Senate of Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Devolved Parliament | |
 Arms of Northern Ireland, 1924–1972 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 7 June 1921 |
| Disbanded | 30 March 1972 |
| Leadership | |
Lord Glentoran (last) | |
SirJack Andrews (last) | |
| Elections | |
| Elected by the Commons viaSTV | |
| Meeting place | |
| Senate Chamber Parliament Buildings,Stormont, Belfast | |
| (1921–72) |
TheSenate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of theParliament of Northern Ireland created by theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of theNorthern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
In practice the Senate of Northern Ireland possessed little power and even less influence. While intended as a revising chamber, in practice, debates and votes typically simply replicated those in the Commons.[1]
From 1932, when the building was completed, until 1972, the Senate of Northern Ireland met in the Senate Chamber ofParliament Buildings inStormont on the eastern outskirts of Belfast. To make parallels with the BritishHouse of Lords, members of the Senate sat on red benches.
The Senate consisted of 26 members. Twenty-four members elected by theHouse of Commons of Northern Ireland using theSingle Transferable Vote (STV), elected in blocks of twelve with each senator's term lasting for two parliaments (i.e. two terms of the House of Commons) and twoex-officio members: theLord Mayor of Belfast andMayor of Londonderry. Convention held that, in the event of a by-election, only members of the Commons from the same county would vote on their replacement.[2] The election system was maintained even after the abolition of STV for the House of Commons.[3]
In 1925, at the end of the first parliament, the senators to retire were selected by lot.[4] At the subsequent election, voting papers from the Nationalist MPs andGeorge Henderson were deemed to have been submitted late, and were not considered. All these members had given a high preference to the Nationalist candidate, Vincent Devoto, and a subsequent analysis of the transfers showed that these would otherwise have been sufficient to elect him.[5]
The key offices in the Senate were:
During its history 142 people sat in the upper house. With the addition of theUnionist Lord Mayor ofBelfast Corporation and Mayor ofLondonderry Corporation, together with boycotts of the Commons at various times by nationalist parties and fragmentation of the opposition into some parties too small to elect a Senator alone, the upper house proved to be even more heavily Unionist than the lower house. However aNationalist,Thomas Stanislaus McAllister, served two periods as deputy speaker.[6]
The table below shows the political composition of the twenty-four elected members of the Senate, after each election. It does not show subsequent changes of party allegiance, nor changes resulting from by-elections. Following the 1969 election, there was one vacant seat.[7] Other thanHugh O'Doherty, Mayor of Londonderry until 1923, all the ex officio members were Ulster Unionists.
| Election | Unionist | Labour | Nationalist | Ind. Unionist | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1929 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1933 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1937 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1945 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1949 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1953 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1965 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Peers of the Realm were disproportionately represented in the Senate. Nine senators were or became peers of the realm at the time of their membership of the Senate. These wereJames Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn,James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn,Maxwell Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor,James Edward Caulfeild, 8th Viscount Charlemont,Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava,Daniel Dixon, 2nd Baron Glentoran,Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry,Algernon Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene, andWilliam Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie. Lord Bangor and Lord Charlemont held Irish titles only; Lord Charlemont had been elected as anIrish representative peer and so sat in the House of Lords, Lord Bangor however did not. At least another three senators subsequently became peers by different routes.Lord Robert Grosvenor inherited the title ofDuke of Westminster from his brother, SirBasil Brooke was createdViscount Brookeborough and Victor Cooke was created alife peer asBaron Cooke of Islandreagh.[8]
The Senate, along with theHouse of Commons, wasprorogued by theNorthern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972, and abolished completely by theNorthern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. The old Senate Chamber is now used as a committee room of theNorthern Ireland Assembly.