Direct rule ( Northern Ireland ) - Wikipedia Direct rule ( Northern Ireland ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2010 ) This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( August 2017 ) Northern Ireland This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Northern Ireland Executive Executive Committee First Minister Vacant deputy First Minister Vacant Civil Service Government departments Lowercase `` d '' per here. Assembly Speaker Robin Newton MLA Acts Committees Statutory rules Members ( MLA ) Law Supreme Court ( UK ) Courts of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland in the UK Her Majesty 's Government Northern Ireland Office Secretary of State Rt. Hon. Karen Bradley MP Parliament of the United Kingdom Direct rule Grand Committee Select Committee Elections Current MPs for Westminster Northern Ireland in the EU European Parliament elections Constituency Local government Administrative divisions Counties Districts Other countries Atlas Direct rule ( Irish : riail dhíreach ) is the term given to the administration of Northern Ireland directly by the Government of the United Kingdom. It was practiced for 26 straight years between 1972 and 1998 during the Troubles, and has since then been temporary applied during suspensions. The most recent period of direct rule came to an end on 8 May 2007 when power was restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly following April elections and a power - sharing agreement among major parties. Although everyday matters under direct rule were handled by government departments within Northern Ireland itself, major policy was determined by the British Government 's Northern Ireland Office, under the direction of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland ; and legislation was introduced, amended, or repealed by means of Order in Council. Direct Rule did not mean that the people of Northern Ireland had no democratic say in how they were governed ; like other parts of the United Kingdom, they elected ( and still elect ) members of parliament to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, to which the Northern Ireland Office is responsible. But it did result in the existence of an administration specific to Northern Ireland which did not have a specifically Northern Irish mandate. Contents 1 History 1.1 Instances of direct rule following the Good Friday Agreement 2 See also 3 References 4 External links History The system of Direct Rule was originally introduced on 28 March 1972 under the terms of the UK 's Northern Ireland ( Temporary Provisions ) Act 1972, which also suspended the Parliament of Northern Ireland ( `` Stormont '' ). The Northern Irish administration under Brian Faulkner had refused to allow control of security in the province to be transferred to London. As a consequence, the British government under Edward Heath announced on 24 March 1972 that devolved government in Northern Ireland would be suspended. Responsibility for Northern Ireland within the Cabinet had until then rested with the Home Secretary, but was now transferred to the new post of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, heading the Northern Ireland Office. Several new junior government ministers were created to politically head the NI government departments. The British Government sought to establish a Northern Ireland Assembly in 1973 ( under the Sunningdale Agreement ; this was brought down by Unionist action ), in 1982 ( this time boycotted by Nationalists ), and more recently under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Each time, the intention in principle was that the Assembly would take over the political governance of Northern Ireland, and that direct rule would thus come to an end. The results of the Good Friday Agreement were the most successful at achieving this ; however, the Assembly was nevertheless suspended ( and direct rule re-imposed ) for over three months starting in February 2000, twice briefly in August and September of 2001, and again from October 2002 until the spring of 2007. Both unionists and nationalists frequently objected to direct rule, since the system gives the people of Northern Ireland relatively little democratic say over their own governance. However, some unionists accepted and were content to go along with the system since it seemed to show the province as an integral part of the UK ; while some nationalists accepted direct rule if only because they believed that politicians in London were less hostile to Northern Ireland 's Catholic community than a government elected by the local Protestant majority. Some minor parties have pushed a viewpoint of direct rule : the UK Unionist Party campaigned on a position of `` integrationism '' opposed to the St Andrews Agreement, and at its peak had a single MP and five MLAs. The party lost its last representative in 2007 and is now defunct. Since the St Andrews Agreement in 2006, Westminster no longer has the power to suspend the Assembly without an emergency legislation. In January 2017, following the fallout from the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal, in which Sinn Féin deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned, Arlene Foster suggested a temporary return to direct rule would be on the cards due to the deadlock. Efforts to save the power - sharing Stormont government have failed. So far Westminster has refused to implement direct rule which comes at a time of extra uncertainty regarding Brexit, the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish border issue in relation to them. Instances of direct rule following the Good Friday Agreement The assembly has been suspended four times since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 2000. The periods of suspension were : 11 February -- 30 May 2000 10 August 2001 ( 24 - hour suspension ) 22 September 2001 ( 24 - hour suspension ) 14 October 2002 -- 7 May 2007 See also Crown colony indirect rule of British References Jump up ^ `` ' Níl sé de cheart ag Brokenshire an Riail Dhíreach a thabhairt ar ais agus ní ghlacfaimis léi ' -- Sinn Féin ''. Jump up ^ `` Níl éinne á hiarraidh, más fíor, ach an í an riail dhíreach faoi choim an t - aon rogha amháin ? ''. Jump up ^ `` ' Riail dhíreach nó toghchán eile ' - Stát - Rúnaí an Tuaiscirt ''. 12 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Hepburn, A.C. ( 2002 ). `` direct rule ''. In Connolly, S.J. The Oxford Companion to Irish History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199234837. Jump up ^ `` Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive Suspended '' ( Press release ). Northern Ireland Office. 2000 - 02 - 11. Archived from the original on March 3, 2001. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Reid Announces Short - term Suspension '' ( Press release ). Northern Ireland Office. 2001 - 09 - 10. Archived from the original on May 17, 2002. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Statement By The Secretary Of State, Dr John Reid '' ( Press release ). Northern Ireland Office. 2001 - 09 - 21. Archived from the original on November 9, 2001. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Statement On Suspension By The Secretary Of State '' ( Press release ). Northern Ireland Office. 2002 - 10 - 14. Archived from the original on July 31, 2003. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Arlene Foster : Northern Ireland to face brutal election ''. 10 January 2017 -- via www.bbc.co.uk. Jump up ^ https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/fresh-calls-for-return-to-direct-rule-as-northern-ireland-civil-service-boss-warns-of-decisionmaking-chaos-36915327.html Jump up ^ `` Northern Ireland Act 2000 ( repealed ) ''. www.legislation.gov.uk. External links CAIN Archive - Direct Rule BBC News - Direct Rule Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Direct_rule_(Northern_Ireland)&oldid=851226702 '' Categories : Government of Northern Ireland History of Northern Ireland Orders in Council Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from January 2010 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles in need of updating from August 2017 All Wikipedia articles in need of updating Articles containing Irish - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2007 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 20 July 2018, at 22 : 31 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: when was direct rule introduced in northern ireland
Answer: 28 March 1972