House of Commons of Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
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...
created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which partitioned Ireland. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill or as the Fourth Home Rule Act.The Act was intended...
. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate
Senate of Northern Ireland
The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.-Powers:...
. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
Membership
The House of Commons had a membership of 52. Until 1969, 48 were from territorial constituencies and 4 were for graduates of The Queen's University of BelfastQueen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
; in that year the QUB seats were abolished and four extra territorial constituencies created on the outskirts of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
where the population had grown. For the electoral constituencies used see this list.
Functions
The House of Commons fulfilled the normal lower house functions to be found in the Westminster SystemWestminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of Government. Its roles were
- to grant SupplyConfidence and supplyIn a parliamentary democracy confidence and supply are required for a government to hold power. A confidence and supply agreement is an agreement that a minor party or independent member of parliament will support the government in motions of confidence and appropriation votes by voting in favour...
to the Government;
- to grant to or withdraw confidence from the Government;
- to provide a talent bank from which members of the Government could be chosen. The Prime Minister of Northern IrelandPrime Minister of Northern IrelandThe Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
was chosen from its ranks by the Governor of Northern IrelandGovernor of Northern IrelandThe Governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in Northern Ireland of the British monarch. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973.-Overview:...
.
Electoral system
The Government of Ireland Act required that elections to the House of Commons be by the Single Transferable VoteSingle transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
(STV) electoral system first introduced in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919. Its inclusion in the 1920 Government of Ireland Act was deliberate. It was intended to provide electoral opportunities for non-Unionists. (A similar legal requirement had been set for Northern Ireland's sister state, the non-operative Southern Ireland
Southern Ireland
Southern Ireland was a short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922.Southern Ireland was established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 together with its sister region, Northern Ireland...
, and also existed in the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
.
Under the Act the Parliament of Northern Ireland was given the legislative power to alter the electoral system from three years after its first meeting. The use of STV was criticised strongly among the grassroots of the governing 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...
, who viewed it as "unbritish" (apart from four university constituencies
University constituency
A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents a university rather than a geographical area. University constituencies may involve plural voting, in which eligible voters are permitted to vote in both a university constituency and a geographical...
, the rest 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...
used First Past the Post). The loss of eight seats by the UUP in the second parliamentary election caused a major row within the party. Rather than deal with questions as to why it faced declining popularity the party replaced STV by the less-proportional (and so less helpful to minorities) First Past the Post. However STV was retained for the election of the 4 MPs from Queens University.
The Opposition
The creation of Northern Ireland had been opposed both by many Unionists and all Nationalists, all of whom, like Unionist Leader Edward Carson, were opposed to the partition of the island. While Unionists within Northern Ireland became reconciled to their form of home ruleHome rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
, Nationalists remained alienated from the structures of the state and pursued an abstentionist
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
policy. 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....
, the main Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, which claimed descent from the pre-partition Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
, boycotted the parliament entirely until 1925, and individual members boycotted at points thereafter. Other parties, notably the Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern 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...
did however take their seats. The absence of the main opposition party from parliament led to accusations of in effect "one party rule".
For many years the most effective opposition came from various independent Unionists, most notably Tommy Henderson
Tommy Henderson
Thomas Gibson Henderson was an Ulster independent Unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues other than the partition of Ireland, and is famous for having at one stage spoken for...
(served 1925-1953) who was famous for his near ten hour speech on the Appropriation Bill in May 1936.
Procedure
In most of its activities the House of Commons deliberately used the same procedure as the Parliament of the United KingdomParliament 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...
at Westminster. Each Parliament opened with a King's (or Queen's) Speech, though only King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
in 1921 gave it in person. From 1922 the speech was delivered by the Governor of Northern Ireland
Governor of Northern Ireland
The Governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in Northern Ireland of the British monarch. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973.-Overview:...
. The Governor was the Crown's representative who formally summoned and prorogued Parliament. The Parliament emulated some of the more bizarre traditions, such as giving a First Reading to the Outlawries Bill
Outlawries Bill
A Bill for the more effectual preventing clandestine Outlawries, usually referred as Outlawries Bill, is customarily the first bill on the agenda of the United Kingdom's House of Commons at the start of each session of Parliament.-Ceremonial purpose:...
immediately after the speech from the throne
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
as a token gesture of defiance of Royal authority. The same sessional orders were then agreed relating to members returned for two constituencies.
Ministers spoke from a dispatch box in a chamber modelled on the British House of Commons chamber. As at Westminster, members referred to each other in debate as "the honourable Member for the (X) division". Bills, introduced either in the Senate or the House of Commons, had to pass through First Reading, Second Reading, Committee Stage, and Third Reading in both Houses to become law. With a very strict divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
law, the Parliament was often asked to deal with private bill
Private bill
A private bill is a proposal for a law that would apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. If enacted, it becomes a private Act . This is unlike public bills which apply to everyone within their jurisdiction...
s promoted by divorcing couples. Because of the much smaller size of the House, only one member was required to act as a teller for each side during a division and they were counted among those voting in the division. The Parliament established virtually the same parliamentary and committee structure as Westminster.
However the minimal workload of Parliament, and the small number of bills that required passage, meant that Parliament could hold short sessions and meet for short working hours. The workload was so small that future Prime Minister 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...
later revealed that then Prime Minister Lord Brookeborough
Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough
Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, Bt, KG, CBE, MC, PC, HML was an Ulster Unionist politician who became the third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1943 and held office until 1963....
did not even have a desk in his de-facto residence, Stormont House
Stormont House
Stormont House is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, it is situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast in Northern Ireland....
. (Stormont House was nominally the residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons, but as speakers chose to live elsewhere, Prime Ministers used it as their residence, and turned their official residence, Stormont Castle
Stormont Castle
Stormont Castle is a baronial mansion on the Stormont Estate in east Belfast which is used as the main meeting place of the Northern Ireland Executive....
into an office for their senior civil servants.)
Venue
The first assembly of the House of Commons occurred in Belfast City HallBelfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre.-History:...
in June 1921. King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
gave a famed address where he called for reconciliation between Irish people and for Northern Ireland to be free of discrimination against the minority.
For its first decade Parliament met in the Presbyterian College
Union Theological College
Union Theological College is the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was established in 1853 as Assembly's College. The building served as the location for the early Northern Ireland Parliaments.The college offers a full range...
, close to the City Hall, while new Parliament Buildings
Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)
The Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive...
was built in East Belfast at a place called Stormont. The foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Northern Ireland in the late 1920s. However, the Wall Street Crash undermined the financial viability of the building project. Plans were scaled back, with plans for a ministerial building and a court building on site being abandoned. The main building was also changed, with plans for a United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
-style dome being abandoned, leaving a plainer neoclassical structure. The new parliament building was opened by Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
in 1932.
The House of Commons and Senate chambers were located across the Great Hall from each other, replicating the link between the House of Commons and British House of Lords in Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
. Between them hung a large chandelier from Windsor Castle which had been given to the King by his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, but had been put in storage during the First World War and remained so until given to Stormont.
Fathers of the House
| Name | Entered House | Became Father | Left House | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. M. Andrews | 1921 | 1929 | 1953 |
||
| Cahir Healy Cahir Healy Cahir Healy was an Irish politician.Born in Mountcharles in County Donegal, he became a journalist working on various local papers. He joined Sinn Féin on its foundation in 1905. He later campaigned against the inclusion of County Fermanagh and County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, arguing that they... |
1925 | 1953 | 1965 |
||
| Basil Brooke Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, Bt, KG, CBE, MC, PC, HML was an Ulster Unionist politician who became the third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1943 and held office until 1963.... |
1929 | 1965 | 1968 |
||
| Sir Norman Stronge Norman Stronge Captain Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC , JP was a senior Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.... |
1938 | 1968 | 1969 |
||
| Terence O'Neill | 1946 | 1969 | 1970 |
||
| Brian Faulkner | 1949 | 1970 | 1972 |
||
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...
, including the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, was prorogued in 1972 and abolished completely in 1973 leaving the title of Father of the House
Father of the House
Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers the longest-serving member.The...
defunct.
The end
Northern Ireland was dogged by allegations of Unionist misrule, and political gerrymanderingGerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
at local government level, during the 1960s. At this time there was increasing demand for civil rights, voiced primarily by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, allegations of police misbehaviour by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
and ultimately the outbreak of The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. In 1972, using its legal powers under the Government of Ireland Act the British government prorogued (suspended) the Northern Ireland Parliament and Government initially for a year, before in 1973 abolishing it entirely with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the Royal Assent on 18 July 1973...
. The Parliament last sat on 28 March 1972. http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/stormontpapers/pageview.html?volumeno=84&pageno=1550
Parliament Buildings are now the seat 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...
, a successor legislature.
External links
- Stormont Papers – The complete record of debates of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland.