Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 19
First Report - The effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
Published 4 Dec 2023
Paragraph 98
Addressed to Northern Ireland Executive; Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee The effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We note with interest the lively discussion both within and without this inquiry regarding the future of community designation and its application to voting procedures in the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. As already acknowledged, Northern Ireland has changed since 1998 and the understanding employed by the Agreement of what should constitute cross-community government is in need of an update. There is merit in removing designations and, with safeguards, introducing, for example, qualified majority voting to ensure support throughout the Assembly. However, Northern Ireland remains a society with sectarian divisions and we believe that it would not be appropriate for us to pass judgment on the future of the overall role that community designation plays in the institutions. While we believe reforms can—and should—soon be made which could improve the stability of the institutions in the short to medium term, we recommend that the Government incorporates into the Review a full evaluation of the effect of community designation in facilitating effective, stable and—in the broadest sense—cross-community governance in Northern Ireland.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, First Report - The effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (HC 45), paragraph 98, 4 December 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 February 2024 (deadline 4 February 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says that, given the recent restoration of the Executive, a review of the Agreement or amendment of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 "is not being considered at this time", while recognising the report's concerns about stability.
- On supermajority election of the Speaker and "Joint First Ministers", it says this would be "a significant departure" from the Agreement's original cross-community protections and would require "significant consultation and consideration".
- On the proposed review, it agrees that significant reform "would require widespread consent" and prefers that discussion is led by the people of Northern Ireland and their representatives.
- On the North/South Ministerial Council and implementation bodies, it says any review of Strand Two working practices "should be led by ministers in Northern Ireland and Ireland".
- On a Citizens' Assembly, it notes calls for more civic engagement and says it is "for the restored Executive to deliver" on the parties' New Decade New Approach commitment. It is "committed to continuing to listen to community views".