreed to put her name forward. With her 6 years of experience as a local Councillor, and having done an excellent job as Deputy Chair of the City Regeneration and Growth committee, as well as Chair of the East Belfast PCSP last year, I know that Carole will make a great High Sheriff.
“We have spoken to most of the other groups in City Hall about our intention and hope that we can get an agreement on this matter from everyone on Tuesday to show that we are all committed to inclusion and equality.”