Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly
Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann
Norlin Airlann Semmlie
3rd Northern Ireland Assembly
Type
Type Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker William Hay, (Non-affiliated)
since 8 May 2007
Structure
Members 108
Political groups Executive:
DUP, Sinn Féin, UUP and SDLP.
Non-executive:
Alliance, Green and PUP.
committees First Minister and deputy First Minister, Agriculture and Rural Development, Culture, Arts and Leisure, Education, Employment and Learning, Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Environment, Finance and Personnel, Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Regional Development and Social Development.
Election
Last election 7th March 2007
Meeting place
Parliament Buildings Stormont 4.jpg
Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast
Web site
http://www.niassembly.gov.uk

The Northern Ireland Assembly (Irish: Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann,[1] Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann Semmlie[2]) is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.

The latest incarnation of the Assembly was established under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, an accord aimed at bringing an end to Northern Ireland's violent 30-year Troubles. It is based on the principle of power-sharing under the D'Hondt method to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest political communities, the unionist and nationalist communities both participate in governing the region. The Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 108 members who are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation.

The Assembly has been suspended on several occasions, the longest suspension being from 14 October 2002 until 7 May 2007, a period of over four and a half years. When the Assembly was suspended, its powers reverted to the Northern Ireland Office. Following talks that resulted in the St Andrews Agreement being accepted in November 2006, an election to the Assembly was held on 7 March 2007 and full power was restored to the devolved institutions on 8 May 2007.[3]

Contents

History

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Previous legislatures

From 7 June 1921 until 30 March 1972, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland was the Parliament of Northern Ireland. That Parliament consistently chose the Ulster Unionist Party to govern the region. The Parliament was suspended on 30 March 1972 and formally abolished in 1973 under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.

Shortly after this first parliament was abolished, attempts began to restore devolution on a new basis that would see power shared between nationalists and unionists. To this end a new parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, was established in 1973. However, this body was brought down by opposition from hard-line unionists and republicans and was abolished in 1974. In 1982 another Northern Ireland Assembly was established at Stormont, initially as a body to scrutinise the actions of the Secretary of State, the British minister with responsibility for Northern Ireland. It received little support from nationalists and was officially dissolved in 1986.

The modern Assembly and suspensions

The modern Northern Ireland Assembly was first elected on 25 June 1998 and first met on 1 July 1998. However, it only existed in "shadow" form until 2 December 1999 when full powers were devolved to the Assembly. Since then the Assembly has operated only intermittently and has been suspended on four occasions:

Attempts to secure its operation on a permanent basis have been frustrated by disagreements between the two main unionist parties (the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party) and Sinn Féin, the largest nationalist party, which is widely perceived to be the connected to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Unionists refused to participate in the Good Friday Agreement's institutions alongside Sinn Féin until they were assured that the IRA had discontinued its activities, decommissioned its arms and disbanded.

The most recent suspension occurred after unionists withdrew from the Northern Ireland Executive after Sinn Féin's offices at Stormont were raided by the police investigating alleged intelligence gathering on behalf of the IRA by members of the party's support staff. The Assembly, already suspended, dissolved on 28 April 2003 as scheduled, but the elections due the following month were postponed by the United Kingdom government and were not held until November that year.

On 8 December 2005, three Belfast men at the centre of the alleged IRA spying incident (dubbed Stormontgate) were acquitted of all charges. The prosecution offered no evidence "in the public interest." Afterwards Denis Donaldson, one of those arrested, said that the "charges should never have been brought" as the police action was "political." On 17 December 2005, Donaldson publicly confirmed that he had been a spy for British intelligence since the early 1980s.[4] Mr Donaldson was killed on 4 April 2006.

"The Assembly" and "the Transitional Assembly"

"The Assembly established under the Northern Ireland Act 2006"

Although the Assembly remained suspended from 2002 until 2007, the persons elected to it at the 2003 Assembly election were called together on 15 May 2006 under the Northern Ireland Act 2006 to meet in an assembly to be known as "the Assembly"[5] (or fully "the Assembly established under the Northern Ireland Act 2006") for the purpose of electing a First Minister and Deputy First Minister and choosing the members of an Executive before 25 November 2006 as a preliminary to the restoration of devolved government.

On 23 May 2006 Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused Sinn Féin's nomination to be First Minister alongside Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, as Deputy First Minister. Eileen Bell was appointed by the Secretary of State Peter Hain to be the Speaker of the Assembly, with Francie Molloy and Jim Wells acting as deputies. [6] The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 repealed the Northern Ireland Act 2006 and thus disbanded "the Assembly".

"The Transitional Assembly"

The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 provided for a "Transitional Assembly" (or fully "the Transitional Assembly established under the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006") to take part in preparations for the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland. A person who was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly was also a member of the Transitional Assembly. Eileen Bell was Speaker of the Transitional Assembly and Francie Molloy and Jim Wells continued as deputies. The Transitional Assembly first met on 24 November 2006, when the proceedings were suspended due to a bomb threat by loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone.[7] It was dissolved on 30 January 2007 when the election campaign for the current Northern Ireland Assembly started.

An election to the then-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly was held on 7 March 2007. Secretary of State, Peter Hain signed a restoration order on 25 March 2007 allowing for the restoration of devolution at midnight on the following day.[8] The two largest parties following the election, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, agreed to enter power-sharing government together, and an administration was eventually established on 8 May with Ian Paisley as First Minister and Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister. [3]

Composition

Affiliation Members
Democratic Unionist 36
Sinn Féin 28
Ulster Unionist 18
Social Democratic and Labour 16
Alliance 7
Green (NI) 1
Progressive Unionist 1
  (Independent) 1
Total 108

The Assembly's composition and powers are laid down in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Assembly's 108 members are elected from 18 six-member constituencies on the basis of universal adult suffrage. The constituencies used are the same as those used for elections to the Westminster Parliament. The 1998 Act provides that, unless the Assembly is dissolved early, elections should occur once in every five years on the first Thursday in May. However the second election to the Assembly was delayed by the UK government until 23 November 2003. The Assembly is dissolved shortly before the holding of elections on a day chosen by the Secretary of State. After each election the Assembly must meet within eight days. The Assembly can vote to dissolve itself early by a two-thirds majority of the total number of its members. It is also automatically dissolved if it is unable to elect a First Minister and deputy First Minister within six weeks of its first meeting or if those positions becoming vacant. The three elections held to the Assembly so far were the:

The Assembly has three primary mechanisms to ensure effective power-sharing:

Each MLA is free to designate themselves as "nationalist", "unionist" or "other" as they see fit, the only requirement being that no member may change their designation more than once during an Assembly session. The system has been criticised by some, in particular the cross-community Alliance Party, as entrenching sectarian divisions. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland supports ending the official designation of identity requirement and the taking of important votes on the basis of an ordinary super-majority.

Powers and functions

Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast, seat of the assembly.

The Assembly has both legislative powers and responsibility for electing the Northern Ireland Executive. The First and Deputy First Ministers were initially elected on a cross-community vote, although this was changed in 2006 and they are now appointed as leaders of the largest and second largest Assembly 'bloc' (understood to mean 'Unionist', 'Nationalist' and 'Other'). However the remaining ministers are not elected but rather chosen by the nominating officers of each party, each party being entitled to a share of ministerial positions roughly proportionate to its share of seats in the Assembly. The Assembly has authority to legislate in a field of competences known as "transferred matters". These matters are not explicitly enumerated in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Rather they include any competence not explicitly retained by the Parliament at Westminster.

Powers reserved by Westminster are divided into "excepted matters", which it retains indefinitely, and "reserved matters", which may be transferred to the competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly at a future date. An incomplete list of "transferred", "reserved" and "excepted" matters is given below. While the Assembly was in suspension, its legislative powers were exercised by the UK government, which effectively has power to legislate by decree. Laws that would have normally been within the competence of the Assembly were passed by the UK government in the form of Orders-in-Council rather than legislative acts.

Unlike laws enacted by the Westminster Parliament, Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly are subject to judicial review. A law can be struck down if it is found to:

Although the British monarch is not formally a component of the Assembly (as is the case at Westminster), all bills passed by the Assembly must receive Royal Assent to become law. This is not a mere formality. If the Secretary of State believes that a bill violates the constitutional limitations on the powers of the Assembly, the Secretary of State will refuse to submit the bill to the monarch for Assent. If submitted by the Secretary of State, the monarch will, by convention, sign a bill into law. Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly begin with the enacting formula: "Be it enacted by being passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly and assented to by Her Majesty as follows:".

Transferred matters

Reserved matters

Excepted matters

Organisation

The Assembly is chaired by the Speaker and three Deputy Speakers. Lord Alderdice served as the first regular Speaker of the Assembly, but retired to serve as part of the current Independent Monitoring Commission that supervises paramilitary ceasefires. The position is currently filled by William Hay. In the Assembly the Speaker and ten other members constitute a quorum. The Assembly Commission is the body corporate of the Assembly. It ensures that the Assembly has the property, staff and services it needs to carry out its work. Legal proceedings taken for or against the Assembly are taken for or against the Commission on behalf of the Assembly. The staff of the Assembly are collectively known as the Assembly Secretariat.

The Assembly has a number of statutory committees each of which is charged with scrutinising the activities of a particular ministerial department. It also has a number of permanent standing committees and temporary ad hoc committees. The Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons of the committees are chosen by party nominating officers under a procedure similar to that used to appoint members of the Executive, i.e. the d'Hondt system. Ordinary committee members are not appointed under this procedure but the Standing Orders require that the share of members of each party on a committee should be roughly proportionate to its share of seats in the Assembly. Committees of the Assembly take decisions by a simple majority vote. The following were the statutory and standing committees of the Assembly at the time of its suspension in 2002:

Departmental committees

Standing committees

References

  1. ↑ "Comhaontú idir Rialtas na hÉireann agus Rialtas Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann ag Bunú Comhlachtaí Forfheidhmithe" (html) (in Irish). Oireachtas. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
  2. ↑ "Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch - Tha Boord" (in Ulster Scots). Ulster-Scots Agency. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Historic return for NI Assembly", BBC News Online, BBC (2007-05-08). Retrieved on 2007-05-08. 
  4. ↑ Martina Purdy (Last Updated:). "BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Stormont conspiracy theories continue", News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-10-28. 
  5. ↑ "Northern Ireland Act 2006 (c. 17)". Opsi.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
  6. ↑ "The Assembly - Main Page". Niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
  7. ↑ "Stone held over Stormont attack", BBC News Online, BBC (2006-11-24). Retrieved on 2007-05-08. 
  8. ↑ "Parties face deadline at Stormont", BBC News Online, BBC (2007-03-26). Retrieved on 2007-05-08. 

See also

External links

Northern Ireland Assembly
Assembly
Speaker • Assembly Commission • Acts • Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) • Parliament Buildings
 Northern Ireland outline in blue.svg

Parliament Buildings Stormont 4.jpg
Committees
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister • Agriculture and Rural Development • Culture, Arts and Leisure • Education • Employment and Learning • Enterprise, Trade and Investment • Environment • Finance and Personnel • Health, Social Services and Public Safety • Regional Development • Social Development
Constituencies
Belfast East • Belfast North • Belfast South • Belfast West • East Antrim • East Londonderry • Fermanagh and South Tyrone • Foyle • Lagan Valley • Mid Ulster • Newry and Armagh • North Antrim • North Down • South Antrim • South Down • Strangford • Upper Bann • West Tyrone
Parties
Alliance • Democratic Unionist • Green • NI Unionist • NI Women's Coalition • Progressive Unionist • Sinn Féin • Social Democratic and Labour • UK Unionist • Ulster Unionist • United Unionist
Elections
2007 • 2003 • 1998
Procedure
Cross-community vote
See also
Belfast Agreement • St Andrews Agreement
Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom
Parliament
Gordon Brown (Labour) • David Cameron (Conservatives) • Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) • Peter Robinson (DUP) • Alex Salmond (SNP) • Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin) • Ieuan Wyn Jones (Plaid Cymru) • Mark Durkan (SDLP) • Richard Taylor (IKHH) • Nigel Farage (UKIP) • Linda Smith (Respect) • Reg Empey (UUP) • Caroline Lucas (Green)
Scottish Parliament
Alex Salmond (SNP) • Iain Gray (Labour) • Annabel Goldie (Conservatives) • Tavish Scott (Liberal Democrats) • Alison Johnstone/Robin Harper (Scottish Greens)
National Assembly for Wales
Rhodri Morgan (Labour) • Ieuan Wyn Jones (Plaid Cymru) • Nick Bourne (Conservatives) • Michael German (Liberal Democrats)
Northern Ireland Assembly
Peter Robinson (DUP) • Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin) • Reg Empey (UUP) • Mark Durkan (SDLP) • David Ford (Alliance) • John Barry/Kelly Andrews (Greens (NI)) • Dawn Purvis (PUP)
Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of the United Kingdom