Northern Ireland Forum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Established	1996
Disbanded	25 April 1998
Preceded by	Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
Succeeded by	Northern Ireland Assembly
Leadership
Chairman	John Gorman
Seats	110
Elections
Voting system	Party List PR
Meeting place
3rd Floor, Interpoint, 20-24 York Street, Belfast

The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a special group created in 1996. Its main goal was to help with important talks that later led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

People voted for members of the Forum. Five members were chosen from each of Northern Ireland's voting areas, called Westminster Parliamentary constituencies. They used a system called the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. This means people voted for a party, and seats were given out based on how many votes each party got.

There were also ten "top-up" seats. These extra seats made sure that two parties linked to groups that used violence in the past were also part of the talks. You can find a full list of members at members of the Northern Ireland Forum.

What the Forum Did and How it Was Set Up

The Forum was created by a law called the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996. This law said the Forum was only for talking and discussing. It was not allowed to make laws, run things, or make big decisions.

The Forum's job was to think about "any matter" that the main negotiators asked it to. It did not have power over the important Good Friday negotiations themselves.

How the Election Worked

1996 Northern Ireland Forum election

← 1982 30 May 1996 1998 →
← Members of the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly Delegates elected →
All 110 seats to the Northern Ireland Forum 56 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Trimble Ian Paisley John Hume Party Ulster Unionist Democratic Unionist Social Democratic and Labour Leader since 8 September 1995 30 September 1971 28 November 1979 Leader's seat Upper Bann North Antrim Foyle Seats won 30 24 21 Popular vote 181,829 141,413 160,786 Percentage 24.2% 18.8% 21.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Gerry Adams John Alderdice Robert McCartney Party Sinn Féin Alliance UK Unionist Leader since 13 November 1983 3 October 1987 1995 Leader's seat West Belfast East Belfast North Down Seats won 17 7 3 Popular vote 116,377 49,176 27,774 Percentage 15.5% 6.5% 3.7%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Hugh Smyth Gary McMichael Monica McWilliams Pearl Sagar Party Progressive Unionist Ulster Democratic Party Northern Ireland Women's Coalition Leader since 1979 1994 1996 Leader's seat Top-up seat Top-up seat Top-up seats Seats won 2 2 2 Popular vote 26,082 16,715 7,731 Percentage 3.5% 2.2% 1.0%
Seats won by each party and the vote share of the largest party. Break down of each party and sectarian camp's seats in constituencies Election results. Voters elect 5 forum members from the 18 constituencies.
Chief Executive before election None Chief Executive after election None

The election for the Forum happened on May 30, 1996. A total of 110 members were elected. Here's a summary of how many votes and seats each main party won:

Party		Votes	Vote %	List seats	Top-up seats	Total seats	Seats %
	UUP	181,829	24.2	28	2	30	27.3
	SDLP	160,786	21.4	19	2	21	19.1
	DUP	141,413	18.8	22	2	24	21.8
	Sinn Féin	116,377	15.5	15	2	17	15.5
	Alliance	49,176	6.5	5	2	7	6.4
	UK Unionist	27,774	3.7	1	2	3	2.7
	PUP	26,082	3.5	0	2	2	1.8
	Ulster Democratic	16,715	2.2	0	2	2	1.8
	NI Women's Coalition	7,731	1.0	0	2	2	1.8
	Labour coalition	6,425	0.9	0	2	2	1.8
	Green (NI)	3,647	0.5	0	0	0
	NI Conservatives	3,595	0.5	0	0	0
	Workers' Party	3,530	0.5	0	0	0
	Ulster Independence	2,125	0.5	0	0	0
	Democratic Left	1,215	0.2	0	0	0
	Democratic Partnership	1,046	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent McMullan	927	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Chambers	567	0.1	0	0	0
	Natural Law	389	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent DUP	388	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Arthur Templeton	350	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Voice	204	0.0	0	0	0
	Communist Party	66	0.0	0	0	0
	Ulster Christian Democrats	31	0.0	0	0	0
Total		745,296		90	20	110

All parties shown.

Note: The Democratic Unionist Party was listed on the ballot paper as "Democratic Unionist Party DUP Ian Paisley"

This map shows the number of seats each party won in the election.

Summary of Votes

This chart shows the percentage of votes each party received:

Summary of Seats

This chart shows the percentage of seats each party won in the Forum:

When the Forum Started, Stopped, and Ended

The law that created the Forum also allowed it to be paused and restarted. This could happen as needed. The law said the Forum would automatically end on May 31, 1997. However, this date could be moved later, but not past May 31, 1998.

The Forum was paused and restarted a few times:

• It was paused on March 22, 1997.
• It was restarted on June 3, 1997. Its end date was also moved to May 31, 1998.
• Finally, the Forum was officially ended on April 25, 1998. This happened when the talks for the Good Friday Agreement were finished.

Images for kids

• 

  David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.

• 

  Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

• 

  John Hume, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

• 

  Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin.

• 

  John Alderdice, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

• 

  No image available for Robert McCartney, leader of the UK Unionist Party.

• 

  No image available for Gary McMichael, leader of the Ulster Democratic Party.