Gerard Adams is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018,and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011,he followed the policy of abstentionism as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the British Parliament for the Belfast West constituency.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905,emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson,it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland,it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles,during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist,loyalist,British nationalist 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. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson,who is stepping in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative,being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Peter David Robinson is a retired Northern Irish politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 until 2016 and Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2008 until 2015. Until his retirement in 2016,Robinson was involved in Northern Irish politics for over 40 years,being a founding member of the DUP along with Ian Paisley.
Nigel Alexander Dodds,Baron Dodds of Duncairn,,is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister serving as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Lords since 2021. He previously served as deputy leader of the DUP from 2008 to 2021 and leader of the DUP in the House of Commons from 2010 to 2019.
The Law Officers are the senior legal advisors to His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom and devolved governments of Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales. They are variously referred to as the Attorney General,Solicitor General,Lord Advocate,or Advocate General depending on seniority and geography - though other terms are also in use,such as the Counsel General for Wales. Law Officers in these roles are distinguished by being political appointees,while also being bound by the duties of independence,justice and confidentiality among the other typical professional commitments of lawyers. These roles do not have any direct oversight of prosecutions nor do they directly lead or influence criminal investigations. This is a distinguishing factor between Law Officers and the State Attorneys General of the United States or US Attorney General.
Arlene Isobel Foster,Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee,,is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2021 and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2015 to 2021. Foster was the first woman to hold either position. She is a Member of the House of Lords,having previously been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2003 to 2021.
Thomas Beatty Elliott is a Northern Irish unionist politician and farmer who was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2010 to 2012,and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2022,having previously served from 2003 to 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2015 to 2017. He was a soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) from 1982 to 1992 and its successor the Royal Irish Regiment from 1992 to 1999. He backed a Leave vote in the 2016 EU membership referendum.
Edwin Poots is a British politician from Northern Ireland,serving as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since February 2024. He served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998. As of 2023,Poots was the DUP's Spokesperson for Institutional Reform and Hard to Reach Communities.
John McCallister is a Northern Irish Unionist politician. In 2007,he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member for South Down. On 14 February 2013,McCallister announced that he had resigned from the UUP due to its decision to engage in an electoral pact with the Democratic Unionist Party. He was a co-founder of the NI21 party with fellow ex-UUP member Basil McCrea but resigned the following year following disputes with McCrea. He re-contested his seat as an Independent at the 2016 election but lost his seat,receiving just 2.8% of the vote.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Northern Ireland enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT people. However,the advancement of LGBT rights has traditionally been slower than the rest of the United Kingdom,with the region having lagged behind England,Scotland,and Wales. Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom where same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised,the last to implement a blood donation “monogamous no waiting period”policy system for men who have sex with men and,after intervention by the Parliament of the United Kingdom,the last to allow same-sex marriage. Compared to the neighbouring Republic of Ireland,all major LGBT rights milestones had been reached earlier in Northern Ireland,with the exception of same-sex marriage. Homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland a decade earlier and civil partnerships were introduced six years earlier.
Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland v. Liam Adams was a criminal case relating to allegations of child abuse made in 2009 against Liam Adams,brother of Irish politician Gerry Adams. Liam Adams was found guilty in October 2013 of 10 offences,and was sentenced in November 2013 to 16 years in prison.
Prostitution in Northern Ireland is governed by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015,which makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Prior to the act coming into effect,prostitution in Northern Ireland was regulated by the same or similar laws to those in England and Wales,as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At that time,prostitution in Northern Ireland was legal subject to a number of restraints which controlled certain activities associated with prostitution,such as soliciting,procuring,living on the proceeds of prostitution (pimping),exploitation of prostitutes,under-age prostitution,and keeping a brothel. However,devolution provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland.
John Alexander Creaney,QC,TA,OBE,DL was a Northern Ireland QC,later named Senior Prosecuting Counsel at Belfast Crown Court,beginning in 1978.
Sir Alasdair MacLeod Fraser was a Scottish-born Northern Irish lawyer. He served as Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland from 1989 to 2010.
Máiría Cahill is an Irish politician. In October 2014,she waived anonymity as a complainant in a sexual abuse case to tell of her claims of being sexually abused as a teenager by her uncle-in-law Martin Morris,a Provisional IRA member and allegations of being subjected to an IRA internal investigation which forced her to confront her abuser. The documentary,A Woman Alone with the IRA,prompted a review of Public Prosecution Service conduct in three cases related to Cahill's allegations. In October 2015,the Labour Party announced Cahill had joined the party and she would be its candidate for election to Seanad Éireann. Cahill was elected as a Senator in November 2015 on the first count,with 122 first preferences out of 188 valid votes from Oireachtas members. In July 2018 she joined Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party,which she left in November 2019 as a result of its decision not to field a candidate in Belfast North during the 2019 United Kingdom general election.
In the late hours of 3 February and the early hours of 4 February 1973,six men,all of whom were Catholics,were shot and killed in the New Lodge area of north Belfast:
Barra McGrory,KC is a Northern Ireland solicitor and barrister. From 2011 to 2017,he served as the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others[2018] UKSC 49 was a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom discrimination case between Gareth Lee and Ashers Baking Company,owned by Daniel and Amy McArthur of Northern Ireland. Lee brought the case after Ashers refused to make a cake with a message promoting same-sex marriage,citing their religious beliefs. Following appeals,the Supreme Court overturned previous rulings in favour of Lee and made a judgement in favour of Ashers. The court said there was no discrimination against Lee and that Ashers' objections were with the message they were being asked to promote. The court held that people in the United Kingdom could not legally be forced to promote a message they fundamentally disagreed with. The case became known in the British and Irish media as the "gay cake" case.
Events from the year 2024 in Northern Ireland.
