Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Type
Type
History
Established1 May 1975
Disbanded6 March 1976
Preceded byNorthern Ireland Assembly (1973)
Succeeded byNorthern Ireland Assembly (1982)
Seats78
Elections
STV

Formation of the Constitutional Convention

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The idea for a constitutional convention was first mooted by the Northern Ireland Office in its white paper The Northern Ireland Constitution, published on 4 July 1974.[1] The paper laid out plans for elections to a body which would seek agreement on a political settlement for Northern Ireland. The proposals became law with the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 later that month. With Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry appointed to chair the new body, elections were announced for 1 May 1975.[2]

The elections were held for the 78-member body using the single transferable vote system of proportional representation in each of Northern Ireland's twelve Westminster constituencies. Initially the body was intended to be purely consultative, although it was hoped that executive and legislative functions could be devolved to the NICC once a cross-community agreement had been reached.

Election results

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Unionists opposed to the NICC once again banded together under the umbrella of the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) and this coalition proved the most successful, taking 46 seats.

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
← 1973 1 May 1975 1982 →

All 78 seats to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
40 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harry West Gerry Fitt William Craig
Party UUP SDLP Vanguard
Leader since 22 January 1974 21 August 1970 9 February 1972
Leader's seat Fermanagh and South Tyrone Belfast North Belfast East
Last election 31 seats, 35.8% 19 seats, 22.1% 7 seats, 11.5%
Seats won 19 17 14
Seat change  12  2  7
Popular vote 167,214 156,049 83,507
Percentage 25.4% 23.7% 12.7%
Swing  10.4%  1.6%  1.2%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
     
Leader Ian Paisley Oliver Napier Brian Faulkner
Party DUP Alliance Unionist Party NI
Leader since September 1971 1972 September 1974
Leader's seat North Antrim Belfast East South Down
Last election 8 seats, 10.8% 8 seats, 9.2% Did not stand
Seats won 12 8 5
Seat change  4    5
Popular vote 97,073 64,657 50,891
Percentage 14.8% 9.8% 7.7%
Swing  4.0%  0.6% n/a

  Seventh party
   
Leader None
Party NI Labour
Leader since n/a
Leader's seat None
Last election 1 seat, 2.6%
Seats won 1
Seat change  
Popular vote 9,102
Percentage 1.4%
Swing  1.2%

 
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.

Chief Executive before election

Brian Faulkner

Chief Executive after election

None

 
Party Votes % +/- Seats % +/-
United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC)
UUP 167,214 25.4 -10.4 19 24.4 -12
DUP 97,073 14.8 +4.0 12 15.4 +4
Vanguard 83,507 12.7 +1.2 14 17.9 +7
Ind. Loyalist (UUUC) 5,687 0.9 N/A 1 1.3 +1
Total UUUC 353,481 53.8 -4.3 46 59.0 0
Non-UUUC
SDLP 156,049 23.7 +1.6 17 21.8 -2
Alliance 64,657 9.8 +0.6 8 10.3 0
Unionist Party NI 50,891 7.7 N/A 5 6.4 +5
Republican Clubs 14,515 2.2 +0.4 0 0.0 0
NI Labour 9,102 1.4 -1.2 1 1.3 0
Ind. Unionist 4,453 0.6 -1.3 1 1.3 0
UUP (non-UUUC) 2,583 0.4 N/A 0 0.0 0
Independent 2,052 0.3 -0.3 0 0.0 0
Communist 378 0.1 +0.1 0 0.0 0
Total 658,161 78
 
Black Circles indicate Members of the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC)
19 17 14 12 8 5 3
UUP SDLP Vanguard DUP APNI UPNI Oth

Source: Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Elections 1975

Votes summary

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Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
25.4%
SDLP
23.7%
DUP
14.8%
Vanguard
12.7%
Alliance
9.8%
Unionist Party NI
7.7%
Republican Clubs
2.2%
NI Labour
1.4%
Ind. Loyalist (UUUC)
0.9%
Other
1.4%

Seats summary

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Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
24.4%
SDLP
21.8%
Vanguard
17.9%
DUP
15.4%
Alliance
10.3%
Unionist Party NI
6.4%
NI Labour
1.3%
Ind. Loyalist (UUUC)
1.3%
Ind. Unionist
1.3%

Leading members

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A number of leading Northern Ireland politicians were elected to the NICC, increasing hope that the body might achieve some of its aims. Also elected were some younger figures who went on to become leading figures in the future of Northern Ireland politics. These included:

Progress of the NICC

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The elections left the body fundamentally weakened from its inception as an overall majority had been obtained by those Unionists who opposed power sharing as a concept. As a result, the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Report published on 20 November 1975[3] recommended only a return to majority rule as had previously existed under the old Parliament of Northern Ireland government. As such a solution was completely unacceptable to the nationalist parties, the NICC was placed on hiatus. The NICC report in its conclusion said of mandatory power-sharing with a role for the SDLP in a devolved government:

...no country ought to be forced to have in its Cabinet any person whose political philosophy and attitudes have revealed his opposition to the very existence of that State.[3]

Hoping to gain something from the exercise, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees announced that the NICC would be reconvened on 3 February 1976.[citation needed] However, a series of meetings held between the UUUC and the SDLP failed to reach any agreement about SDLP participation in government, and so the reconvened NICC once again failed to achieve a solution with cross-community support. As a result, Rees announced the dissolution of the body on 4 March 1976 effective two days later, and Northern Ireland remained under direct rule.[4] The relevant parts of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 governing the creation and operation of the Convention were subsequently repealed by the Northern Ireland Act 1982.[5]

Significance of the NICC

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On the face of it, the NICC was a total failure as it did not achieve its aims of agreement between the two sides or of introducing 'rolling devolution' (gradual introduction of devolution as and when the parties involved saw fit to accept it). Nevertheless, coming as it did not long after the Conservative-sponsored Sunningdale Agreement, the NICC indicated that no British government would be prepared to re-introduce majority rule in Northern Ireland. During the debates William Craig accepted the possibility of power-sharing with the SDLP, a move that split the UUUC and precipitated the eventual collapse of Vanguard.

The idea of electing a consultative body to thrash out a deal for devolution was also retained and in 1996 it was revived when the Northern Ireland Forum was elected on largely the same lines and with the same overall purpose. The Forum formed part of a process that led to the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

References

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  1. ^ "The Northern Ireland Constitution (1974)". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. 1 January 1974. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  2. ^ "The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (Polling Day) Order 1975", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 17 March 1975, SI 1975/449, retrieved 18 August 2023
  3. ^ a b Dr Martin Melaugh. "Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Report, 20 November 1975". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  4. ^ "The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (Dissolution) Order 1976", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 4 March 1976, SI 1976/349, retrieved 18 August 2023, The Convention... is hereby dissolved with effect from 6th March 1976
  5. ^ "Northern Ireland Act 1982: Schedule 3", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1982 c. 38 (sch. 3), retrieved 18 August 2023
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