Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

The idea for a constitutional convention was first mooted by the Northern Ireland Office in its white paper The Northern Ireland Constitution, published on 4 July 1974.^[1] The paper laid out plans for elections to a body which would seek agreement on a political settlement for Northern Ireland. The proposals became law with the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 later that month. With Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry appointed to chair the new body, elections were announced for 1 May 1975.^[2]

The elections were held for the 78-member body using the single transferable vote system of proportional representation in each of Northern Ireland's twelve Westminster constituencies. Initially the body was intended to be purely consultative, although it was hoped that executive and legislative functions could be devolved to the NICC once a cross-community agreement had been reached.

Unionists opposed to the NICC once again banded together under the umbrella of the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) and this coalition proved the most successful, taking 46 seats.

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

← 1973 1 May 1975 1982 →
← outgoing members Delegates elected →
All 78 seats to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention 40 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Harry West Gerry Fitt William Craig Party UUP SDLP Vanguard Leader since 22 January 1974 21 August 1970 9 February 1972 Leader's seat Fermanagh and South Tyrone Belfast North Belfast East Last election 31 seats, 35.8% 19 seats, 22.1% 7 seats, 11.5% Seats won 19 17 14 Seat change 12 2 7 Popular vote 167,214 156,049 83,507 Percentage 25.4% 23.7% 12.7% Swing 10.4% 1.6% 1.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ian Paisley Oliver Napier Brian Faulkner Party DUP Alliance Unionist Party NI Leader since September 1971 1972 September 1974 Leader's seat North Antrim Belfast East South Down Last election 8 seats, 10.8% 8 seats, 9.2% Did not stand Seats won 12 8 5 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 97,073 64,657 50,891 Percentage 14.8% 9.8% 7.7% Swing 4.0% 0.6% n/a   Seventh party   Leader None Party NI Labour Leader since n/a Leader's seat None Last election 1 seat, 2.6% Seats won 1 Seat change Popular vote 9,102 Percentage 1.4% Swing 1.2%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.
Chief Executive before election Brian Faulkner Chief Executive after election None

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	%	+/-
United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC)
	UUP	167,214	25.4	-10.4	19	24.4	-12
	DUP	97,073	14.8	+4.0	12	15.4	+4
	Vanguard	83,507	12.7	+1.2	14	17.9	+7
	Ind. Loyalist (UUUC)	5,687	0.9	N/A	1	1.3	+1
	Total UUUC	353,481	53.8	-4.3	46	59.0	0
Non-UUUC
	SDLP	156,049	23.7	+1.6	17	21.8	-2
	Alliance	64,657	9.8	+0.6	8	10.3	0
	Unionist Party NI	50,891	7.7	N/A	5	6.4	+5
	Republican Clubs	14,515	2.2	+0.4	0	0.0	0
	NI Labour	9,102	1.4	-1.2	1	1.3	0
	Ind. Unionist	4,453	0.6	-1.3	1	1.3	0
	UUP (non-UUUC)	2,583	0.4	N/A	0	0.0	0
	Independent	2,052	0.3	-0.3	0	0.0	0
	Communist	378	0.1	+0.1	0	0.0	0
	Total	658,161			78

Source: Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Elections 1975

A number of leading Northern Ireland politicians were elected to the NICC, increasing hope that the body might achieve some of its aims. Also elected were some younger figures who went on to become leading figures in the future of Northern Ireland politics. These included:

The elections left the body fundamentally weakened from its inception as an overall majority had been obtained by those Unionists who opposed power sharing as a concept. As a result, the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Report published on 20 November 1975^[3] recommended only a return to majority rule as had previously existed under the old Parliament of Northern Ireland government. As such a solution was completely unacceptable to the nationalist parties, the NICC was placed on hiatus. The NICC report in its conclusion said of mandatory power-sharing with a role for the SDLP in a devolved government:

...no country ought to be forced to have in its Cabinet any person whose political philosophy and attitudes have revealed his opposition to the very existence of that State.^[3]

Hoping to gain something from the exercise, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees announced that the NICC would be reconvened on 3 February 1976.^{[citation needed]} However, a series of meetings held between the UUUC and the SDLP failed to reach any agreement about SDLP participation in government, and so the reconvened NICC once again failed to achieve a solution with cross-community support. As a result, Rees announced the dissolution of the body on 4 March 1976 effective two days later, and Northern Ireland remained under direct rule.^[4] The relevant parts of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 governing the creation and operation of the Convention were subsequently repealed by the Northern Ireland Act 1982.^[5]

On the face of it, the NICC was a total failure as it did not achieve its aims of agreement between the two sides or of introducing 'rolling devolution' (gradual introduction of devolution as and when the parties involved saw fit to accept it). Nevertheless, coming as it did not long after the Conservative-sponsored Sunningdale Agreement, the NICC indicated that no British government would be prepared to re-introduce majority rule in Northern Ireland. During the debates William Craig accepted the possibility of power-sharing with the SDLP, a move that split the UUUC and precipitated the eventual collapse of Vanguard.

The idea of electing a consultative body to thrash out a deal for devolution was also retained and in 1996 it was revived when the Northern Ireland Forum was elected on largely the same lines and with the same overall purpose. The Forum formed part of a process that led to the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

• A full discussion of the election results
• Conflict Archive - University of Ulster