Northern Ireland Assembly

Known in Irish as: Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann. Name of the Northern Irish legislative located in the capital city of Northern Ireland, Belfast. The Assembly was established under the Belfast Agreement (also known as Good Friday Agreement) of 1998 with the aim of closing a violent period in Northern Irish history known as ‘The Troubles’(or the Northern Irish Conflict) and empowering the two main political groups in Northern Ireland, the unionists and the nationalists, giving them the opportunity to take an active part in political decisions. The Assembly was suspended between October 2002 and March 2007 and new elections were held on 7 March 2007 .Ultimately, the British government restored power to the Assembly on 8 May 2007.

Distribution and organization of the Assembly of Northern Ireland

The Assembly is made up of 108 members who are elected by 18 electoral districts or constituencies using the D'Hondt system, a type of proportional representation. Each member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) must officially register as a "unionist", "nationalist" or "other" and there are legal mechanisms to ensure that power is shared between unionists and nationalists. The appointment/designation of the Chief Minister of Northern Ireland, the Deputy Chief Minister or the President of the Assembly, must be supported by the majority of both communities. The executive ministers of Northern Ireland come from all major political parties/forces.

The main role of the Assembly is to pass new laws and discuss matters such as housing, taxations, environment or social policies.

Current state of the Northern Irish Government

The current Chief Minister of Northern Ireland is Peter Robinson, a Democratic Unionist Party politician and the main Deputy is Martin McGuinness who is part of the Sinn Féin (the nationalist party).

Sources

Imoff, Rüdiger. Ireland: literature, culture and politics. Heidelberg, Winter, 1994.

Chub, Basil. The government and politics of Ireland. London, Oxford University Press, 1974.

Other sources

Northern Ireland Assembly Education Servive. ‘Guide to D’Hont’ 2007 <http://education.niassembly.gov.uk/a_level/activities/dHondt.pdf>

BBC News ‘The Search for Peace: Good Friday Agreement’ 1998. April, 1998 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/events/good_friday.stm>

External links

[The Northern Ireland Assembly] http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/