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, largely because of the unrest the Troubles had caused, 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 more control over matters that directly affect it rather than leaving every decision to Westminster. The following year, 1998, Parliament passed the Scotland Act. Northern Ireland's own devolved government would return too, in a separate development that came slightly later.