the award, citing tensions, and affirmed he was proud of his connection to the town. Ian Paisley was eventually made a freeman of Ballymena in December 2004 instead. Ballymena is described by some observers as being at the heart of Northern Ireland's equivalent of the Bible Belt. It has a large Protestant majority. In the early 1990s the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)-dominated town council banned a performance by the ELO Part II in the township, saying they would attract "the four Ds Drink, Drugs, Devil and Debauchery". The Council banned the screening of Brokeback Mountain (2005), starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, as it featured a homosexual relationship. An impersonator of comic Roy 'Chubby' Brown was also banned. The majority of the town's Catholic population is situated around the Broughshane and Cushendall Road areas. Recently there has been tension in the Dunclug area of the town which now has a Catholic majority. These tensions have been associated with internment bonfires and the flying of republican flags; the town has tried to reduce tensions. Recreational drugs have been a major problem in the town, earning it the moniker "the drugs capital of the North". In 2011 it was revealed that Ballymena has the third-highest level of legal gun ownership in Northern Ireland. Ballymena competed for city status as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours. However, the bid was unsuccessful. Economy Ballymena was traditionally a market town. The 1980s were a time of job losses in Ballymena as industry suffered and this reoccurred in the 2010s. Notable employers were Michelin in Broughshane, JTI Gallaher in Galgorm, and Wrightbus. In November 2012, the Patton Group, a major builder entered administration with the loss of 320 jobs. In October 2014, it was announced that JTI Gallagher's would be closing with a loss of 877 jobs. In November 2015, Michelin decided to close their Ballymena factory after 50 years, resulting in the loss of up to 850 jobs. Demographics On census day 2011 (27 March) there were 29,551 people living in Ballymena, accounting for 1.63% of the NI total, representing an increase of 2.9% on the 2001 Census population of 28,717. Of these: 19.20% were aged under 16 years and 17.61% were aged 65 and over; 52.00% of the usually resident population were female 48.00% were male; 65.76% belong to or were brought up 'Protestant and other (non-Catholic Christian) (including Christian related)' and 26.71%