A DUP councillor who was elected mayor of Derry last night is expected to resign the position today because a Sinn Fein councillor has been elected deputy mayor.
Alderman Joe Miller, a former RUC officer born and raised in the Catholic Bogside area who resigned from the force in protest at the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, was elected mayor with the backing of unionist and nationalist councillors.
However, the nationalist controlled council's decision to elect Ms Lynn Fleming of Sinn Fein as deputy mayor has forced Mr Miller to rethink. It is expected he will announce his resignation later today.
Mr Miller (46) has been a councillor since 1989 and is the first DUP mayor of the city since 1992.
In a bizarre twist at last night's meeting, a Dublin-born Ulster Unionist councillor, Alderman Andrew Davidson, resigned from his party and broke ranks to support Ms Fleming as Derry's first Sinn Fein deputy mayor.
Speaking after his election, Mr Miller said he was proud to become the city's first citizen.
"I am proud to be the mayor of Londonderry and of Derry City Council. I am extremely proud to be elected first citizen of my city of Londonderry. It is a dream come true for me. I will do my best to represent all the people of my city. What you got as deputy mayor, you will be getting as mayor", he said.
However he criticised the election of Ms Fleming and said his party would hold a press conference later today.
"I do not believe the election of a Sinn Fein deputy mayor is good. It will portray all that is negative for Londonderry and I urge all those who support such a candidate to think again", he said.
Mr Davidson, who resigned from the UUP hours before last night's meeting, said he was trying to break new ground.
"It is time to change and if each one of us does not start with ourself, we will simply not get anywhere. I sincerely hope that my trust in both candidates will be upheld. I believe we are entering a new era of trust and we have to start with ourselves regardless of what our views may be of individuals' activities in the past", he said.
Belfast City Council last night elected an Alliance Party member, Dr David Alderdice, as the city's lord mayor, adds Theresa Judge in Belfast.
Dr Alderdice defeated Mr Alex Maskey of Sinn Fein by 31 votes to 13. He was supported by the SDLP, the Ulster Unionists and the Progressive Unionist Party. An Ulster Unionist, Mr Bob Stoker, was elected deputy lord mayor.
Sinn Fein complained that it was again being kept out of the two top positions in City Hall, despite having 13 members on the 51-member council. After his election, Dr Alderdice (31), who is a brother of the Alliance Party leader Lord Alderdice, said his party would support the introduction of a system of "proportionality", whereby posts on committees of the council would be allocated according to party strengths.
Sinn Fein has called for all posts, including those of mayor and deputy mayor, to be allocated in this way.
Ms Chrissie McAuley of Sinn Fein was proposed for the position of deputy lord mayor, but was defeated by 29 votes to 20 by Mr Stoker, who was supported by all the unionist parties. The SDLP voted for Ms McAuley