The Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as being a continuation of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention of 1975) it met infrequently and achieved very little. The Northern Ireland Assembly is a home rule legislature established in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but currently under suspension. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Devolution or home rule is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at national, regional or local level. ... Motto:  (Latin for Who will separate us?)[1] Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Ulster Scots, Irish3, Northern Ireland Sign Language, Irish Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Electoral Controversy

The electoral system proved to be hugely controversial. While there was general acceptance that the elections should take part using the Single Transferable Vote system, the decision to use the same 12 constituency boundaries used in 1973 rather than the new 17 constituency boundaries which were later adopted in 1983 was heavily criticised. The problem was that the Boundary Commissions Final Recommendations, which recommended that all future Assembly elections should be held using 17 constituencies each electing 5 members, had not yet been approved by Parliament and therefore remained, technically, provisional recommendations. The consequence of this was that the elections were held using constituencies which varied greatly in size and electorate, ranging from Belfast West with an electorate of 57,726 to South Antrim with an electorate of 131,734. In the latter constituency this resulted in huge administrative problems with a record 27 candidates standing necessitating 23 counts over 36 hours with the count not completed until 2 days after the election. A further result of the disparity in electorates was that the number of members returned for each constituency varied widely, from 4 members in Belfast West to 10 members in South Antrim. This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ... The 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place following the publication of the British governments white paper Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly, elected by proportional representation. ... The UK general election, 1983 was held on June 9, 1983 and gave the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945. ... In the United Kingdom, the four Boundary Commissions are responsible for determining the boundaries of House of Commons constituencies. ... The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... Creation 1922 MP Gerry Adams Party Sinn Féin Type House of Commons Districts Belfast, Lisburn EP constituency Northern Ireland Belfast West is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ...

Response of political parties

On the Unionist side, the Assembly was welcomed, with some hailing it nostalgically as 'a new Stormont'. Consequently many Nationalists were suspicious of the new body. The Irish Independence Party which had moderate electoral success in the elections of the previous year immediately announced that they would boycott the elections and called on other nationalists to follow suit. However Sinn Féin was keen to test it's electoral support and both it and the SDLP announced that they would contest the elections but refuse to take any seats which they won. The smaller People's Democracy which had won two council seats the previous year did likewise. Great interest centred on the performance of Sinn Féin, fighting its first full election in many decades and on the inter-Unionist rivalry between the DUP and the UUP. The former had pulled ahead in the European election of 1979 and the Local Council Elections of 1981 but had suffered a setback in the 1982 by-election which followed the murder of Robert Bradford. Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom based on the structures of the Act of Union 1800 which had merged both states together in 1801. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... The Irish Independence Party was a nationalist political party in Northern Ireland, founded in 1977 by Frank McManus (former Unity MP for Fermanagh & South Tyrone between 1970 and 1974) and Fergus McAteer (son of Eddie McAteer, who had been leader of the Nationalist Party between 1953 and 1959). ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ... Peoples Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Irelands Catholic minority stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic in all of Ireland. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party ) is a moderate unionist political party in Northern Ireland, which formed its government between 1921 and 1972 and was supported by most unionists throughout the Troubles. ... The Reverend Robert Bradford (1941–1981) was an Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the South Belfast constituency in Northern Ireland. ...

Results

The results were seen as a triumph for the new electoral strategy of Sinn Féin which gained 5 seats and narrowly missed winning seats in Belfast North and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The SDLP were disappointed with their 14 seats and one of these was subsequently lost in a by-election to the UUP as Seamus Mallon was disqualified following a successful UUP election petition on the grounds that he was ineligible as he was a member of the Seanad Éireann at the time. On the Unionist side the UUP gained a clear lead over the DUP, while the United Ulster Unionist Party failed to make an impact and, as a result, folded two years later. In the centre Alliance consolidated with 10 seats including unexpected wins in North and West Belfast. The Workers Party failed to make a breakthrough despite respectable vote shares in places like North and West Belfast. Belfast North is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Fermanagh & South Tyrone is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Seamus Mallon, MP Seamus Mallon (born on 17 August 1936) is a Northern Irish politician and former Deputy Leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party. ... The Seanad Chamber The Seanad meets in the former picture gallery in Leinster House. ... The United Ulster Unionist Party was a political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1977 and 1982. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... Categories: Ireland-related stubs | Irish political parties | Republic of Ireland political parties | Northern Ireland political parties ...

N.B. changes shown above for United Ulster Unionist party relate to seats won by Vanguard in 1975. Bill Craig, who stood under the label 'Vanguard' in 1982, is included with Independent Unionists. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party ) is a moderate unionist political party in Northern Ireland, which formed its government between 1921 and 1972 and was supported by most unionists throughout the Troubles. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... The Workers Party (in Irish Páirtí na nOibrithe) is an Irish left wing political party that evolved from Official Sinn Féin. ... The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. ... The United Ulster Unionist Party was a political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1977 and 1982. ... In politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. ... The Green Party was formed in 1973 as the Ecology Party. ... Peoples Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Irelands Catholic minority stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic in all of Ireland. ... The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; Irish: Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is a small all-Ireland Marxist party. ... The Ulster Liberal Party was the Northern Ireland branch of the UK Liberal Party. ... The Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party, also known as the Vanguard Ulster Progressive Party (and several variations of word order), was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978. ... The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. ... The Right Honourable William Craig (b. ...

See also

• Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 1982

References

• Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1982