Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum, 1998

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The Good Friday Agreement referendum, 1998 was a referendum held in Northern Ireland over whether there was support for the Good Friday Agreement. The result was a majority (71.1%) in favour. A simultaneous referendum held in the Republic of Ireland produced an even larger majority (94.4%) in favour.

Party support

All the main UK political parties (Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat) supported the Yes campaign, though the local branch of the Conservatives supported the No campaign. Of the local Northern Ireland parties represented in the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, the Ulster Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin, Alliance, Progressive Unionist Party, Ulster Democratic Party, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and local "Labour" groups supported the proposals.

The only two parties in the Forum to campaign against the Agreement were the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Unionist Party, though many prominent individuals in the Ulster Unionists also did so. Some minor parties campaigned against it. Republican Sinn Féin, which at the time did not run candidates in Northern Ireland, still opposes the agreement.

In the Republic of Ireland, all parties represented in the Oireachtas were in favour – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, Progressive Democrats, Democratic Left, Green Party, Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party.

Results

The Northern Ireland referendum was held on 22 May 1998. There was a large majority of 'Yes'. A total of 1,738 ballots were spoiled. Turnout, at 81.1% was very high for a developed country where voting is not compulsory.^[1] Turnout in the equivalent referendum in the Republic of Ireland was average for a constitutional referendum but returned almost universal approval (94.39%).

The electorate were asked to indicate: Do you support the agreement reached at the multi-party talks on Northern Ireland and set out in Command Paper 3883?

Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum, 1998
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	676,966	71.1
No	274,979	28.9
Invalid or blank votes	1,738	0.18
Total votes	953,683	100.00

The referendum in the Republic of Ireland on the same day, rather than explicitly seeking approval of the Agreement itself, sought endorsement of constitutional amendments required by the Agreement, and produced an overwhelming Yes vote: see Ireland referendum, 1998.

Turnout

The turnout in Northern Ireland was noticeably high at 81.1% and even more remarkably the turnout was quite even throughout Northern Ireland, compared to many elections where turnout is highest in strong nationalist areas and significantly lower in unionist areas. It is estimated that approximately 147,000 people who do not normally vote in elections turned out to vote in the referendum, most of them in traditionally staunch unionist areas. In the Republic the turnout was lower, at 56.3%.^[1]

Legislative responses

The UK Parliament passed the Northern Ireland Act 1998, while in the Republic the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1998 passed into law.

References

See also

• Referendums in the United Kingdom

(1997 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1998 (→ 1999) London boroughs London Borough councils Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster Metropolitan boroughs Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton Unitary authorities Bristol Derby Hartlepool Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Portsmouth Southampton Stoke-on-Trent Swindon District councils (England) Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Brentwood Broadland Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gloucester Gosport Great Yarmouth Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest National Assembly elections Northern Ireland Referendums Greater London Authority Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement

Devolution in the United Kingdom Devolved areas National level Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Regional level (in England) Combined authorities Directly elected mayoralties Greater London Authority Referendums1 English mayoral referendums London, 1998 2012 North East England 2004 Northern Ireland 1998 Scotland 1979 1997 Wales 1979 1997 2011 Heads of devolved governments Chairs of combined authorities Directly elected mayors London (Mayor) Northern Ireland (FM and dFM) Scotland (FM) Wales (FM) Devolved legislatures2 Northern Ireland Assembly National Assembly for Wales Scottish Parliament Devolved administrations3 Northern Ireland Executive Scottish Government Welsh Government Organisations and laws of the legislatures and governments of the UK and the devolved areas Commissions (UK Parliament) Kilbrandon Commission Holtham Commission Silk Commission McKay Commission Commissions (devolved legislatures) National Assembly for Wales Richard Commission Holtham Commission Scottish Parliament Calman Commission Smith Commission Devolution acts Greater London Authority Acts 1999 2007 Northern Ireland Acts 1998 2006 Wales Acts 1998 2006 2014 Scotland Acts 1998 2012 Select committees Northern Ireland Affairs Scottish Affairs Welsh Affairs Grand committees England Northern Ireland Scottish Welsh Departments and Territorial Offices (MOJ) Cabinet Office - Devolution Secretariat Ministry of Justice - Devolution Directorate-General Office of the Advocate General for Scotland Northern Ireland Office Scotland Office Wales Office Elections London Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Related articles Current Agreements/Treaties Anglo-Irish Treaty Good Friday Agreement Budget Barnett formula Block grant Constitution of the United Kingdom Reserved and excepted matters West Lothian question Proposals Cornwall Cornish Assembly Cornish Constitutional Convention Mebyon Kernow Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament Devolved English parliament Campaign for an English Parliament Northern England Campaign for the North Yorkshire First Other parts of Southern England Wessex Regionalist Party Scotland Full fiscal autonomy Historical Administrations of England English Regional Assemblies, 1998-2010 Administrations of London London County Council Greater London Council Administrations of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1974 Legislatures of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1973–74 1982–86 Northern Ireland-related legislation of the UK Parliament Ireland, 1886 Ireland, 1893 Ireland, 1914 Ireland, 1920 Irish Free State, 1922 Northern Ireland, 1974 Irish Home Rule movement Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Scotland Act 1978 Scottish Office Sunningdale Agreement Wales Act 1978 Welsh Office 1. Rejected referendums are italicised. The others were fully or partially approved. 2. There is no law-making body for any regionally devolved area. 3. Administrations of regionally devolved areas are omitted. Category