Cross-community vote

A cross-community vote or cross-community support is a form of voting used in the Northern Ireland Assembly according to the provisions of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.^[1] It requires the support of both main communities in Northern Ireland, in other words majority of unionists and the majority of nationalist members of the Assembly.^[2] It is also used to a lesser extent at local government level.

Background

Upon taking their seats members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are required to designate themselves as either "unionist", "nationalist" or "other". MLAs are free to designate themselves as they see fit, the only requirement being that no member may change his or her designation more than once during an Assembly session.^[3]

A vote will not automatically require cross-community support. A "Petition of Concern" must first be presented to the Speaker by at least 30 of the 108 members. In a cross-community vote the majority of unionists and the majority of nationalist votes are required to pass a motion put to the Assembly.^[4]

This was originally set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Procedure

According to the standing orders of the Assembly, "after the signing of the Roll a Member may enter in the Roll a designation of identity, being Nationalist, Unionist or Other. A Member who does not register a designation of identity shall be deemed to be designated Other for the purposes of these Standing Orders."^[5]

Designations

Designations	1998	2003	2007	2011	2016
Unionist	58	59	54	56	56
Nationalist	42	42	44	43	40
Other	8	7	10	9	12

Note: These figures include the assumed designation of the Speaker who, having a non-partisan role, does not officially declare a designation.

Parties

List of current and previous assembly parties by designation.

Unionist

style="width: 2px; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: darkorange;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #2B45A2;" data-sort-value="Progressive Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #6D3177;" data-sort-value="UKIP" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #660066;" data-sort-value="UK Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" |

DUP
NI Unionist
PUP
UKIP
UK Unionist
Ulster Unionist
	United Unionist Coalition

Nationalist

style="width: 2px; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" |

Sinn Féin
SDLP

Other

style="width: 2px; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #8dc63f;" data-sort-value="Green Party in Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #008080;" data-sort-value="NI21" | style="width: 2px; background-color: aqua;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Women's Coalition" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #E91D50;" data-sort-value="People Before Profit Alliance" |

Alliance
Green (NI)
NI21^[6]
NI Women's Coalition
People Before Profit

Footnotes

References

^ Minority Veto Rights in Power Sharing Systems: Lessons from Macedonia, Northern Ireland and Belgium by Shane Kelleher
^ Section 3.7 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.
^ Section 3 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.
^ Section 27 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.
^ http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/theassembly/ConsolidatedStandingOrders.pdf Northern Ireland Assembly
^ Designated as "Other" following the 2016 election

External links

Official website
"The Nature of the British-Irish Agreement" by Brendan O´Leary
Northern Ireland Act 1998

[1] Minority Veto Rights in Power Sharing Systems: Lessons from Macedonia, Northern Ireland and Belgium by Shane Kelleher

[2] Section 3.7 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.

[3] Section 3 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.

[4] Section 27 - Standing Orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly - PDF file from the Assembly website.

[5] ttp://www.niassembly.gov.uk/theassembly/ConsolidatedStandingOrders.pdf Northern Ireland Assembly

[6] Designated as "Other" following the 2016 election

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Northern Ireland Assembly
Assembly	Speaker Assembly Commission Acts Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Parliament Buildings
Committees	Executive Office Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Communities Economy Education Finance Health Infrastructure Justice
Constituencies	Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West East Antrim East Londonderry Fermanagh and South Tyrone Foyle Lagan Valley Mid Ulster Newry and Armagh North Antrim North Down South Antrim South Down Strangford Upper Bann West Tyrone
Parties	Current: Alliance Democratic Unionist People Before Profit Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Traditional Unionist Voice Ulster Unionist
Elections	1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 2022 Next
Members	1st Assembly (1998–03) 2nd Assembly (2006–07) 3rd Assembly (2007–11) 4th Assembly (2011–16) 5th Assembly (2016–17) 6th Assembly (2017–22) 7th Assembly (2022)
Procedure	Cross-community vote
See also	Good Friday Agreement St Andrews Agreement New Decade, New Approach