The St Andrews Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

's political parties in relation to the

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

of power in the region. The agreement resulted from multi-party talks held in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

in Fife, Scotland, from 11 to 13 October 2006, between the two governments and all the major parties in Northern Ireland, including the two largest, the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

. It resulted in the restoration of the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

, the formation (on 8 May 2007) of a new Northern Ireland Executive and a decision by Sinn Féin to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland, courts and rule of law.

The agreement

Key elements of the agreement included the full acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) by

, restoration of the

and a commitment by the

(DUP) to power-sharing with

Irish republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The developm ...

s in the Northern Ireland Executive. The government's plan envisaged the devolution of policing and justice powers within two years from the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive. The parties were given until 10 November 2006 to respond to the draft agreement. The first and deputy first minister would be appointed on 24 November 2006. There was a target date of 26 March 2007 for a new executive to be up and running, after a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on 7 March 2007. The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, which implemented the agreement, received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 22 November 2006.

Reaction

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain called the agreement an "astonishing breakthrough" on

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

said that if the deadlines set by the two governments were not met, "the plan falters and there will be a move to plan B with no more discussions".

leader

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

said: "Unionists can have confidence that its interests are being advanced and democracy is finally winning the day." He also said: "Delivering on the pivotal issue of policing and the rule of law starts now."

leader Gerry Adams said that the plans needed to be consulted on, but restoring the political institutions was an "enormous prize".

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

leader Reg Empey described the agreement as the " Belfast Agreement for slow learners". Social Democratic and Labour Party leader

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour ...

said welcome progress had been made towards restoring the power sharing institutions. Alliance Party leader David Ford said the outcome was a mix "of challenges and opportunities".

10 November deadline

The Joint Statement of 13 October stated that the governments had "asked parties, having consulted their members, to confirm their acceptance by 10 November". A Sinn Féin statement said that on 6 November "the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle mandated the party leadership to follow the course set out at St Andrews and to continue with the ongoing negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues" and that they "firmly believed that all of the outstanding difficulties can be resolved". The DUP statement said that "as Sinn Féin is not yet ready to take the decisive step forward on policing, the DUP will not be required to commit to any aspect of power sharing in advance of such certainty". Although neither statement constituted "acceptance" of the agreement, both governments maintained that there was sufficient endorsement from all parties to continue the process.

24 November deadline

The Joint Statement stated that "the Assembly will meet to nominate the First and Deputy First Minister on 24 November". In the days preceding the Assembly meeting the two governments said that it would be sufficient for the parties to "indicate" who their nominations for First and Deputy First Minister would be. When the Assembly met on 24 November, Ian Paisley said that "circumstances have not been reached that there can be a nomination or a designation this day", adding that "if and when commitments are delivered, the DUP would enter government". Gerry Adams nominated Martin McGuinness for the post of Deputy First Minister. Following the unexpected adjournment of the Assembly Paisley, in a statement, said: "Everyone already knows that in those circumstances after they are delivered I would accept the first minister's nomination." Both governments maintained that this was sufficient indication for the process to continue.

7 March deadline

The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 stated that following an election to the Assembly on 7 March 2007, ministerial offices to be held by Northern Ireland Ministers would be filled under the d'Hondt system on 26 March 2007. If the ministerial offices could not be filled on that date, the Act required the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to make an order dissolving the Assembly, and the St Andrews Agreement would fall. On 28 January 2007 a special Sinn Féin

Ard Fheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for i ...

approved a motion calling for devolution of policing and justice to the Assembly, support for the police services, the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gove ...

and the PSNI and criminal justice system, the appointment of party representatives to the Policing Board and District Policing Partnership Boards, Sinn Féin Ministers taking the ministerial Pledge of Office, and actively encouraging everyone in the community to co-operate fully with the police services in tackling crime. At the same time, it mandated the Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) to implement the motion "only when the power-sharing institutions are established and when the Ard Chomhairle is satisfied that the policing and justice powers will be transferred. Or if this does not happen within the St Andrews time frame, only when acceptable new partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement are in place." The DUP gave a cautious welcome to the move, but without making any overt commitment on the devolution of policing and justice by May 2008. On 30 January, the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach confirmed that Assembly elections would go ahead as planned on 7 March. In the Assembly elections, the DUP and Sinn Féin both gained seats, thus consolidating their position as the two largest parties in the Assembly. Peter Hain signed the order to restore the institutions on 25 March, warning that if the parties failed to reach agreement by midnight the following day, the Assembly would be closed down. Members of the DUP and Sinn Féin, led by Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, met face-to face for the first time on 26 March, and agreed to form an executive on 8 May, with the DUP giving a firm commitment to enter government with Sinn Féin on that date. The agreement was welcomed by Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. On 27 March emergency legislation was introduced into the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

to facilitate the six-week delay. The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement No 2) Bill was passed without a vote in both the Commons and the Lords and received

, as the

Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2007 The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2007 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act extended the statutory deadline for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly to 8 May 2007. See also *Northern Ireland ...

, the same evening.

The final stage

In the weeks following the agreement between Paisley and Adams, the four parties – the DUP, Sinn Féin, the UUP and the SDLP – indicated their choice of ministries in the Executive and nominated members to fill them. The Assembly met on 8 May 2007 and elected

and Martin McGuinness as First Minister and deputy First Minister. It also ratified the ten ministers as nominated by their parties. On 12 May the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle agreed to take up three places on the Policing Board, and nominated three MLAs to take them. On 8 December 2007, while visiting President George W. Bush in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

with the Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, the deputy First Minister, said to the press: "Up until the 26 March this year, Ian Paisley and I never had a conversation about anything — not even about the weather — and now we have worked very closely together over the last seven months and there's been no angry words between us. ... This shows we are set for a new course."

References

External links

Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2007Full text of the St Andrews AgreementBBC announces the agreementReaction to the St Andrews talksGruelling route to defining moment. Key developments along the tortuous political route of Northern Ireland power-sharing. Daily RecordArchived version of St Andrews Agreement website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Agreement 2006 in Ireland 2006 in Northern Ireland 2006 in Scotland 2006 in the United Kingdom 2006 in British politics St Andrews Politics of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland peace process Government of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland devolution 2006 in Irish politics Bilateral treaties of Ireland Bilateral treaties of the United Kingdom Ireland–United Kingdom relations Power sharing