IN THE run up to the May 21st local elections in the North, the SDLP controlled council in Derry has its fair share of problems. They include a unionist mayor stripped of the privileges of office; Sinn Fein claims of a mentality of exclusion; and unionist allegations that only certain among them are acceptable for high office.
Local politics in Derry over the past year have been dominated by the extraordinary story of Mayor Richard Dallas. The Ulster Unionist was elected to the position one year ago under the rotating mayoral system which the SDLP had long held up as an example to other councils around the North.
But the 28 year old walked into trouble when he took part in a loyalist blockade of Derry's Craigavon bridge during the Drumcree siege last July.
The SDLP and Sinn Fein joined forces and voted to strip him of the privileges of office - a decision later upheld by the High Court in Belfast.
Mr Mark Durkan, an SDLP councillor, says: "Richard Dallas was made mayor on the strength of votes from nationalists on the city council, and he engaged in behaviour not just offensive to nationalists but also inappropriate to the position. You can't have someone as mayor who has impeded citizens going about their daily business."
Charges relating to the roadblock incidents have been brought against Mr Dallas and have yet to come to court. But the youthful mayor, who has retained his confidence if not his powers, appears unperturbed as he relaxes back in his chair in the council offices and smokes a cigarette.
"I can say I regret the whole week, but my own actions, no. I knew what I was getting up to that week. There was a lot more going on than people realised."
Nationalists, he says, don't understand the role he played in "keeping potential troublemakers down". He says he was providing leadership by taking part in a peaceful protest. "You can't lead people from an ivory tower."
A former mayor, Mr William Hay, of the Democratic Unionist Party, takes a different view. "He could have demonstrated his support for Drumcree in a different way and got away with it. He left himself open to be stitched up by a nationalist controlled council."
Mr Dallas and Mr Hay echo each other, though, in accusations that the SDLP, which holds 17 of the council's 30 seats, uses its power to prevent certain unionist candidates from getting the mayor's office. They claim the fact that Independent Unionists have been given the mayor and deputy mayor positions in the past rather than those from the main parties who have greater support, is an indication of this.
But Mr Durkan says the SDLP wants a system which would preempt such accusations. This system would allocate all jobs according to party strength. He says discussions on creating such a system had started before the Dallas controversy, and he expects they will resume after the elections.
The Sinn Fein view of the state of play is very different. The party's chairman in the North, Mr Gearoid O hEara, accuses the SDLP of having "a mindset of exclusion".
He points out that the SDLP leader. Mr John Hume, says he supports powersharing but Mr OhEara says there is no power sharing for his party on Derry City Council. Sinn Fein, which holds five seats on the council, the same as the DUP and three more than the UUP has never held the positions of mayor or deputy mayor.
Mr Durkan explains the SDLP's stance: "People who are in a party who are supporting or justifying violence that is ongoing, cannot be voted into civic office."
However, the contest being watched on the unionist side is the attempt by Mr Alistair Simpson, Governor of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, to get elected on the mainly nationalist West Bank of the city.
There is currently no unionist representative on that side of the River Foyle, and Mr Simpson, as an independent, has the support of the unionist parties.
Meanwhile, the onus will be on the newly elected council to draw a line under the Dallas affair and refurbish Derry's image as a model of partnership.