Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue
Type
Type	Unicameral deliberative assembly
History
Established	1996
Disbanded	25 April 1998
Preceded by	Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
Succeeded by	Northern Ireland Assembly
Leadership
Chairman	John Gorman
Seats	110
Elections
Voting system	Party List PR
Meeting place
3rd Floor, Interpoint, 20-24 York Street, Belfast

The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westminster Parliamentary constituency for Northern Ireland, under the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. There was also a "topup" of two seats for the ten parties polling most votes; this ensured that two loyalist parties associated with paramilitary groups were represented. See members of the Northern Ireland Forum for a complete list.

Functions and legislative basis

The Forum was constituted under the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996.^[1] The Forum was described in the Act as being purely deliberative in nature, and was explicitly stated to have no "executive, legislative or administrative" functions assigned to it, nor to have any authority over the Good Friday negotiations.^[1] It was permitted to consider, in a deliberative capacity, "any matter" referred to it by the negotiatiors.^[1]

Election results

1996 Northern Ireland Forum election

← 1982 30 May 1996 1998 →
← outgoing members Delegates elected →
All 110 seats to the Northern Ireland Forum
First party Second party Third party         Leader David Trimble Ian Paisley John Hume Party Ulster Unionist DUP SDLP Leader since 8 September 1995 30 September 1971 28 November 1979 Leader's seat Upper Bann North Antrim Foyle Seats won 30 24 21 Popular vote 181,829 141,413 160,786 Percentage 24.2% 18.8% 21.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party         Leader Gerry Adams John Alderdice Robert McCartney Party Sinn Féin Alliance UK Unionist Leader since 13 November 1983 3 October 1987 1995 Leader's seat West Belfast East Belfast North Down Seats won 17 7 3 Popular vote 116,377 49,176 27,774 Percentage 15.5% 6.5% 3.7%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party     Leader Hugh Smyth Gary McMichael Monica McWilliams Pearl Sagar Party PUP Ulster Democratic NI Women's Coalition Leader since 1979 1994 1996 Leader's seat Top-up seat Top-up seat Top-up seats Seats won 2 2 2 Popular vote 26,082 16,715 7,731 Percentage 3.5% 2.2% 1.0%
Seats won by each party and the vote share of the largest party.   Break down of each party and sectarian camp's seats in constituencies Election results. Voters elect 5 forum members from the 18 constituencies.
Chief Executive before election None Chief Executive after election None

The results of the election were:

Party		Votes	Vote %	List seats	Top-up seats	Total seats	Seats %
	Ulster Unionist	181,829	24.2	28	2	30	27.3
	SDLP	160,786	21.4	19	2	21	19.1
	DUP	141,413	18.8	22	2	24	21.8
	Sinn Féin	116,377	15.5	15	2	17	15.5
	Alliance	49,176	6.5	5	2	7	6.4
	UK Unionist	27,774	3.7	1	2	3	2.7
	PUP	26,082	3.5	0	2	2	1.8
	Ulster Democratic	16,715	2.2	0	2	2	1.8
	NI Women's Coalition	7,731	1.0	0	2	2	1.8
	Labour coalition	6,425	0.9	0	2	2	1.8
	Green (NI)	3,647	0.5	0	0	0
	NI Conservatives	3,595	0.5	0	0	0
	Workers' Party	3,530	0.5	0	0	0
	Ulster Independence	2,125	0.5	0	0	0
	Democratic Left	1,215	0.2	0	0	0
	Democratic Partnership	1,046	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent McMullan	927	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Chambers	567	0.1	0	0	0
	Natural Law	389	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent DUP	388	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Arthur Templeton	350	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Voice	204	0.0	0	0	0
	Communist	66	0.0	0	0	0
	Ulster Christian Democrats	31	0.0	0	0	0
Total		745,296		90	20	110

All parties shown.

Note: The Democratic Unionist Party was listed on the ballot paper as "Democratic Unionist Party DUP Ian Paisley"

 

  Ulster Unionist Party: 30 seats

  Democratic Unionist Party: 24 seats

  Social Democratic and Labour Party: 21 seats

  Sinn Féin: 17 seats

  Alliance: 7 seats

  UKUP: 3 seats

  Ulster Democratic: 2 seats

  NI Women's Coalition: 2 seats

  Labour: 2 seats

  PUP: 2 seats

List candidates

Top-up candidates were elected from lists supplied by each party. The highest-placed candidates who had not already won election through a constituency won the top-up seats. In the table below, the top-up candidates elected through the regional list are shown in bold, while candidates elected in constituencies are shown in italics. Candidates in normal type were not elected.

Party		Regional list candidates^[2]
	Ulster Unionist	David Trimble, John Taylor, John Gorman, Antony Alcock, Jack Allen, Fred Parkinson, Josias Cunningham, Dennis Rogan, James Cooper, Jim Nicholson
	SDLP	John Hume, Seamus Mallon, Eddie McGrady, Joe Hendron, Jonathan Stephenson, Dorita Field, Margaret Ellen, Patricia Walsh, Marietta Farrell, Rosaleen Hughes, Anne McQuillan
	DUP ^[1]	Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson, William McCrea, Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell, Eric Smyth, Ruth Allen, Harry Smith, William McClure
	Sinn Féin	Lucilita Bhreatnach, Pat Doherty, Rita O'Hare, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Bairbre de Brún, Mitchel McLaughlin, Gearóid Ó hEára, Joe Cahill, Dodie McGuinness
	Alliance	John Alderdice, Seamus Close, Sean Neeson, Steve McBride, Eileen Bell, Anne Gormley, Elizabeth McCaffrey, Mary Clark-Glass, Susan O'Brien, Wendy Watt
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney, Cedric Wilson, Conor Cruise O'Brien, Patrick Roche, Ronnie Crawford, Alan Field, Valerie Kinghan, Stephen Nicholl, Graeme Jardin, Freda Woods
	PUP	Hugh Smyth, David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson, William Smith, David Kirk, Patricia Laverty, Dawn Purvis, Edward Kinner, Gusty Spence, Winston Churchill Rea
	Ulster Democratic	Gary McMichael, John White, David Adams, Joe English, Tommy Kirkham, David Nicholl, Robert Girvan, Thomas English, Ester McCracken English, Elizabeth Cathcart McIlwaine
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams, Pearl Sagar, Anne Campbell, Kathleen Fearon, Sheila Fairon, Joan Cosgrove, Diane Greer, Brenda Callaghan, Felicity Huston, Mairead Abraham
	Labour coalition	Malachi Curran, Hugh Casey, Mark Langhammer, John McLaughlin, Lucy Simpson, Peter Hadden, Margaret Lawrence, Fionnuala Harbinson, Michael Duffy, David Morrison
	Green (NI)	Paddy McEvoy, Peter Emerson, Jenny Jones, Nuala Ahern, Molly Scott, Robin Harper
	NI Conservatives	Barbara Finney, Esmond Birnie
	Workers' Party	Tom French, John Lowry, Marian Donnelly, Ellen Rush, Margaret Smith, Tommy Owens, Brendan Heany, Eilish Duffy, Vivian Hutchinson, Michael McCorry
	Ulster Independence	Hugh Ross, Josephine Fulton-Challis, Sandra Jones, Walter Millar, David Kerr, Dierdre Speer-White, Ken Kerr, Donal Casey, Kenneth McClinton, Norman McLelland
	Democratic Left	Mary McMahon, Seamus Lynch, Patrick John McClean, Gerry Cullen, Veronica McEneaney, Frank McElroy, Teresa McVeigh, Jean Craig, Mary Vernon, Monica Hynds
	Democratic Partnership	David Bleakley, Paul Smyth, Maureen McCaughan, Adrian McKinney, Pearl Snowden, Edwin Sloan, Charles McKee, William Lewis, Erin Tunney
	Independent McMullan	Oliver McMullan, John Robb, John McDowell, Wesley H. Holmes, William Dunbar, William Cunning, Helen Craig, Philip Dugdale, Charles Maunsell, Sinead McMullan
	Independent Chambers	Alan Chambers, Joseph Coggle, Mary Chambers, James Arbuthnot, Robert Irvine, Violet Chambers, Linda Chambers, William Chambers, Ruth Patty, Pearl Brown
	Natural Law	James Anderson, Thomas Mullins, Richard Johnson, John Patrick Lyons, John Small
	Independent DUP	Thomas Henry O'Brien, William Baxter, Cecil Braniff, Tara Martin Alexandra, Stuart William O'Brien
	Independent Arthur Templeton	N/A
	Independent Voice	Andrew Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Bernard McGrath, Susan McGrath, Edward Phillips, Trevor Richards, Christopher Carter, Fidelma Carter, Betty Carter, Susan Carter
	Communist	N/A
	Ulster Christian Democrats	N/A

Votes summary

Popular vote Ulster Unionist   24.17% SDLP   21.37% DUP   18.8% Sinn Féin   15.47% Alliance   6.54% United Kingdom Unionist   3.69% Progressive Unionist   3.47% Ulster Democratic   2.22% Women's Coalition   1.03% Labour   0.85% Independent   0.3% Other   2.09%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Ulster Unionist   27.27% SDLP   19.09% DUP   21.82% Sinn Féin   15.45% Alliance   6.36% United Kingdom Unionist   2.73% Progressive Unionist   1.82% Ulster Democratic   1.82% Women's Coalition   1.82% Labour   1.82%

Suspension, revival and abolition

Under section 7 of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act, it was possible for the Forum to be suspended and revived as necessary via statutory Order, subject to a sunset date of 31 May 1997 when section 3, the provision detailing the existence of the Forum,^[1] would be automatically repealed, and the Forum abolished. However, this date could itself be extended via statutory Order, but could not be set after 31 May 1998.^[3]

These powers were made use of several times:

• The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1997, which suspended the Forum effective 22 March 1997,^[4]
• The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Revival of Section 3) Order 1997, which revived the Forum effective 3 June 1997 and extended its existence to the latest possible permitted date, 31 May 1998,^[5] and,
• The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1998, which abolished the Forum effective 25 April 1998, upon the conclusion of the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement.^[6]

References

1. "Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996: section 3 (as enacted)". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 29 April 1996. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
2. "1996 Elections - List of Candidates". from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
3. "Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996: section 7 (as enacted)". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 29 April 1996. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
4. "The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1997", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 21 March 1997, SI 1997/1046, retrieved 20 August 2023
5. "The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Revival of Section 3) Order 1997", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 3 June 1997, SI 1997/1410, retrieved 20 August 2023
6. "The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 24 April 1998, SI 1998/1147, retrieved 20 August 2023, And whereas it appears to the Secretary of State that the negotiations... are concluded;... Section 3 of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 shall cease to have effect.

Bibliography

• Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996
• The 1996 Forum Elections and the Peace Process by Nicholas Whyte

External links