ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Northern Ireland profiles of longstanding democracies and of the European Union, and provides essential detail on history, electoral system, political parties and cleavages, and governments. From 1921 to 1972 a regional parliament existed in Northern Ireland, the elections for which were always won by the Ulster Unionist Party. Catholic frustration at this outcome led to violence and suspension of the parliament by the British government, which had retained full sovereignty. In Northern Ireland the overwhelmingly main cleavage is that of religion and consequent constitutional views, between protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist/republican parties. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is the largest of the truly cross-community political parties in Northern Ireland. Under the peace accord and what has followed, governments in Northern Ireland are to reflect the results of elections, but in a consociational way. Disagreements over the timing of the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army weapons prevented a Northern Irish government from being formed until November 1999.
