Ballymoney is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,021 people in the 2001 Census. It is currently served by Ballymoney Borough Council. The town hosts the Ballymoney Drama Festival, the oldest drama festival in Ireland, which was founded in 1933. Ballymoney has expanded in recent years and a lot of new houses have been built. This is primarily as a result of high house prices in the Coleraine/Portstewart/Portrush 'Triangle' areas shifting first-time buyers to the less expensive Ballymoney area. Ballymoney is located on the main road between Coleraine and Ballymena, with good road and rail connections to the main cities in Northern Ireland, Belfast and Derry. The Ballymoney area has the highest life expectancy of any area in Northern Ireland, with the average male life expectancy at birth being 78.0 years and 82.6 years for females. The Ballymoney town holds both Protestant and Catholic areas. There is the Glebeside and Carnany Estates which are both predominantly Protestant, and the West Gate area which is predominantly Catholic. The Council is dominated by the