United Kingdom Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Northern Ireland ==== The devolved form of government in Northern Ireland is based on the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]], which brought to an end a 30-year period of [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]]-[[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] communal conflict known as [[The Troubles]]. The Agreement was [[1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum|confirmed by referendum]] and implemented later that year. It established [[power sharing]] arrangements for a devolved government and legislature, referred to as the Executive and Assembly respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title= Good Friday Agreement: What is it?|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61968177|website=BBC News |date=3 April 2023 |accessdate=11 April 2024}}</ref> Elections to the Assembly use the [[single transferable vote]] system. The Executive and Assembly have powers similar to those devolved to Scotland.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} The Executive is led by a [[diarchy]] representing [[Designated Unionist|unionist]] and [[Designated Nationalist|nationalist]] members of the Assembly.<ref name="northernireland1">{{Cite web |date=25 September 2015 |title=Your Executive |url=https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive |publisher=Northern Ireland Executive |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821135048/https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland]] are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stormont: Why were NI leaders given unequal job titles? |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61393736 | access-date=2 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202190001/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61393736 |archive-date=2 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Ireland Executive: Ministerial Code |date=28 September 2015 |url=https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive/ministerial-code | access-date=2 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202191115/https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive/ministerial-code |archive-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> [[Local government in Northern Ireland]] since 2015 has been divided between 11 councils with limited responsibilities.<ref name="Devenport" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page