An Act to make new provision for the government of Northern Ireland for the purpose of implementing the agreement reached at multi-party talks on Northern Ireland set out in Command Paper 3883.
Citation
1998 c. 47
Introduced by
Mo Mowlam, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Territorial extent
United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent
19 November 1998
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule.
It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland (Elections) Act 1998, to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
It repealed parts of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, and established new rules in line with the European Union and the Northern Ireland peace process, subsequent to the Belfast Agreement of 1998.
The act allows for a devolved Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members. Membership of the assembly is subject to a pledge of office, which subjects the member to certain requirements with regard to standards and responsibilities. Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom until or unless a majority vote in a referendum determines otherwise. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland holds the power to call for the referendum if it appears likely to him that a majority of the voters would express their desire to become part of a United Ireland. The assembly has the power of modifying any act of the British Parliament as far as it "is part of the law of Northern Ireland".[1] They cannot deal, however, with reserved or excepted matters, which are of exclusive competence of the government of the United Kingdom, in consultation with the Republic of Ireland through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.[2][3] The Assembly has been suspended a number of times since 1998, and was re-established on Tuesday 8 May 2007, subsequent to the St Andrews Agreement of 2006.
Election to the assembly is by single transferable vote (STV), a form of proportional representation.
^"This section does not affect the power of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to make laws for Northern Ireland, but an Act of the Assembly may modify any provision made by or under an Act of Parliament in so far as it is part of the law of Northern Ireland." Northern Ireland Act 1998, Part II, Legislative Powers
^Forman, F. N. :Constitutional change in the United Kingdom. University College, London. Constitution Unit. Routledge, 2002, p. 71. ISBN 0-415-23035-7
^Aughey, Arthur: The politics of Northern Ireland: beyond the Belfast Agreement. Routledge, 2005, p. 92. ISBN 0-415-32788-1
and 24 Related for: Northern Ireland Act 1998 information
The NorthernIrelandAct1998 (c. 47) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to NorthernIreland, after...
for NorthernIreland. It was not supported by Irish nationalists and was officially dissolved in 1986. The NorthernIreland (Elections) Act1998 formally...
The Good Friday Agreement referendum, 1998 was a referendum held in NorthernIreland over whether there was support for the Good Friday Agreement. The...
assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the NorthernIrelandAct1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement)...
"NorthernIreland legislation" is defined by statute. The NorthernIrelandAct1998 establishes the legislative competence of the NorthernIreland Assembly...
IrelandAct 1920 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland";...
constituencies elsewhere. Section 33 of the NorthernIrelandAct1998 provides that the constituencies for the NorthernIreland Assembly are the same as the constituencies...
deputy First Minister of NorthernIreland are the joint heads of government of NorthernIreland, leading the NorthernIreland Executive and with overall...
The NorthernIreland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the royal assent on 18 July 1973. The...
10 April, Good Friday, 1998, that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in NorthernIreland since the late 1960s. It...
legislation, which were to be provided in the NorthernIrelandAct1998, for a border poll on the status of NorthernIreland. The Nineteenth Amendment added the...
divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: NorthernIreland and Southern Ireland. It was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of IrelandAct 1920...
NorthernIrelandAct1998 supersedes previous similar legislative provisions. The NorthernIreland Constitution Act 1973 also provided that Northern Ireland...
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 2014 Scottish independence referendum – Scottish referendum bill 2010 Government of Wales Act1998NorthernIrelandAct1998 Royal Commission...
for NorthernIreland (Irish: Rúnaí Stáit Thuaisceart Éireann; Scots: Secretar o State for Norlin Airlan), also referred to as the NorthernIreland secretary...
The formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and NorthernIreland has involved personal and political union across Great Britain and the wider...
of Ireland. It was created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of IrelandAct 1920. The new autonomous NorthernIreland was...
July 1973 under Section 32 of the NorthernIreland Constitution Act 1973. The secretary of state for NorthernIreland, a cabinet office that had been created...
London. The Government of IrelandAct provided for the appointment of the executive committee of the Privy Council of NorthernIreland by the governor. No parliamentary...
Parliament is Act of Union (Ireland) 1800 (40 Geo. 3. c. 38 (I)), assigned by a 1951 act of the Parliament of NorthernIreland, and hence not effective in...