The Stormont Estate is an estate east of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main Parliament Buildings, which is surrounded by woods and parkland, and is often referred to in contemporary media as the metonym "Stormont".
The Stormont Estate is within the townland of Ballymiscaw. [1]
The Stormont Estate was established by the Reverend John Cleland (1755–1834) in the early nineteenth century. [2] He built Stormont Castle in 1830 which was described as a "large plain house with very little planting about it". In 1858 the exterior of the castle was redesigned in the Scottish Baronial style by the local architect Thomas Turner. Some ancillary buildings were added at this time including a lean-to glasshouse and stables. A terraced garden and a walled kitchen garden were also created. When Cleland died in 1834 the estate went to John Cleland (1836–1893) and then finally to Arthur Charles Stewart Cleland (1865–1924).
The origin of the name "Stormont" is unclear. It may be a shortened version of "Storm Mount" (recorded as the name of the estate in 1834), or it may have been taken from the name of a district of Perthshire. The Perthshire name is Gaelic in origin, and is believed to mean "place for crossing the mountain" (from star monadh). There is also a Stormont in County Limerick, and a couple of Stormounts in Armagh and Down. [1]
The Cleland family moved out in 1893 to live abroad and the estate was let to a tenant. When the tenancy ended, initial efforts to sell the estate failed.
In 1921, the newly formed Parliament of Northern Ireland was looking for a site for its Parliament Buildings. Parliament authorised the Government of Northern Ireland to purchase the 224-acre Stormont Estate for about £21,000; this included 100 acres of woodland. Stormont Castle became the headquarters of the Government of Northern Ireland. Stormont Castle also became the official residence of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Ralph Knott designed Stormont House in a Neo-Georgian style. The house was completed in 1926, and a two-storey administration block to its east was finished by 1939. A flat-roofed single-storey extension was added in about 1975. It was listed as a historic building in 1987. [3]
Parliament Buildings at Stormont were designed by Sir Arnold Thornely in Greek classical style. They were opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, in 1932. [4]
The main approach to Parliament Buildings is along Prince of Wales Avenue. On this road stands a bronze statue of the barrister and Unionist politician, Lord Carson, on a stone plinth and base. This was erected in 1933 and designed by the sculptor Leonard Stanford Merrifield. [5]
Detached two-storey stone lodges and gate screens to Stormont Estate were built about 1932, on the Upper Newtownards Road and on Massey Avenue. They were designed by Sir Arnold Thornely. Both were listed as historic structures in 1987. [6] [7]
A single-storey hipped roof Neo-Georgian style pavilion located on the north side of Massey Avenue, just inside the entrance, was built in 1936 by the Ministry of Finance. It was designed by Sir Arnold Thornley. [8] Another single-storey hipped roof Neo-Georgian style pavilion on Massey Avenue was built to the east side of the Lord Carson Memorial at some point between 1938 and 1959. The architect is not known. [9]
Dundonald House was designed in the early 1960s by Belfast-born architect Robert Hanna Gibson. It is in the international style. [10]
The tomb of Viscount Craigavon, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, and his wife, Cecil, is on the east side of Parliament Buildings. It is a solid block of Portland limestone with stepped top and corners on a shallow plinth base, set on a stepped platform. The tomb was designed by Roland Ingleby Smit and was completed in 1942. [11]
| Building | Image | About |
|---|---|---|
| Castle Buildings |  | Headquarters of The Executive Office, Department of Health and Department of Justice. The complex is notable for its use as the location of the negotiations surrounding the Good Friday Agreement. |
| Dundonald House |  | Headquarters of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and Northern Ireland Prison Service. |
| Craigantlet Buildings | Headquarters of the Department of Finance. | |
| Maynard Sinclair Pavilion |  | Home to the Northern Ireland Civil Service Sports and Social Club. |
| Parliament Buildings |  | Seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly. (Usually referred to as Stormont.) |
| Stormont Castle |  | Seat of the Northern Ireland Executive. |
| Stormont House |  | Headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). (Also known as Speaker's House.) |
The Stormont Estate grounds are open to the public. Facilities include a boardwalk, a fitness trail, an outdoor gym and a barbecue area. There is also a children's park named after former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, MP. [12]
Stormont Estate is now home to the Stormont Parkrun, a free, weekly, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) timed run. [13]
The regulations governing the use of the Stormont Estate are displayed at its entrance. These were initially enacted on 31 October 1933, in an order by the Ministry of Finance. These were eventually amended and the regulations currently in force are:
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore order during The Troubles, resulting in the introduction of Direct Rule. It was abolished under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland. These have classifications that differ between: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "protected structure".
The only official flag for Northern Ireland is the Union Flag or Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom; there is no official local flag that represents only Northern Ireland. The flying of various flags in Northern Ireland is a significant sectarian issue, with different communities identifying with different flags.
The Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement. The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.
Stormont Castle is a manor house on the Stormont Estate in east Belfast which is home to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Executive Office. It is a Grade A listed building.
Parliament Buildings, often referred to as Stormont, because of its location in the Stormont Estate area of Belfast, is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for the region. The purpose-built building, designed by Arnold Thornely, and constructed by Stewart & Partners, was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1932.
James Hugh Allister is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011, and is the TUV’s only representative in the Assembly.
Stormont House is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was designed by Ralph Knott, although Sir Edwin Lutyens has been credited with some involvement.
Dundonald is a large settlement and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often considered a suburb of the city. It is home to the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald International Ice Bowl, Dundonald Omnipark, has a Park and Ride facility for the Glider, access to the Comber Greenway and several housing developments. John de Courcey established a keep including a motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. This is known as Moat Park and can be accessed from Church Green, Comber Road and the Upper Newtownards Road.
Gosford Castle is a 19th-century country house situated in Gosford, a townland of Markethill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built for Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford, and designed in the Norman revival style by London architect Thomas Hopper. It is a Grade A listed building, and is said to be Ulster's largest. The Earls of Gosford occupied the castle until 1921, and the estate was later purchased by the Ministry of Agriculture to form Gosford Forest Park. The building subsequently deteriorated and in 2006 was sold to a development company who converted the castle into private dwellings.
Dundonald House is a government building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the Stormont Estate along with several other Northern Ireland Civil Service buildings. It is the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Northern Ireland Prison Service.
The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the Ulster, is a teaching hospital in Dundonald in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road. It provides acute services in the North Down, Ards and Castlereagh council areas, as well as east Belfast. It is managed by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.
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Glider is a bus rapid transit system in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed to improve the efficiency of mass transit in the city by connecting East and West Belfast and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre. The service is operated by Translink.
Matthew John O'Toole MLA is an Irish nationalist politician, former civil servant, and journalist, serving as leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly and leader of the opposition since 2024, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2020.
Fernhill House is a grade B2 listed building in Glencairn Road, Belfast. It was built in 1864 for the local butter merchant John Smith, with outbuildings added to the north in 1880. It was sold by Smith's family to businessman Samuel Cunningham in 1898. He was a staunch unionist who used the grounds to train members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and to store weapons during the 1912 Home Rule Crisis. Cunningham also kept racing horses in the house's stables, including Tipperary Tim, which won the 1928 Grand National. The estate was purchased by the Belfast Corporation in 1962 and opened to the public as Glencairn Park. The house housed the municipal parks department between 1975 and 1990. Fernhill House was selected by the Combined Loyalist Military Command as the site for their 1994 ceasefire declaration, which presaged the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. From 1996 to 2008 the building housed a museum exhibiting items of local history, Ulster's military history and relating to the Orange Order. The building has since stood vacant and is listed as being at risk. The building and outbuildings were separately granted listed building protection in 2016.
A Northern Ireland Assembly election has to be held to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly if the parties fail to form an Executive. After the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2022, the DUP declined to agree on the appointment of Speaker to the Assembly, preventing the formation of an Executive. Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, confirmed a legal obligation to call an election if no Executive was formed by a 27 October 2022 deadline. No Executive was formed by this deadline, but the deadline was extended by legislation in the Westminster Parliament. A deadline of 18 January 2024 was then proposed, but an executive still has not formed as of January 2024.
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