Hillsborough Castle Agreement

The Hillsborough Agreement was an agreement reached in Northern Ireland that allowed the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Executive. The agreement was made on 5 February 2010 and included an agreement on controversial parades and on implementing outstanding matters from the St Andrews Agreement. ^[1] Additionally, it reworked the way in which the Minister of Justice is selected to be chosen with cross-community support rather than through the D'Hondt method used for most other ministers. ^[2]

It was signed at and named after Hillsborough Castle, located in the village of Royal Hillsborough in County Down. The Agreements of Sunningdale, Belfast and St Andrews were also negotiated in those places.^{[ citation needed ]}

Implementation

Implementation of the Hillsborough Castle Agreement ^{[3] [4]}

Section	Implementation
Policing and Justice	The agreement required a resolution under a successful cross-community vote on 9 March 2010. [4] This vote was successfully held. [5] The agreement required that the UK Government detail a timetable for devolving policing and justice functions by 12 April 2010. [4] The statutory instrument was laid before parliament on 31 March 2010, taking effect on 12 April 2010. [6] [7] The Department of Justice was established by the Department of Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2010. [6]
Parades	While a consultation was held on the Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill 2010, it was not introduced. [8]
Improving Executive Functions	The establishment of an Efficiency Review Panel was announced by the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister on 9 April 2010. [9] It had not been established by March 10 March 2011. [9]
Outstanding Executive Business	The agreement required the establishment of a working group on outstanding Executive business. [4] By September 2010, the working group met 12 times. [10]
Outstanding St Andrews Review	The agreement required the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to review outstanding issues from the St Andrews Agreement. [4] One issue was an Irish Language Act, which was later passed as the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022. [4] [11]

See also

• Belfast Agreement
• St Andrews Agreement

References

1. "Hillsborough Castle Agreement". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
2. "The Hillsborough Agreement | Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service". education.niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
3. Crawley, William (5 February 2010). "Hillsborough Castle Agreement: The Full Text". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
4. "Policing and justice plan: Key points". BBC News. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
5. "The Assembly - Official Report Tuesday 9 March 2010". Northern Ireland Assembly archive. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
6. Goldring, Judena (10 March 2011). "Annual Report and Accounts: For the year ended 31 March 2010" (PDF). GOV.UK. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 May 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
7. "Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 31 March 2010, SI 2010/976, retrieved 8 June 2025
8. "Parades and Protests in Northern Ireland" (PDF). Northern Ireland Human Rights Law Commission. 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
9. McCaffrey, Ray; Egerton, Leigh (19 October 2011). "Update paper on size of the Assembly" (PDF). Northern Ireland Assembly. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
10. "Briefing from the First Minister and deputy First Minister". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
11. Meredith, Robbie; McCormack, Jayne (5 March 2025). "UN criticises failure to appoint language commissioners". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.

External links

• The Hillsborough Castle Agreement
• Foster, David; Gay, Oonagh (18 March 2010). The Hillsborough Agreement