In one week people across Northern Ireland will be voting in the council elections.
The posters have been placed on lampposts and leaflets have been posted through the doors.
However, look closely and you may notice that some of the smiling faces on those posters and leaflets have changed.
For various reasons – perhaps their health, a happy retirement, work or family commitments – many have decided not to put their name on the ballot this time out.
Unlike Stormont assembly members or Westminster MPs, councillors often have full-time jobs alongside their role as public representatives.
Charlie Casey was first elected as a Sinn Féin councillor in 2001. He served as mayor of Newry and Mourne District Council in 2011-12 and chairman of its successor, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, in 2019-20.
A former republican prisoner, Mr Casey said he was always community orientated and was the “go-to person” when issues arose, which made becoming a councillor “a natural progression”.
“It was a bit of a challenge but I always wanted to work for the ordinary person on the street to benefit and get what they deserve,” he said.
Mr Casey said he was proud to have been elected so many times.
But he said the rise of social media in recent years has presented a new challenge compared to when he started out as a councillor.
“You are trying to do what you believe is best for the community and then you have these keyboard warriors,” he said.
“They think they know everything but don’t put themselves in the same position as a councillor.”
Describing himself as “no spring chicken”, Mr Casey decided in December that it was time to step aside.
“I had always said I wanted to retire at 75, which I turned in January,” he said.
“There is a new breed of councillor, younger models than me with much more eager aspirations than me and it’s time to pass the torch.”
Kim Ashton served three terms as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor in the Dungannon district electoral area.
She said: “Back in 2011, a vacancy came up and I was encouraged by the men in the party to put myself forward.
“So rightly or wrongly, I said: ‘Yes let’s give it a go.’
“Twelve years on that’s how we got here.”
The 37-year-old is the first to admit there was a steep learning curve.
“The first four years, when you are younger, you make the odd mistake but as the years go on you become one of the experienced ones,” she said.
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