Ferguson's,[2] one of the oldest names in the Irish linen industry, still operates in Banbridge, and a shoe factory first opened in 1947 and closed in the early 2000s.
One of the most important recent large-scale economic developments to occur in the district was the opening of a discount fashion outlet on the outskirts of Banbridge, which currently has 59 different stores.
[4] The outlet forms part of the Bridgewater Park development project, for which Tesco currently has planning permission to open one of its largest stores in Ireland.
[5] In late 2010 Asda also submitted plans for a store in Banbridge, with the possibility of creating jobs for up to 250 district residents.
Over the past decade Banbridge district has repeatedly recorded one of the highest levels of recycling in Northern Ireland.
In June 2009, a bring-and-buy reuse shop, Restore, was also opened by the local council in an effort to reduce waste in the district.
[13] In recent years public funds have been committed to improving access to and the quality of outdoor spaces, including for example Solitude Park in Banbridge, the Newry Canal Towpath which ran through the western part of the district, and Slieve Croob taking in the Legananny Dolmen and the Finnis souterrain (known locally as Binder's Cove).
There was also a special needs school in Banbridge catering for pupils aged five to nineteen, which lay adjacent to one of six campuses belonging to the Southern Regional College.
[16] In all probability these figures represent a conservative estimate of the vibrancy and diversity of social capital in the local area as the council's directory of community groups and sports clubs included some but not all of the many different youth, sports, and other types of groups and clubs that met under the auspices of local churches.
[19][20] The £3-million cinema, which opened in May 2004, is home to a 300-seater screen that was specially designed and built to double up as a theatre facility for live performances, plays, and arts events.
Elections of the whole council were usually held every four years and were conducted under the proportional representation single transferable vote system.
[21] An election was due in 2009, but this was delayed until 2011 so as to accommodate the completion of a local-government reform programme aimed at reducing the number of council areas from 26 to 11.
[29] In elections for the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly the district was split between the Upper Bann (Ballydown, Banbridge West, Edenderry, Fort, Gilford, Lawrencetown, Loughbrickland, Seapatrick, The Cut), the Lagan Valley (Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha and Quilly) and the South Down (Ballyward, Bannside, Katesbridge and Rathfriland) constituencies.
According to the first seven-council model, announced in late 2005, it was proposed that Banbridge District should be merged with three other councils (Armagh, Craigavon and Newry and Mourne).
Since 2007, a second community radio station, called fUSe FM, based in Rathfriland also operated, though for a limited number of days each year.
Between 1969 and 2001 twelve individuals (six Catholic, six Protestant) lost their lives in the district as a result of the Troubles: Patrick Campbell in 1973, Joseph Toland in 1975, William, Elizabeth, and Noleen Herron, and Barry O’Dowd in 1976, Robert Harrison in 1977, Alan McCrum in 1982, John Bell in 1985, Terence Delaney in 1988, and Patrick Feeny and Loughlin Maginn in 1989.