Talk:Northern Ireland Assembly

Irish Language

Should we still have the Irish name if it is unofficial and not used in english sources? A Tree In A Box (talk) 12:09, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

We should only have an Irish name if it is officially used and officially published. Not a translation somewhere else by someone else. That being said, it appears that this translation is from an official NI Assembly source. I would like something stronger than a kids education site though. Canterbury Tail talk 13:40, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

People Before Profit

The political stance of a party (whether it be Unionist, Nationalist, or anything else) is irrelevant when it comes to designation within the assembly, see Desgination. On the first day the Assembly meets after an election, MLAs sign the Register and designate themselves as ‘nationalist’ or ‘unionist’ . . . MLAs who do not wish to designate as ‘nationalist’ or ‘unionist’ are considered to be ‘others’. The Alliance Party, Green Party and People before Profit Alliance do not designate as unionists or nationalists. FDW777 (talk) 12:46, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Maskey still Speaker?

Is he still the Speaker even though he didn’t run for re-election and is no longer a member of the assembly? Kaihsu (talk) 13:03, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

I see he is acting in a caretaker capacity. Kaihsu (talk) 14:02, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Membership change list consolidated in a single article?

Both the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd have articles (here and here) giving changes among members elected on the lists i.e not through by-elections (there are separate articles about those). Currently, in each NI Assembly term article there's a list of co-opted members: I think it would be a good idea to have this information consolidated in a single article as the other devolved legislatures do. 217.155.59.206 (talk) 10:47, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

Capitalisation of "deputy"

Main article: First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland § Capitalisation of "deputy"

Rather than continue an edit war in main space, can we determine whether there is a local consensus that justifies non-compliance with the usual MOS rule?

The background to this, as I understand it [from a GB perspective, so no doubt there are nuances that I've missed], is that the First Ministers are equal. This makes it completely different to the role and responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister. Neither can act unilaterally without the consent of the other, neither can deputise for the other. Thus to use a capital D is misleading to readers (and maybe using a lowercase d may cause the required moment's hesitation).

Comments? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:28, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

@JMF - This discussion determined that the "D" should be capitalized. Reliable secondary sources use a capitalized "D", primary (government) sources are irrelevant. Also as I've pointed out a few times, the Good Friday Agreement doesn't even lowercase the "d" so I can't see how there's enough to justify an exception to the MOS. estar8806 (talk) ★ 14:01, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Apologies but that is my own mistake. GFA was the peace agreement, it is through the Northern Ireland Act it is defined with 'd' as the NI Act is for Government.

Reliable Secondary Sources for this:

Chrisinireland.2009 (talk) 23:35, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

@Estar8806, which discussion was that? The first one (2012) merely concludes that if a sentence begins with the word Deputy (which is most unlikely anyway), it should be capitalised per normal grammar. A particular and exceptional case with no obvious relevance. --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 11:26, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

@JMF I linked the discussion in my initial comment. Consensus was that the title of the article about the First Minister and Deputy First Minister should include a capitalized "D". We should therefore follow that precedent in prose as there is no consensus to override usual MOS rules. estar8806 (talk) ★ 16:50, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

This topic could not be found on this page, but it does exist on the following page:
Talk:First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland

The only discussion there is #(Non-)capitalisation of 'deputy', which us about the first letter of a new sentence, as I have already explained. Can you be more specific? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 16:54, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

You have to scroll. It's at the bottom under requested move 2024. estar8806 (talk) ★ 18:49, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

That is a request to change the name of an article, which is more significant action in Wikipedia terms. IMO, this is parallel but different, because it about how the title is used in this article. We have a problem in that the GFA uses ⟨D⟩ and the Act uses ⟨d⟩. We also have a problem that RSs use either freely. We have maybe a bigger problem in that the d/D FM is not actually a deputy and shouldn't suggest otherwise. We may of course reach the same conclusion but let's recognise that the context is not the same and that that precedent informs but does not rule.

If only they had been sensible and used the word Joint! 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 23:15, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

Apologies, please see Northern Ireland Act 1998. Chrisinireland.2009 (talk) 18:53, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

Status quo ante

Cleverer people than we are have tried and failed to resolve the zero sum games that bedevil Northern Irish politics. I can't see that we can have any credible hope of doing so. So for Wikipedia, maybe we have to apply WP: status quo: which version has gone longest without challenge? I'll investigate the history of the article this evening, hopefully. --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 09:20, 26 October 2025 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, sampling the article on or near 1 Jan and 1 July of each year going back to Jan 2020, it is the deputy First Minister rather than the Deputy First Minister that has been used consistently. So unless anyone can identify a new and relevant policy argument, the current usage with lowercase ⟨d⟩ must stand. 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 13:21, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Consensus does not have to be written down as policy for it to exist. The move of the primary article from First and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland → First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland is an entirely relevant argument. estar8806 (talk) ★ 16:50, 28 October 2025 (UTC)