Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each List of [parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland|Westminster Parliamentary constituency] for Northern Ireland, under the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. There was also a "topup" of two seats for the ten parties polling most votes; this ensured that two loyalist parties associated with paramilitary groups were represented. See members of the Northern Ireland Forum for a complete list.

Functions and legislative basis

The Forum was constituted under the Northern Ireland Act 1996. The Forum was described in the Act as being purely deliberative in nature, and was explicitly stated to have no "executive, legislative or administrative" functions assigned to it, nor to have any authority over the Good Friday negotiations. It was permitted to consider, in a deliberative capacity, "any matter" referred to it by the negotiatiors.

Election results

The results of the election were:
All parties shown.
Note: The Democratic Unionist Party was listed on the ballot paper as "Democratic Unionist Party DUP Ian Paisley"

List candidates

Top-up candidates were elected from lists supplied by each party. The highest-placed candidates who had not already won election through a constituency won the top-up seats. In the table below, the top-up candidates elected through the regional list are shown in bold, while candidates elected in constituencies are shown in italics. Candidates in normal type were not elected.

Votes by constituency

Const.	UUP	SDLP	DUP	SF	AP	UKUP	PUP	UDP	WC	Lab	GPNI	Con	WP	UIM	DL	DP	OM	AC	NL	IDUP	AT	UIV	CPI	UCDP	Seats	Valid	Spoiled	Turnout	Electors
Belfast East	8,608	1,299	11,270	862	7,130	2,496	3,802	1,156	405	199	161	291	149	114	45	197		11	13	93			38		5	38,419	80	38,499	62,161
Belfast North	6,938	7,493	7,778	7,681	1,670	1,329	3,777	1,874	486	571	265		274	41	123		25	21	14			63			5	40,423	105	40,528	65,411
Belfast South	8,617	7,956	5,818	2,455	4,689	1,750	2,321	1,666	947	333	314	279	270	108	96	133		5	20					31	5	37,808	89	37,897	63,890
Belfast West	1,489	11,087	1,769	22,355	340		1,982	848	252	319	156	60	984	43	37			12	30	36		26	28		5	41,853	173	42,026	61,344
East Antrim	10,036	2,213	9,557	619	3,957	2,041	2,254	1,141	323	218	224	271	69	86	33	102	81	5	14	107					5	33,351	52	33,403	57,989
East Londonderry	11,386	7,451	8,768	3,413	2,107	1,040	652	728	375	241	186	208	75	100	45			5	14						5	36,794	99	36,893	58,471
Fermanagh and [South Tyrone (Assembly constituency)\|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]	15,542	10,399	6,589	11,666	831	468	410	464	461	297	208	113	199	189	128		118	36	23						5	48,141	214	48,355	63,716
Foyle	4,553	19,997	5,054	11,618	790	324	580	497	695	544	191	92	81	65	40			22	41						5	45,184	124	45,308	66,598
Lagan Valley	16,367	4,001	9,592	1,132	4,508	2,252	1,072	3,007	520	143	175	386	72	164	43			3	18						5	43,455	27	43,482	70,045
Mid Ulster	7,935	12,492	7,243	13,001	549	435	380	375	259	271	132	119	210	263	41	93		20	24						5	43,842	159	44,001	57,683
Newry and Armagh	11,047	16,775	4,774	12,585	1,037	474	640	257	356	262	205	131	208	173	46	114		12	31	55					5	49,182	165	49,347	69,887
North Antrim	11,195	7,185	16,448	2,579	2,518	1,185	665	768	272	187	150	259	60	167	40	114	670	13	14						5	44,489	71	44,560	71,799
North Down	9,270	1,798	6,699	275	6,186	7,579	1,694	651	496	171	283	444	60	49	95			334	15	97		49			5	36,245	26	36,271	62,810
South Antrim	12,001	6,025	9,549	2,149	3,332	2,111	1,697	1,000	435	236	197	246	104	89	119	105	33	3	16		350				5	39,797	77	39,874	68,898
South Down	10,379	20,220	5,060	6,142	1,685		497	404	464	927	251	197	162	130	65	117		18	30						5	46,748	143	46,891	69,035
Strangford	12,547	2,927	11,584	709	4,614	3,112	2,017	1,080	410	202	213	380	73	57	53			13	13			66			5	40,070	44	40,114	69,093
Upper Bann	16,592	9,846	7,134	5,620	2,152	886	1,404	402	390	512	178		311	180	36	71		4	14						5	45,732	49	45,781	69,928
West Tyrone	7,327	11,622	6,727	11,516	1,081	292	238	397	185	792	158	119	169	107	130			30	45						5	40,935	211	41,146	57,348
Northern Ireland	181,829	160,786	141,413	116,377	49,176	27,774	26,082	16,715	7,731	6,425	3,647	3,595	3,530	2,125	1,215	1,046	927	567	389	388	350	204	66	31	110	752,468	1,908	754,376	1,166,106

Vote share by constituency

Const.	UUP	SDLP	DUP	SF	AP	UKUP	PUP	UDP	WC	Lab	GPNI	Con	WP	UIM	DL	DP	OM	AC	NL	IDUP	AT	UIV	CPI	UCDP	Seats	Valid	Spoiled	Turnout	Electors
Belfast East	22.41%	3.38%	29.33%	2.24%	18.56%	6.50%	9.90%	3.01%	1.05%	0.52%	0.42%	0.76%	0.39%	0.30%	0.12%	0.51%		0.03%	0.03%	0.24%			0.10%		5	99.79%	0.21%	61.93%	100.00%
Belfast North	17.16%	18.54%	19.24%	19.00%	4.13%	3.29%	9.34%	4.64%	1.20%	1.41%	0.66%		0.68%	0.10%	0.30%		0.06%	0.05%	0.03%			0.16%			5	99.74%	0.26%	61.96%	100.00%
Belfast South	22.79%	21.04%	15.39%	6.49%	12.40%	4.63%	6.14%	4.41%	2.50%	0.88%	0.83%	0.74%	0.71%	0.29%	0.25%	0.35%		0.01%	0.05%					0.08%	5	99.77%	0.23%	59.32%	100.00%
Belfast West	3.56%	26.49%	4.23%	53.41%	0.81%		4.74%	2.03%	0.60%	0.76%	0.37%	0.14%	2.35%	0.10%	0.09%			0.03%	0.07%	0.09%		0.06%	0.07%		5	99.59%	0.41%	68.51%	100.00%
East Antrim	30.09%	6.64%	28.66%	1.86%	11.86%	6.12%	6.76%	3.42%	0.97%	0.65%	0.67%	0.81%	0.21%	0.26%	0.10%	0.31%	0.24%	0.01%	0.04%	0.32%					5	99.84%	0.16%	57.60%	100.00%
East Londonderry	30.95%	20.25%	23.83%	9.28%	5.73%	2.83%	1.77%	1.98%	1.02%	0.65%	0.51%	0.57%	0.20%	0.27%	0.12%			0.01%	0.04%						5	99.73%	0.27%	63.10%	100.00%
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	32.28%	21.60%	13.69%	24.23%	1.73%	0.97%	0.85%	0.96%	0.96%	0.62%	0.43%	0.23%	0.41%	0.39%	0.27%		0.25%	0.07%	0.05%						5	99.56%	0.44%	75.89%	100.00%
Foyle	10.08%	44.26%	11.19%	25.71%	1.75%	0.72%	1.28%	1.10%	1.54%	1.20%	0.42%	0.20%	0.18%	0.14%	0.09%			0.05%	0.09%						5	99.73%	0.27%	68.03%	100.00%
Lagan Valley	37.66%	9.21%	22.07%	2.60%	10.37%	5.18%	2.47%	6.92%	1.20%	0.33%	0.40%	0.89%	0.17%	0.38%	0.10%			0.01%	0.04%						5	99.94%	0.06%	62.08%	100.00%
Mid Ulster	18.10%	28.49%	16.52%	29.65%	1.25%	0.99%	0.87%	0.86%	0.59%	0.62%	0.30%	0.27%	0.48%	0.60%	0.09%	0.21%		0.05%	0.05%						5	99.64%	0.36%	76.28%	100.00%
Newry and Armagh	22.46%	34.11%	9.71%	25.59%	2.11%	0.96%	1.30%	0.52%	0.72%	0.53%	0.42%	0.27%	0.42%	0.35%	0.09%	0.23%		0.02%	0.06%	0.11%					5	99.67%	0.33%	70.61%	100.00%
North Antrim	25.16%	16.15%	36.97%	5.80%	5.66%	2.66%	1.49%	1.73%	0.61%	0.42%	0.34%	0.58%	0.13%	0.38%	0.09%	0.26%	1.51%	0.03%	0.03%						5	99.84%	0.16%	62.06%	100.00%
North Down	25.58%	4.96%	18.48%	0.76%	17.07%	20.91%	4.67%	1.80%	1.37%	0.47%	0.78%	1.22%	0.17%	0.14%	0.26%			0.92%	0.04%	0.27%		0.14%			5	99.93%	0.07%	57.75%	100.00%
South Antrim	30.16%	15.14%	23.99%	5.40%	8.37%	5.30%	4.26%	2.51%	1.09%	0.59%	0.50%	0.62%	0.26%	0.22%	0.30%	0.26%	0.08%	0.01%	0.04%		0.88%				5	99.81%	0.19%	57.87%	100.00%
South Down	22.20%	43.25%	10.82%	13.14%	3.60%		1.06%	0.86%	0.99%	1.98%	0.54%	0.42%	0.35%	0.28%	0.14%	0.25%		0.04%	0.06%						5	99.70%	0.30%	67.92%	100.00%
Strangford	31.31%	7.30%	28.91%	1.77%	11.51%	7.77%	5.03%	2.70%	1.02%	0.50%	0.53%	0.95%	0.18%	0.14%	0.13%			0.03%	0.03%			0.16%			5	99.89%	0.11%	58.06%	100.00%
Upper Bann	36.28%	21.53%	15.60%	12.29%	4.71%	1.94%	3.07%	0.88%	0.85%	1.12%	0.39%		0.68%	0.39%	0.08%	0.16%		0.01%	0.03%						5	99.89%	0.11%	65.47%	100.00%
West Tyrone	17.90%	28.39%	16.43%	28.13%	2.64%	0.71%	0.58%	0.97%	0.45%	1.93%	0.39%	0.29%	0.41%	0.26%	0.32%			0.07%	0.11%						5	99.49%	0.51%	71.75%	100.00%
Northern Ireland	24.16%	21.37%	18.79%	15.47%	6.54%	3.69%	3.47%	2.22%	1.03%	0.85%	0.48%	0.48%	0.47%	0.28%	0.16%	0.14%	0.12%	0.08%	0.05%	0.05%	0.05%	0.03%	0.01%	0.00%	110	99.75%	0.25%	64.69%	100.00%

Suspension, revival and abolition

Under section 7 of the Northern Ireland Act, it was possible for the Forum to be suspended and revived as necessary via statutory Order, subject to a sunset date of 31 May 1997 when section 3, the provision detailing the existence of the Forum, would be automatically repealed, and the Forum abolished. However, this date could itself be extended via statutory Order, but could not be set after 31 May 1998.
These powers were made use of several times:

The Northern Ireland Act 1996 Order 1997, which suspended the Forum effective 22 March 1997,
The Northern Ireland Act 1996 Order 1997, which revived the Forum effective 3 June 1997 and extended its existence to the latest possible permitted date, 31 May 1998, and,
The Northern Ireland Act 1996 Order 1998, which abolished the Forum effective 25 April 1998, upon the conclusion of the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement.