Alderman Patricia McKinney was re-elected unopposed to the role at the annual general meeting of the Borough Council.

Following the AGM, the First Citizen told the TIMES: “It is an honour to be nominated for a second year. I am delighted, because there were things that the council has worked on that hopefully I can now see carried through to the end.

“Being the only woman in 60 years to do two consecutive terms is something special, particularly as it falls in the 60th anniversary year.”

Two items of unfinished business from Alderman McKinney’s first year in office are the refurbishment of the Amphitheatre leisure centre, which is due to reopen later in the summer, and the drawing up of a masterplan for the regeneration of Carrick’s historic town centre.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the Mayor had the honour of chairing a special meeting of the Borough Council, attended by Freemen of the Borough, to mark the 60th anniversary of the body.

The local authority held its first meeting following the incorporation of the former Carrickfergus Urban District Council as a Borough by the Government of Northern Ireland on the same date in 1949 (more on 3).