Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly

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In Northern Ireland
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This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Northern Ireland

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In the United Kingdom
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Related political parties
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Related bodies
North/South Ministerial Council British-Irish Council British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference Civic Forum for Northern Ireland
See also
St Andrews Agreement (2006) Belfast Agreement (1998) Segregation in Northern Ireland Elections in Northern Ireland Constituencies Political parties
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The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly is the presiding officer of the Northern Ireland Assembly, elected on a cross-community vote by the Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Three Deputy Speakers are elected to help fulfil the role. The Office of the Speaker is in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast.

The Speaker is also the Chairman of the Assembly Commission, the body corporate of the Assembly, and the Chairman of the Assembly Business Committee.

Upon election the Speaker must relinquish all party political affiliations.

The first person to hold the position was Lord Alderdice, appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1998. Initially, he was referred to as the Initial Presiding Officer, becoming known as the Speaker upon devolution in December 1999. He left office in 2004.

Eileen Bell held the office of Speaker in the Assembly established under the Northern Ireland Act 2006 which met between May and October 2006 and in the Transitional Assembly established under the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 which met between November 2006 and May 2007. Under the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 she was appointed Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007.

One of the first items of business for the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007 was to elect a new Speaker from the MLAs elected in March 2007. The only nominee was William Hay, DUP MLA for Foyle and he was elected unopposed.

1 Speakers
2 Deputy Speakers
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Speakers

Speaker	Party on taking office	Took office	Left office
Lord Alderdice	Alliance	1 July 1998	29 February 2004
(position vacant)		1 March 2004	7 May 2007
Eileen Bell	Alliance	8 May 2007	8 May 2007
William Hay	Democratic Unionist	8 May 2007

[edit] Deputy Speakers

Deputy Speaker	Party	Took office	Left office
Sir John Gorman	Ulster Unionist	31 January 2000	19 February 2002

Donovan McClelland	Social Democratic and Labour	31 January 2000	7 May 2007
Jane Morrice	NI Women's Coalition	31 January 2000	7 May 2007
Jim Wilson	Ulster Unionist	25 February 2002	7 May 2007

Francie Molloy	Sinn Féin	8 May 2007
David McClarty	Ulster Unionist	8 May 2007
John Dallat	Social Democratic and Labour	8 May 2007