Cross-community vote facts for kids

A cross-community vote is a special way of voting used in the Northern Ireland Assembly. It means that a decision needs the support of both main groups of politicians in Northern Ireland: the majority of unionists and the majority of nationalist members. This unique voting method helps make sure that important decisions have wide support across the community. It's a key part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.

Why is this Vote Important?

When politicians are elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, they must choose to be known as "unionist," "nationalist," or "other."

• Unionists generally want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
• Nationalists generally want Northern Ireland to become part of a united Ireland.
• Other includes members who don't identify with either of these main groups.

This way of voting is used for very important decisions. For example, electing the Speaker (who runs the Assembly meetings), choosing the Minister of Justice, and changing the Assembly's rules all need cross-community support. This was first set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

What is a Petition of Concern?

Most votes in the Assembly don't need cross-community support. However, a special tool called a "petition of concern" can be used. If at least 30 out of the 90 members, from at least two different political parties, sign this petition, it forces a cross-community vote on a proposed law or action. This means that both unionist and nationalist majorities must agree for the proposal to pass.

Changes to the Petition Rules

Over time, there have been discussions about how the "petition of concern" works. For instance, after the St Andrews Agreement, a committee looked at ways to make sure it was used fairly. In January 2020, political parties in Northern Ireland and the UK Government agreed to use the petition more carefully and to make it harder to trigger. This agreement, called New Decade, New Approach, became law through the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022.

How Members Are Designated

When a member joins the Assembly, they officially state if they are "Nationalist," "Unionist," or "Other." If they don't choose, they are automatically considered "Other." Members can only change their designation if they join a different political party or leave all parties.

How Members Identify Themselves

The table below shows how many members identified as Unionist, Nationalist, or Other in different elections.

Note: The Speaker, who is neutral, is included in these numbers even though they don't officially declare a designation. Also, the number of members changed in 2017 due to a law reducing the total number of Assembly members.

Political Parties and Their Designations

Here are some of the political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly, grouped by how their members usually identify.

Unionist Parties

Nationalist Parties

Other Parties

See also

• Consociationalism
• Demography and politics of Northern Ireland