Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal
and nonsectarian
political party
in Northern Ireland
. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly
and one in the House of Commons.
Founded in 1970 from the New Ulster Movement
, the Alliance Party originally represented moderate and non-sectarian Unionism
. However, over time, particularly in the 1990s, it moved towards neutrality on the Union, and has come to represent wider liberal and non-sectarian concerns. It opposes consociational
power sharing as deepening the sectarian
divide, and, in the Northern Ireland Assembly, it is designated as neither unionist or nationalist, but 'Other'.
In May 2010 the Alliance Party won their first Westminster
seat in a General Election, in Belfast East
, unseating Peter Robinson
, leader of the DUP and First Minister of Northern Ireland. Naomi Long, the successful candidate, is the first MP from the Alliance Party since Stratton Mills
who had joined the party from the Ulster Unionist Party
in 1973.
has veered away from non-sectarian Unionism towards a more liberal, neutral position on the question of either an united Ireland
or continued Union with Great Britain. While the Good Friday Agreement has attempted to implement consociational power sharing, Alliance continues to argue that such enforced coalition government in Northern Ireland entrenches division rather than providing a basis for overcoming it.
The Alliance Party was founded on the back of efforts by the New Ulster Movement
(NUM), which was established as a moderating influence upon the Unionist Party. After Nationalist politicians withdrew their role as official Opposition at Stormont, and the resignation of Unionist leader Terence O'Neill
in 1969, the NUM split between those who wished to remain a pressure group for the Unionist Party and those who saw reform only through the establishment of a new political party. The latter broke off and formed the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, on 21 April 1970.
As Alliance viewed the situation, the major problem of Northern Ireland was the division between Protestant and Catholic. The turmoil had its origins in that division and not in the partition of Ireland. "Partition was the result of the divisions and not the cause of them." (John Cushnahan, 1979)
The party's founding members resolved to change the "traditional mould" of sectarian politics in Northern Ireland, by launching a party deliberately set out to win support from both sections of the community. The party’s founding principles were an attempt to address the "fundamental fears" of Protestants being coerced into a united Ireland, and of Catholics being condemned to a second-class citizenship within Northern Ireland.
The distinguishing feature of Alliance is its belief in the legitimacy of a distinctive Northern community, one that has more in common than what divides it, with most inhabitants speaking a common language, sharing some form of Christianity, and not separated by distinguishable racial or physical characteristics. "Its people are one community living in what has been called a place apart, but sharing a great deal with the rest of this island, the rest of these islands, and the rest of the developed world." (Alliance 1992)
Alliance does not view unionism and nationalism as distinct communities, but as "political positions." Furthermore, Alliance sees identity as an individual matter, originating in historical contexts, producing unionist and nationalist traditions. Alliance is at times seen as representing a "third tradition". "In the context of Northern Ireland it includes those who, whether in politics, culture, religion, or in private life have refused to be categorised as Orange or Green." (Alliance 1992)
As Alliance have moved to an ideologically liberal perspective, and Northern Ireland society has become more diverse, support for diversity has become a key Alliance platform, with Anna Lo MLA
elected as the first ethnically Chinese
parliamentarian in Western Europe
and the party promoting a number of openly gay spokespeople.
Alliance are linked with the Liberal Democrats
and are members of Liberal International
and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
.
and Ulster Liberal Party
. Alliance expressly aimed, at first, to act as a bridge between the Protestant and Catholic
sections of the community, with a secondary goal of attracting support from Northern Ireland's Jewish community and its small but steadily growing Asian (Chinese, Indian, Pakistani) population, the vast majority of whom are neither Catholic nor Protestant.
The Party's founding principles were expressly in favour of Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom
, although in contrast to the Unionist
parties, this was expressed in socio-economic rather than ethnic
terms. It also placed great emphasis on the consent principle and therefore only supported the Northern Ireland's position within the UK as long as the people of NI wished it.
The party was boosted in 1972 when three Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
joined the party (one from the Nationalist Party
, one from the Ulster Unionist Party and one Independent). Stratton Mills
, an Ulster Unionist/Conservative member of the Westminster Parliament
for North Belfast
also joined, providing Alliance with its only House of Commons representation prior to the 2010 General Election. Its first electoral challenge was the District Council elections of May 1973
when they managed to win a respectable 13.6% of the votes cast. In the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
which followed the next month the party polled 9.2% and won eight seats. The then party leader, Oliver Napier
and his deputy Bob Cooper
became part of the short-lived power sharing executive body. Alliance's vote peaked in the 1977 District Council elections
when it obtained 14.4% of the vote and had 74 Councillors elected. In 1979, Party Leader Oliver Napier
came closer than Alliance had come before to electing a Westminster MP, polling just 928 votes short of Peter Robinson
's winning total in East Belfast, albeit placing third in a three-way marginal. It was in 2010 that they eventually took their first seat, by Naomi Long, this time unseating Peter Robinson in East Belfast
Hunger Strike
of 1981, which deeply polarised Northern Ireland politics, and led to the emergence of Sinn Féin
as a serious political force. The Party supported the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
, and despite claims that this would fatally damage its soft Unionist support, Alliance rebounded to pick up 10.0% of the vote in the 1987 United Kingdom General Election
, with some voters rejecting the tacit mainstream Unionist support for violence in the aftermath of the Agreement. New leader, John Alderdice, polled 32.0% of the vote in East Belfast, while Alliance came within 15,000 votes of both the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) and Sinn Féin across Northern Ireland. In 1988, in Alliance's keynote post-Anglo Irish Agreement document, "Governing with Consent", Alderdice called for a devolved power-sharing government. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Alliance's vote stabilised at between 7% and 10%.
After the IRA and loyalist
ceasefires in 1994, Alliance became the first non-Nationalist party to enter into talks with Sinn Féin, as an active participant in the talks which led to the Good Friday Agreement, which it strongly supported.
The Alliance Party polled poorly for the 1996 elections for the Northern Ireland Forum
, and the 1998 election
for the Northern Ireland Assembly
winning around 6.5% of the vote each time. This did enable the party to win six seats in the Assembly, although this was somewhat of a let down given that the party had been expected to do much better with their surprise defeat in Belfast South being particularly disappointing for supporters.
, who himself resigned as party leader in September, 2001. Neeson was replaced by current party leader David Ford
, a member of the assembly for South Antrim
.
It was predicted that Alliance would suffer electorally as a new centrist challenger established itself in Northern Irish politics, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
, whilst the main Unionist and Nationalist parties both moderated their position on cross-community co-operation. Another problem for the APNI was that the rules of the Northern Ireland Assembly
require major votes (such as the election of a First Minister) to have the support of both a majority of Unionist assembly members and a majority of Nationalist assembly members, thus diminishing the importance of parties such as Alliance which are not aligned to either of these two blocs.
Nevertheless, in the 2003 Assembly elections
, Alliance held all their seats, while the Women's Coalition lost both of theirs. However Alliance's vote fell to just 3.7%. In the European Parliament Elections in 2004
, Alliance gave strong support to Independent candidate John Gilliland who polled 6.6% of the vote, the highest for a non-communal candidate in a European election since 1979. In the early years of the Northern Ireland peace process
, the centre ground was relentlessly squeezed in Northern Ireland politics. The support for Gilliland's candidature, which was also supported by parties such as the Workers' Party
and Northern Ireland Conservatives, reflected a desire to reunite the fragmented and weakened non-communal bloc in Northern Ireland politics.
In the 5 May 2005 United Kingdom general election
, they contested 12 seats and polled 3.9% of the vote. In the simultaneous elections to Northern Ireland's local authorities, they polled 5.0% of first preference votes and had 30 Councillors elected, a gain of two seats relative to the previous elections.
The 2006-2007 period saw some signs of an Alliance upturn with Alliance topping the poll and gaining a seat in a by-election for Coleraine
borough council.
In the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections
, Alliance put in a strong media campaign and polled 5.2% up from 3.6% in the previous election with Alliance gaining a seat in Belfast South following the successful candidature of Anna Lo, the first ethnic Chinese public representative in a national assembly anywhere in Western Europe. In an election cycle where many pundits had predicted that the Alliance Party would struggle to hold on to the 6 seats it won in the 2003 election, the Party pulled off a credible performance which included Deputy Leader Naomi Long doubling her share of the vote in Belfast East.
In 2008, during the deadlock between Sinn Féin
and the Democratic Unionist Party
over the devolution of policing, the two parties came to an agreement that the Minister of Justice would not come from either party. The Alliance party was the obvious choice but party leader David Ford
said "it's a very definite and a very emphatic no." Ford further stated, "this executive is incompetent, it's time they got on with doing the job that they were set up to do." Ford assumed office on 12 April 2010.
At the 2009 European elections, Alliance achieved its best European result in 30 years with 5.5% of the vote.
In the 2010 general election, the party won its first seat in Westminster, with Naomi Long taking the seat of sitting First Minister Peter Robinson
.
The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly Election resulted in 8 Assembly members being returned with a gain in Belfast East
. It overtook the Ulster Unionist Party
on Belfast City Council.
The party won eight council seats across Belfast in 1985. Although that has now recovered to six (from three in 2001), the six are entirely from South and East Belfast. Both seats in the Falls Road area of West Belfast were lost after the death and resignation of their councillors there in 1987 while their seat in North Belfast was lost in 1993 regained four years later and lost again, seemingly for good, in 2001. In the neighbouring areas of Dunmurry Cross (Twinbrook/Dunmurry) and Macedon (Rathcoole) Alliance lost their councillors in 1989 and 1994 respectively; on the other hand, the party won three out of seven seats in Victoria in 2011, the first time since 1977 that the party had won three Council seats in the same Electoral Area.
By 2005, the party had Councillors in only half of Northern Ireland's 18 constituencies. However, this has now risen to 13 after gains in Coleraine, Craigavon, Down an elsewhere. Having had around 30 Councillors for a decade, the party won 44 seats in 2011. In the 2010 Elections, the Alliance gained the Westminster seat of Belfast East, and gained a 22.6% swing there; in 2011 it re-emphasised that result winning two out of the six MLA seats available.
The youth wing of the Alliance Party is Young Alliance. Alliance Youth is an umbrella organization, incorporating Young Alliance and Liberal/Alliance Societies at Northern Ireland universities.
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and nonsectarian
Nonsectarian
Nonsectarian, in its most literal sense, refers to a lack of sectarianism. The term is also more narrowly used to describe secular private educational institutions or other organizations either not affiliated with or not restricted to a particular religious denomination though the organization...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...
and one in the House of Commons.
Founded in 1970 from the New Ulster Movement
New Ulster Movement
The New Ulster Movement was a political pressure group in Northern Ireland.The organisation was established in early 1969 under the Chairmanship of Brian Walker, and soon had a membership of around 8,000 people...
, the Alliance Party originally represented moderate and non-sectarian Unionism
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
. However, over time, particularly in the 1990s, it moved towards neutrality on the Union, and has come to represent wider liberal and non-sectarian concerns. It opposes consociational
Consociationalism
Consociationalism is a form of government involving guaranteed group representation, and is often suggested for managing conflict in deeply divided societies...
power sharing as deepening the sectarian
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
divide, and, in the Northern Ireland Assembly, it is designated as neither unionist or nationalist, but 'Other'.
In May 2010 the Alliance Party won their first Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
seat in a General Election, in Belfast East
Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
, unseating Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
, leader of the DUP and First Minister of Northern Ireland. Naomi Long, the successful candidate, is the first MP from the Alliance Party since Stratton Mills
Stratton Mills
William Stratton Mills, known as Stratton Mills , is a retired solicitor and former politician in Northern Ireland.He was the only Member of Parliament to have sat for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in the British House of Commons, until Naomi Long won Belfast East in 2010...
who had joined the party from the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
in 1973.
Aims and objectives
Paragraph 1.3 of Alliance's constitutions states that 'the objectives of the Party shall be to heal the bitter divisions in our community and to promote the policies of the party as determined by the [ruling] Council'.Philosophy
Over the past 40 years and particularly since the mid-1990s, Alliance's political philosophyPolitical philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
has veered away from non-sectarian Unionism towards a more liberal, neutral position on the question of either an united Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
or continued Union with Great Britain. While the Good Friday Agreement has attempted to implement consociational power sharing, Alliance continues to argue that such enforced coalition government in Northern Ireland entrenches division rather than providing a basis for overcoming it.
The Alliance Party was founded on the back of efforts by the New Ulster Movement
New Ulster Movement
The New Ulster Movement was a political pressure group in Northern Ireland.The organisation was established in early 1969 under the Chairmanship of Brian Walker, and soon had a membership of around 8,000 people...
(NUM), which was established as a moderating influence upon the Unionist Party. After Nationalist politicians withdrew their role as official Opposition at Stormont, and the resignation of Unionist leader Terence O'Neill
Terence O'Neill
Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, PC was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party...
in 1969, the NUM split between those who wished to remain a pressure group for the Unionist Party and those who saw reform only through the establishment of a new political party. The latter broke off and formed the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, on 21 April 1970.
As Alliance viewed the situation, the major problem of Northern Ireland was the division between Protestant and Catholic. The turmoil had its origins in that division and not in the partition of Ireland. "Partition was the result of the divisions and not the cause of them." (John Cushnahan, 1979)
The party's founding members resolved to change the "traditional mould" of sectarian politics in Northern Ireland, by launching a party deliberately set out to win support from both sections of the community. The party’s founding principles were an attempt to address the "fundamental fears" of Protestants being coerced into a united Ireland, and of Catholics being condemned to a second-class citizenship within Northern Ireland.
The distinguishing feature of Alliance is its belief in the legitimacy of a distinctive Northern community, one that has more in common than what divides it, with most inhabitants speaking a common language, sharing some form of Christianity, and not separated by distinguishable racial or physical characteristics. "Its people are one community living in what has been called a place apart, but sharing a great deal with the rest of this island, the rest of these islands, and the rest of the developed world." (Alliance 1992)
Alliance does not view unionism and nationalism as distinct communities, but as "political positions." Furthermore, Alliance sees identity as an individual matter, originating in historical contexts, producing unionist and nationalist traditions. Alliance is at times seen as representing a "third tradition". "In the context of Northern Ireland it includes those who, whether in politics, culture, religion, or in private life have refused to be categorised as Orange or Green." (Alliance 1992)
As Alliance have moved to an ideologically liberal perspective, and Northern Ireland society has become more diverse, support for diversity has become a key Alliance platform, with Anna Lo MLA
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo MBE is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Hong Kong, of Chinese ethnicity, Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast in the 2007 assembly election...
elected as the first ethnically Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
parliamentarian in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and the party promoting a number of openly gay spokespeople.
Alliance are linked with the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
and are members of Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
.
History
Early growth
It was formed in April 1970 as an alternative to the established parties. In the context of a rapidly worsening political crisis, the party aimed not only to present an alternative to what they perceived as sectarian parties, but to make sure that the primary policy of the party was in contrast to the Northern Ireland Labour PartyNorthern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...
and Ulster Liberal Party
Ulster Liberal Party
The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Northern Ireland, supporting a unionist position and linked to the British Liberal Party....
. Alliance expressly aimed, at first, to act as a bridge between the Protestant and Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
sections of the community, with a secondary goal of attracting support from Northern Ireland's Jewish community and its small but steadily growing Asian (Chinese, Indian, Pakistani) population, the vast majority of whom are neither Catholic nor Protestant.
The Party's founding principles were expressly in favour of Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, although in contrast to the Unionist
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
parties, this was expressed in socio-economic rather than ethnic
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
terms. It also placed great emphasis on the consent principle and therefore only supported the Northern Ireland's position within the UK as long as the people of NI wished it.
The party was boosted in 1972 when three Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
joined the party (one from the Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
, one from the Ulster Unionist Party and one Independent). Stratton Mills
Stratton Mills
William Stratton Mills, known as Stratton Mills , is a retired solicitor and former politician in Northern Ireland.He was the only Member of Parliament to have sat for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in the British House of Commons, until Naomi Long won Belfast East in 2010...
, an Ulster Unionist/Conservative member of the Westminster Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for North Belfast
Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast North is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
also joined, providing Alliance with its only House of Commons representation prior to the 2010 General Election. Its first electoral challenge was the District Council elections of May 1973
Northern Ireland local elections, 1973
Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government Act 1971 and the Local Government Act 1972...
when they managed to win a respectable 13.6% of the votes cast. In the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists and nationalists....
which followed the next month the party polled 9.2% and won eight seats. The then party leader, Oliver Napier
Oliver Napier
Sir Oliver Napier was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In 1974 he served as the first and only Legal Minister and head of the Office of Legal Reform in the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive set up by the Sunningdale Agreement.-Early life:Napier was educated at St...
and his deputy Bob Cooper
Bob Cooper (politician)
Sir Robert George Cooper CBE, known as Bob Cooper was a politician and equal opportunities activist in Northern Ireland....
became part of the short-lived power sharing executive body. Alliance's vote peaked in the 1977 District Council elections
Northern Ireland local elections, 1977
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in May 1977.The elections saw good performances by the four largest parties: the Ulster Unionist Party , Social Democratic and Labour Party , Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party , while smaller parties failed...
when it obtained 14.4% of the vote and had 74 Councillors elected. In 1979, Party Leader Oliver Napier
Oliver Napier
Sir Oliver Napier was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In 1974 he served as the first and only Legal Minister and head of the Office of Legal Reform in the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive set up by the Sunningdale Agreement.-Early life:Napier was educated at St...
came closer than Alliance had come before to electing a Westminster MP, polling just 928 votes short of Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
's winning total in East Belfast, albeit placing third in a three-way marginal. It was in 2010 that they eventually took their first seat, by Naomi Long, this time unseating Peter Robinson in East Belfast
Stabilisation and decline
Alliance was seriously damaged by the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
Hunger Strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
of 1981, which deeply polarised Northern Ireland politics, and led to the emergence of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
as a serious political force. The Party supported the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
, and despite claims that this would fatally damage its soft Unionist support, Alliance rebounded to pick up 10.0% of the vote in the 1987 United Kingdom General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, with some voters rejecting the tacit mainstream Unionist support for violence in the aftermath of the Agreement. New leader, John Alderdice, polled 32.0% of the vote in East Belfast, while Alliance came within 15,000 votes of both the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP) and Sinn Féin across Northern Ireland. In 1988, in Alliance's keynote post-Anglo Irish Agreement document, "Governing with Consent", Alderdice called for a devolved power-sharing government. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Alliance's vote stabilised at between 7% and 10%.
After the IRA and loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
ceasefires in 1994, Alliance became the first non-Nationalist party to enter into talks with Sinn Féin, as an active participant in the talks which led to the Good Friday Agreement, which it strongly supported.
The Alliance Party polled poorly for the 1996 elections for the Northern Ireland Forum
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....
, and the 1998 election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...
for the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...
winning around 6.5% of the vote each time. This did enable the party to win six seats in the Assembly, although this was somewhat of a let down given that the party had been expected to do much better with their surprise defeat in Belfast South being particularly disappointing for supporters.
The Good Friday Agreement era
John Alderdice resigned as party leader in 1998 to take up the post of the Assembly's Presiding Officer. He was replaced by Seán NeesonSéan Neeson
Seán Neeson is a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2001.- Education and early life :...
, who himself resigned as party leader in September, 2001. Neeson was replaced by current party leader David Ford
David Ford
David Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :...
, a member of the assembly for South Antrim
South Antrim (Assembly constituency)
South Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
.
It was predicted that Alliance would suffer electorally as a new centrist challenger established itself in Northern Irish politics, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum, the body for all-party talks which led to the...
, whilst the main Unionist and Nationalist parties both moderated their position on cross-community co-operation. Another problem for the APNI was that the rules of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...
require major votes (such as the election of a First Minister) to have the support of both a majority of Unionist assembly members and a majority of Nationalist assembly members, thus diminishing the importance of parties such as Alliance which are not aligned to either of these two blocs.
Nevertheless, in the 2003 Assembly elections
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...
, Alliance held all their seats, while the Women's Coalition lost both of theirs. However Alliance's vote fell to just 3.7%. In the European Parliament Elections in 2004
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
, Alliance gave strong support to Independent candidate John Gilliland who polled 6.6% of the vote, the highest for a non-communal candidate in a European election since 1979. In the early years of the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
, the centre ground was relentlessly squeezed in Northern Ireland politics. The support for Gilliland's candidature, which was also supported by parties such as the Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
and Northern Ireland Conservatives, reflected a desire to reunite the fragmented and weakened non-communal bloc in Northern Ireland politics.
In the 5 May 2005 United Kingdom general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, they contested 12 seats and polled 3.9% of the vote. In the simultaneous elections to Northern Ireland's local authorities, they polled 5.0% of first preference votes and had 30 Councillors elected, a gain of two seats relative to the previous elections.
The 2006-2007 period saw some signs of an Alliance upturn with Alliance topping the poll and gaining a seat in a by-election for Coleraine
Coleraine
Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...
borough council.
In the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
, Alliance put in a strong media campaign and polled 5.2% up from 3.6% in the previous election with Alliance gaining a seat in Belfast South following the successful candidature of Anna Lo, the first ethnic Chinese public representative in a national assembly anywhere in Western Europe. In an election cycle where many pundits had predicted that the Alliance Party would struggle to hold on to the 6 seats it won in the 2003 election, the Party pulled off a credible performance which included Deputy Leader Naomi Long doubling her share of the vote in Belfast East.
In 2008, during the deadlock between Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
over the devolution of policing, the two parties came to an agreement that the Minister of Justice would not come from either party. The Alliance party was the obvious choice but party leader David Ford
David Ford
David Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :...
said "it's a very definite and a very emphatic no." Ford further stated, "this executive is incompetent, it's time they got on with doing the job that they were set up to do." Ford assumed office on 12 April 2010.
At the 2009 European elections, Alliance achieved its best European result in 30 years with 5.5% of the vote.
In the 2010 general election, the party won its first seat in Westminster, with Naomi Long taking the seat of sitting First Minister Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
.
The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly Election resulted in 8 Assembly members being returned with a gain in Belfast East
Belfast East (Assembly constituency)
Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
. It overtook the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
on Belfast City Council.
Regionalisation of Alliance's vote
One trend over time with Alliance's vote is that in contrast to 1973, when Alliance support was dispersed across Northern Ireland, APNI have increasingly polled best in the Greater Belfast hinterland. For example the 1977 elections, while representing an overall increase for Alliance, masked a sharp decline in vote share in many Western councils. In the 12 councils covering the former counties of Londonderry, Tyrone, Armagh and Fermanagh their vote only rose in Omagh, it remained static in Magherafelt and fell in the other ten councils (these being Fermanagh, Dungannon, Cookstown, Strabane, Londonderry, Limavady, Coleraine, Newry & Mourne, Armagh and Craigavon.) Overall in these 12 councils the number of Alliance councillors fell from 18 in 1973 to ten in 1977. In contrast, in the rest of the province Alliance increased their number of councillors from 45 to 60.The party won eight council seats across Belfast in 1985. Although that has now recovered to six (from three in 2001), the six are entirely from South and East Belfast. Both seats in the Falls Road area of West Belfast were lost after the death and resignation of their councillors there in 1987 while their seat in North Belfast was lost in 1993 regained four years later and lost again, seemingly for good, in 2001. In the neighbouring areas of Dunmurry Cross (Twinbrook/Dunmurry) and Macedon (Rathcoole) Alliance lost their councillors in 1989 and 1994 respectively; on the other hand, the party won three out of seven seats in Victoria in 2011, the first time since 1977 that the party had won three Council seats in the same Electoral Area.
By 2005, the party had Councillors in only half of Northern Ireland's 18 constituencies. However, this has now risen to 13 after gains in Coleraine, Craigavon, Down an elsewhere. Having had around 30 Councillors for a decade, the party won 44 seats in 2011. In the 2010 Elections, the Alliance gained the Westminster seat of Belfast East, and gained a 22.6% swing there; in 2011 it re-emphasised that result winning two out of the six MLA seats available.
Leaders of Alliance
- The Hon. Phelim O'Neill 1972, acting
- Oliver NapierOliver NapierSir Oliver Napier was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In 1974 he served as the first and only Legal Minister and head of the Office of Legal Reform in the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive set up by the Sunningdale Agreement.-Early life:Napier was educated at St...
1972-1984 - John CushnahanJohn CushnahanJohn Walls Cushnahan is a former politician in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and then as a Member of the European Parliament for Fine Gael....
1984-1987 - John Alderdice 1987-1998
- Seán NeesonSéan NeesonSeán Neeson is a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2001.- Education and early life :...
1998-2001 - David FordDavid FordDavid Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :...
2001-present
Deputy Leaders
- Bob CooperBob Cooper (politician)Sir Robert George Cooper CBE, known as Bob Cooper was a politician and equal opportunities activist in Northern Ireland....
1974-1976 - Basil GlassBasil GlassBasil Glass was a politician in Northern Ireland.Born in County Leitrim, Glass studied at Queen's University Belfast; he qualified as a solicitor in 1950 and became a prominent lawyer. He was elected joint treasurer of the New Ulster Movement, with fellow solicitor Oliver Napier, in 1969...
1976-1980 - David CookDavid Cook (politician)David Cook is a former politician in Northern Ireland.Cook works as a solicitor, eventually becoming a senior partner at Sheldon and Stewart Solicitors....
1980-1984 - Addie MorrowAddie MorrowAddie Morrow is a former politician in Northern Ireland.Born on a farm in County Down, Morrow was an early member of the ecumenical Corrymeela Community, later led by his brother John....
1984-1987 - Gordon MawhinneyGordon MawhinneyGordon Mawhinney is a former politician in Northern Ireland.Mawhinney married Maureen Gribben in 1967. In 1981, Mawhinney stood for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in Newtownabbey District "C", but was not elected. However, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982, in South...
1987-1991 - Seamus CloseSeamus CloseSeamus Close OBE is a Northern Ireland politician, former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley and a former deputy leader of the Alliance Party....
1991-2001 - Eileen BellEileen BellEileen Bell CBE is a Northern Ireland politician, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down and former deputy leader of the Alliance Party.-Early life:...
2001-2006 - Naomi Long 2006-present
MPs
- Stratton MillsStratton MillsWilliam Stratton Mills, known as Stratton Mills , is a retired solicitor and former politician in Northern Ireland.He was the only Member of Parliament to have sat for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in the British House of Commons, until Naomi Long won Belfast East in 2010...
— Belfast North, 1973–74 (defected from Ulster Unionists) - Naomi Long — Belfast East, 2010–
MLAs
Elected in the Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2011:- Chris LyttleChris LyttleChris Lyttle is a politician in Northern Ireland.Born in East Belfast, Lyttle studied at Queen's University Belfast and Harvard University before working as the Research Assistant for Naomi Long of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland...
- East Belfast - Judith CochraneJudith CochraneJudith Cochrane is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the East Belfast constituency in 2011.- References :...
- East Belfast - David FordDavid FordDavid Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :...
- South AntrimSouth Antrim (Assembly constituency)South Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973... - Anna LoAnna LoAnna Manwah Lo MBE is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Hong Kong, of Chinese ethnicity, Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast in the 2007 assembly election...
- Belfast SouthBelfast South (Assembly constituency)Belfast South is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973... - Trevor LunnTrevor LunnTrevor Lunn is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland.He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley in the 2007 assembly election. Mr. Lunn took over the Alliance candidacy for Lagan Valley from Seamus Close, the long time representative for the area...
- Lagan ValleyLagan Valley (Assembly constituency)Lagan Valley is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly.... - Stephen FarryStephen FarryDr Stephen Farry is a Northern Irish politician, Minister for Employment and Learning in the Northern Ireland Executive and a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He represents North Down and is a member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.-Biography:Dr...
- North DownNorth Down (Assembly constituency)North Down is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973... - Kieran McCarthyKieran McCarthyKieran McCarthy is a Northern Ireland politician, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford and Assembly chief whip for the Alliance Party....
- StrangfordStrangford (Assembly constituency)Strangford is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996... - Stewart DicksonStewart DicksonStewart Dickson is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he represents East Antrim....
- East AntrimEast Antrim (Assembly constituency)East Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly....
Young Alliance and Alliance Youth
See also
- Contributions to liberal theoryContributions to liberal theoryIndividual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with philosophers of the Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy...
- Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland
- Liberal democracyLiberal democracyLiberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
- LiberalismLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
- Liberalism in the United KingdomLiberalism in the United KingdomThis article gives an overview of liberalism in the United Kingdom. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...
- Liberalism worldwideLiberalism worldwideThis article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world. It is an overview of parties that adhere more or less to the ideas of political liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world....
- List of liberal parties
- SecularismSecularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
External links
- Alliance Party (official site)
- Alliance Youth (official site of Alliance Youth)