Northern Ireland: 1920 to 2011
Rise and Decline of the Northern State (also see separate handout on ethnic inequality in
Northern Ireland)
1) 1920 to1962: Rise and Consolidation of the Orange State
2) 1963 to 1969: Reform and Crisis: The Fall of O’Neill and the Fracturing of the
Official Unionist Party (OUP)
3) 1969 to 1972: Paramilitary Violence and the Suspension of the Stormont
Parliament
4) The Implementation of Direct Rule: The Northern Ireland Secretary
Efforts at Restructuring the Northern State
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
1974: Sunningdale and the Unionist Strike
1980-1981: ‘Dirty Protest’, the IRA and Irish-British Negotiations
1985: Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) and ‘Power-Sharing’
1993: Downing Street Declaration
1998: Northern Ireland Peace Agreement
The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement (NIPA)
Parties internal to the conflict in Northern Ireland as well as the British and Irish
governments signed this agreement. It is a consociational agreement that has internal and
external dimensions. This adds to the purely external dimensions of the 1985 AIA>
Dimensions of the NIPA
1) Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 seats [18 ridings – six members each – elected
by proportional representation – use of the Single Transferrable Vote (STV)]. The
First Minister comes from the party with the most seats; the Deputy Minister
comes from the party with the second most seats. After the 2007 election, the First
Minister is Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party); the Deputy Minister is
Martin McGuiness (Sinn Fein).
2) North-South Ministerial Council – deals with All-Ireland and Cross-Border
arrangements.
3) British-Irish Council (consists of the members of the devolved assemblies in
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).
4) British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference – replaces the AIA and deals with
human rights legislation and minorities, plans to reform the police, and plans to
decommission paramilitaries.
Post-1998 Developments
1) Northern Ireland electorate accepts the NIPA.
2) Fracturing of the IRA – formation of Real IRA and Continuity IRA.
3) Restoration of the Parliament at Stormont.
4) Debates over ‘power-sharing’ and the disarmament of the IRA.
5) Suspension of the Stormont Parliament in 2002.
6) The fall of David Trimble and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the resurgence
of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
7) The 2006 St. Andrews Agreement and the restoration of the Stormont Parliament
– Royal Ulster Constabulary renamed as the Policing Services of Northern
Ireland.
8) The 2007 election to the Stormont Parliament.