Devolution

Northern Ireland had its own devolved Parliament from 1922, set up when Ireland was divided. That arrangement lasted until violent political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. Not long afterwards, in 1972, that Parliament was abolished, and Northern Ireland was then governed without a devolved body of its own for some years.

A wider change came in 1997, when the UK government began transferring some of its powers to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, giving each nation its own elected body with defined powers over matters such as education, health and the environment, while decisions on defence, immigration and similar national matters stayed with Westminster. Wales kept building on its own powers: from 2011, the Welsh Assembly no longer needed Westminster's agreement to pass laws in the areas already given to it.

In Northern Ireland, power in the Northern Ireland Assembly is shared between rival parties, and the UK government has had to suspend it more than once when local leaders could not work together. Since 2007, though, the Assembly has been running successfully.