House of Commons of Northern Ireland
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House of Commons of Northern Ireland | |
---|---|
Devolved Parliament | |
First-past-the-post (1929–1972) | |
Meeting place | |
Commons Chamber Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast |
(1921–72) |
The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the
Membership
The House of Commons had a membership of 52. Until 1969, 48 were from territorial constituencies and 4 were for graduates of
Functions
The House of Commons fulfilled the normal lower house functions to be found in the
- to grant Supply 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 Ireland was chosen from its ranks by the Governor of Northern Ireland.
Electoral system
The Government of Ireland Act required that elections to the House of Commons be by the
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
The Opposition
The creation of
For many years the most effective opposition came from various independent Unionists, most notably Tommy Henderson (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
Ministers spoke from a
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 later revealed that then Prime Minister Lord Brookeborough did not even have a desk in his de facto residence, Stormont House. (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, into an office for their senior civil servants.)
Venue
The first assembly of the House of Commons occurred in Belfast City Hall in June 1921.
For its first decade,
The House of Commons and Senate chambers were located across the Central Hall (nowadays usually known as the Great Hall) from each other, replicating the link between the House of Commons and British
Fathers of the House
Name | Entered House | Became Father | Left House | Party | |
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J. M. Andrews | 1921 | 1929 | 1953 | Ulster Unionist | |
Cahir Healy | 1925 | 1953 | 1965 | Nationalist | |
Lord Brookeborough | 1929 | 1965 | 1968 | Ulster Unionist | |
Sir Norman Stronge | 1938 | 1968 | 1969 | Ulster Unionist | |
Terence O'Neill |
1946 | 1969 | 1970 | Ulster Unionist | |
Brian Faulkner |
1949 | 1970 | 1972 | Ulster Unionist |
The Parliament of Northern Ireland, 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 defunct.
The end
(1922–1972) |
Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland |
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List |
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Northern Ireland was dogged by allegations of Unionist misrule, and political gerrymandering 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, allegations of police misbehaviour by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and ultimately the outbreak of The Troubles. 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. The Parliament last sat on 28 March 1972.[1]
Parliament Buildings are now the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly, a successor legislature.
References
- ^ Parliamentary Debates of Northern Ireland (accessed 7 August 2012), Volume 84 (1972) / Page 1586, 28 March 1972.
External links
- Stormont Papers – The complete record of debates of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland.