Category: NI Assembly

SIGN LANGUAGE BILL (Northern Ireland)

30/4/2026

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BBC Link

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PRIVATE MEMBERS BILL (NI) FOXHUNTING

30/4/2026

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BBC Link

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What is Single Transferable Vote (STV) ?

15/1/2026

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Single Transferrable Vote is a method of Proportional Representation (PR) used in Northern Ireland for Assembly Elections. It was chosen as a voting system in the Good Friday Agreement to prevent majority rule and to increase representation in Northern Ireland. As a result this is supposed to reduce the Democratic deficit.

HOW IT WORKS:

In an Assembly election using STV, constituencies elect 5 MLAs per constituency (originally six). A party can put forward as many candidates as it likes per constituency.
Voters mark the candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. in order of preference, with '1' for their first choice of candidate, '2' for their second and so on. Voters do not have to state a preference for all candidates – they can choose as many or as few as they like.
STV awards seats in proportion to the number of votes cast, with voters’ lower ranking preferences taken into account.

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What is the Irish Sea Border and why is it an issue?

15/1/2026

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The “Irish Sea border” is a shorthand term for a set of post-Brexit trading arrangements that have become one of the most contentious issues in Northern Ireland politics. The core of the dispute is about where the UK–EU economic border should sit and what that means for identity, sovereignty, and stability in Northern Ireland.

1. What the “Irish Sea border” actually isAfter Brexit, the UK left the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union. This created a problem unique to Northern Ireland:

Northern Ireland is part of the UK
It shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU

To avoid border checks on the island of Ireland (which could destabilize peace), the UK and EU agreed that:

Northern Ireland would continue to follow many EU rules on goods
Checks would instead take place on goods moving from Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) to Northern Ireland

Those checks happen at ports on the Irish Sea, hence the term “Irish Sea border.”
Legally and technically, it’s not a full border—but politically, many treat it as one.

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