The political systems of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland politics is complex and behaves like a fractal—the more you look at it, the more you see. Simple answers to questions about Northern Ireland simply don’t exist; you will almost always find that every answer must be clarified or qualified, which can make conversations about it challenging.

This briefing document attempts to be unbiased, but that’s probably impossible. It does, however, try to be accurate. For very many people, however, the accurate answer is vigorously opposed.  I have tried to ensure that the official UK and Irish government perspectives are recognised.

What even is Northern Ireland?

This is a pretty complex question to answer, so let’s get it out of the way.

Northern Ireland is either a country, a province (of the UK, not of Ireland), a “statelet,” or a region. Every person’s answer will show something about their political views. Because of this, it’s important to look at the question with care and respect for different points of view.

It’s probably best to recognise that in different contexts, Northern Ireland acts differently. 

For our purposes, Northern Ireland’s students are fully members of the Union of Students in Ireland, the United Kingdom’s National Union of Students, and NUS-USI. 

What should I call it?

It’s up to you, so long as you don’t get bent out of shape so that other people might call it something different. Officially, the name of the place is ‘Northern Ireland’, but you may hear it called ‘The North’. As gaeilge, it is officially Tuaisceart Éireann, but you might also hear it referred to as An Tuaisceart. Similarly, in Ulster-Scots, it is officially called Norlin Airlann, but you might hear it called The Norlin Airlann.

To make things straightforward inside USI, we refer to it as “The NUS-USI Region,” neatly sidestepping all political biases.

How is it supposed to be governed?

Northern Ireland has a single legislative chamber (the Assembly) and an executive committee (the Executive). This system was established as part of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are elected through the PR STV (proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote) system. There are 18 constituencies, and each constituency elects five members to the Assembly, for a total of 90 MLAs. 

The Assembly elects the Executive through the d’Hondt electoral system; what this means in practise is that the parties with the most seats get to appoint members to the Executive in proportion to their share of the vote. Each party takes it in turns, with the largest party first nominating a member to a position in the executive, followed by the second largest party, and so on. This seeks to ensure that Unionist and Nationalist (and other) parties are represented in the executive and government.

Northern Ireland is fairly unusual in the election of the First and Deputy First Ministers; these positions are co-equal and cannot act without each other’s agreement. The leader of the largest party should serve as First Minister, and the leader of the second-largest party should fill the position of Deputy First Minister. 

City and borough councils form the level of local government. These councils play no significant role in Northern Ireland’s education policy. Instead, they are in charge of providing amenities like domestic waste collection and recreation centres. They also have the power to levy rates  on residents within their jurisdiction. This enables them to generate income to pay for these initiatives and services in their neighbourhood.

Where does power come from?

Northern Ireland’s political system derives its authority from the UK Parliament; that authority was devolved in 1998 to the Executive and the Assembly.  While most areas were devolved, Northern Ireland may not unilaterally make laws on:

• the Crown
• Parliament
• international relations
• international development
• defence
• weapons of mass destruction
• honours
• treason
• Immigration and nationality
• taxation
• national insurance 
• elections
• currency
• national security
• nuclear energy
• space

Additionally, some areas exist where Northern Ireland has parity with the rest of the UK:

• social security
• child support
• pensions

Since Northern Ireland remains inside the UK, citizens of Northern Ireland participate in UK-wide elections (18 seats out of 650) and use UK currency.  

How are decisions made?

They should normally be made in the Northern Ireland Assembly and by the Northern Ireland Executive. But currently, the Northern Ireland Assembly cannot meet because Unionist members refuse to elect a speaker. Consequently, the Assembly cannot elect a First Minister and Deputy First Minister, leaving Northern Ireland without a functioning government. This has led to concerns about the stability and future of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

In the meantime, decisions are currently being made by the UK government in London (particularly the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland), which has been criticised for not fully understanding the complexities of the situation in Northern Ireland.

Who are the Assembly Members?

While the Assembly isn’t working, the Assembly Website still keeps an up-to-date list of the assembly members. You’ll find it here

Political Identity

What is a unionist?

A unionist is a person who seeks to maintain Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom, with sovereignty retained by the United Kingdom. Some unionists, particularly from ‘working class’ traditions, consider themselves “loyalists, whose primary expression of loyalty is towards the institutions of the UK state, particularly the Monarchy. Overwhelmingly, loyalists consider themselves Protestants.

What is a nationalist?

A nationalist is a person who seeks to bring Northern Ireland under the sovereignty of Ireland. In the recent history of Northern Ireland, the nationalist community has often been associated with Republicanism and a rejection of British rule, which is directed towards the institutions of the UK state, particularly the Monarchy.

Are unionists all Protestants, and are nationalists all Catholics?

Nope. Why were you expecting this to be simple? There are Catholic Unionists and there are Protestant Nationalists. The ‘troubles’ were not religious conflicts but complex political and social problems. It seems to have suited people to simplify it as a religious conflict, but that’s basically incorrect. It is truer to say that because for many, the identities did match up, it was far easier to assume people’s likely political views based on their (often more obvious) religious identity.

To make it even more complicated, there are plenty of Unionist Protestant Republicans who would like to remain in the UK but would prefer the UK become a republic rather than a monarchy.  Northern Ireland politics is, as we said at the start, never simple.