# 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 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 (Entry to Negotiations, etc) 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:
Seats % :
| | UUP | 181,829 | 24.2 | 28 | 2 | 30 | 27.3 |
| | SDLP | 160,786 | 21.4 | 19 | 2 | 21 | 19.1 |
| | DUP | 141,413 | 18.8 | 22 | 2 | 24 | 21.8 |
| | Sinn Féin | 116,377 | 15.5 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 15.5 |
| | Alliance | 49,176 | 6.5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6.4 |
| | UK Unionist | 27,774 | 3.7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2.7 |
| | PUP | 26,082 | 3.5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.8 |
| | Ulster Democratic | 16,715 | 2.2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.8 |
| | NI Women's Coalition | 7,731 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.8 |
| | Labour coalition | 6,425 | 0.9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.8 |
| | Green (NI) | 3,647 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | NI Conservatives | 3,595 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Workers' Party | 3,530 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Ulster Independence | 2,125 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Democratic Left | 1,215 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Democratic Partnership | 1,046 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Independent McMullan | 927 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Independent Chambers | 567 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Natural Law | 389 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Independent DUP | 388 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Independent Arthur Templeton | 350 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Independent Voice | 204 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Communist | 66 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| | Ulster Christian Democrats | 31 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | Total | 745,296 | | 90 | 20 | 110 | |
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.
| Party | Regional list candidates |
| UUP | David Trimble, John Taylor, John Gorman, Antony Alcock, Jack Allen, Fred Parkinson, Josias Cunningham, Dennis Rogan, James Cooper, Jim Nicholson |
| SDLP | John Hume, Seamus Mallon, Eddie McGrady, Joe Hendron, Jonathan Stephenson, Dorita Field, Margaret Ellen, Patricia Walsh, Marietta Farrell, Rosaleen Hughes, Anne McQuillan |
| DUP | Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson, William McCrea, Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell, Eric Smyth, Ruth Allen, Harry Smith, William McClure |
| Sinn Féin | Lucilita Bhreatnach, Pat Doherty, Rita O'Hare, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Bairbre de Brún, Mitchel McLaughlin, Gearóid Ó hEára, Joe Cahill, Dodie McGuinness |
| Alliance | John Alderdice, Seamus Close, Sean Neeson, Steve McBride, Eileen Bell, Anne Gormley, Elizabeth McCaffrey, Mary Clark-Glass, Susan O'Brien, Wendy Watt |
| UK Unionist | Robert McCartney, Cedric Wilson, Conor Cruise O'Brien, Patrick Roche, Ronnie Crawford, Alan Field, Valerie Kinghan, Stephen Nicholl, Graeme Jardin, Freda Woods |
| PUP | Hugh Smyth, David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson, William Smith, David Kirk, Patricia Laverty, Dawn Purvis, Edward Kinner, Gusty Spence, Winston Churchill Rea |
| Ulster Democratic | Gary McMichael, John White, David Adams, Joe English, Tommy Kirkham, David Nicholl, Robert Girvan, Thomas English, Ester McCracken English, Elizabeth Cathcart McIlwaine |
| NI Women's Coalition | Monica McWilliams, Pearl Sagar, Anne Campbell, Kathleen Fearon, Sheila Fairon, Joan Cosgrove, Diane Greer, Brenda Callaghan, Felicity Huston, Mairead Abraham |
| Labour coalition | Malachi Curran, Hugh Casey, Mark Langhammer, John McLaughlin, Lucy Simpson, Peter Hadden, Margaret Lawrence, Fionnuala Harbinson, Michael Duffy, David Morrison |
| Green (NI) | Paddy McEvoy, Peter Emerson, Jenny Jones, Nuala Ahern, Molly Scott, Robin Harper |
| NI Conservatives | Barbara Finney, Esmond Birnie |
| Workers' Party | Tom French, John Lowry, Marian Donnelly, Ellen Rush, Margaret Smith, Tommy Owens, Brendan Heany, Eilish Duffy, Vivian Hutchinson, Michael McCorry |
| Ulster Independence | Hugh Ross, Josephine Fulton-Challis, Sandra Jones, Walter Millar, David Kerr, Dierdre Speer-White, Ken Kerr, Donal Casey, Kenneth McClinton, Norman McLelland |
| Democratic Left | Mary McMahon, Seamus Lynch, Patrick John McClean, Gerry Cullen, Veronica McEneaney, Frank McElroy, Teresa McVeigh, Jean Craig, Mary Vernon, Monica Hynds |
| Democratic Partnership | David Bleakley, Paul Smyth, Maureen McCaughan, Adrian McKinney, Pearl Snowden, Edwin Sloan, Charles McKee, William Lewis, Erin Tunney |
| Independent McMullan | Oliver McMullan, John Robb, John McDowell, Wesley H. Holmes, William Dunbar, William Cunning, Helen Craig, Philip Dugdale, Charles Maunsell, Sinead McMullan |
| Independent Chambers | Alan Chambers, Joseph Coggle, Mary Chambers, James Arbuthnot, Robert Irvine, Violet Chambers, Linda Chambers, William Chambers, Ruth Patty, Pearl Brown |
| Natural Law | James Anderson, Thomas Mullins, Richard Johnson, John Patrick Lyons, John Small |
| Independent DUP | Thomas Henry O'Brien, William Baxter, Cecil Braniff, Tara Martin Alexandra, Stuart William O'Brien |
| Independent Arthur Templeton | N/A |
| Independent Voice | Andrew Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Bernard McGrath, Susan McGrath, Edward Phillips, Trevor Richards, Christopher Carter, Fidelma Carter, Betty Carter, Susan Carter |
| Communist | N/A |
| Ulster Christian Democrats | N/A |

### Votes summary

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
24.17%
SDLP
21.37%
DUP
18.8%
Sinn Féin
15.47%
Alliance
6.54%
United Kingdom Unionist
3.69%
Progressive Unionist
3.47%
Ulster Democratic
2.22%
Women's Coalition
1.03%
Labour
0.85%
Independent
0.3%
Other
2.09% :

### Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
27.27%
SDLP
19.09%
DUP
21.82%
Sinn Féin
15.45%
Alliance
6.36%
United Kingdom Unionist
2.73%
Progressive Unionist
1.82%
Ulster Democratic
1.82%
Women's Coalition
1.82%
Labour
1.82% :

## Suspension, revival and abolition

Under section 7 of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) 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 (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1997, which suspended the Forum effective 22 March 1997,
* The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Revival of Section 3) 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 (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1998, which abolished the Forum effective 25 April 1998, upon the conclusion of the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement.