Northern Ireland
Public Opinion
The Northern Ireland Assembly Election Study
The Northern Ireland Assembly Election Study (NIAS) has been conducted after some Assembly elections. These studies are available in separate datasets.
Northern Ireland Life & Times Survey
The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (NILT) is an annual survey of public opinion and identity. It has been conducted every year since 1998 and includes reports and raw datasets for each year.
Annual Surveys: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | Question Overview
Northern Irish Life & Times Youth Survey
The Northern Ireland Young Life & Times Survey (NIYLT) is a survey operated by the NILT which measures public opinion and identity of young Northern Irish people. The survey includes 16 year olds and has been carried out most years since 2004.
Surveys: 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 | 2013 | 2011 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | Question Overview
State of the Union Survey
The State of the Union Survey is a pan-UK survey which examines attitudes to a variety of political and constitutional factors.
Northern Ireland Assembly Polling
Ireland Votes is a polling aggregator which collects all party polls conducted in Northern Ireland. A complete dataset of all polls is also available.
Northern Irish European Election Studies
The European Election Studies (EES) provide data on various aspects of electoral behaviour in the European Parliament. Collected data ranges from voter and elite surveys to media studies and party manifestos. Studies including Northern Ireland occurred in: 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, and 2014
Northern Irish Party Positions and Legislative Data
Local and European Parliament Election Manifestos
The CAIN Manifesto Explorer provides direct access to the content of party manifestos for local, Assembly, General and European Parliament elections in Northern Ireland. Some records reach back to 1975 although this is more complete from 1997.
Assembly Debates
An Assembly database contains the complete record of speeches from the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2006. Whilst They Work for You holds a record back to 1998.
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
The Committee examines the expenditure, administration and policy of the Northern Ireland Office and its associated public bodies.
Archive of Leaflets and Election Materials
The ElectionLeaflets archive is a collection of election materials from UK political campaigns since 2010. It includes material from Northern Irish political parties and referendums.
Manifesto Project
The Manifesto Project provides data on political parties’ policy positions in over 50 countries. The project has collected and coded over 5,000 party manifestos since 1945. The dataset includes the Manifesto Corpus, which contains the full texts of a subset of party manifestos from Northern Ireland.
Euromanifestos Project
The Euromanifestos Project provides data on the policy positions and issue salience of political parties in manifestos released for European Parliament Elections. It includes Northern Irish parties.
Northern Ireland Executive Press Releases
The Northern Ireland Executive’s website maintains a searchable record of press releases issued by the Executive since 2015.
They Work for You
They Work for You maintains an up to date record of all speeches given by every representative in the Northern Ireland Assembly and in Westminster. It also contains a biography of all elected representatives.
Census and Reports
Irish Political Studies: Northern Ireland Annual Data Review
Founded in 1986, Irish Political Studies (IPS) is the official journal of the Political Studies Association of Ireland. The journal serves as an authoritative source for academic publications on politics in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as relations with the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Volumes: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006
Northern Ireland Census
An official census of Northern Ireland is usually taken every 10 years and includes detailed demographic data.
2021 | 2011 | 2001 | 1991 | 1981 | 1971 | 1966 | 1961 | 1951 | 1936 | 1926 | Earlier
European Data: Northern Ireland
European Data is the official portal for European data including Eurobarometer, EU statistics and governmental datasets. It contains a large trove of datasets relating to Northern Ireland.
Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly
A 2015 governmental report into challenges and barriers which prevent some women from becoming politically active, and examined some potential solutions.
Northern Ireland Assembly Operations
Register of Members’ Interests
Information on financial interests and/or other registrable interest which might reasonably be thought by others to influence a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s actions. Website
Members’ Salaries and Expenses
Overview of the salaries and expenses of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly
The website maintains an up-to-date database of all legislation passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Political Finance
The Electoral Commission: Political Finance Online
The databases of the Electoral Commission of the UK and Westminster Account can be filtered by party based in Northern Ireland. The Electoral Commission retains a record of party finances and donations and also maintains a list of all officially registered parties in Northern Ireland.
Westminster Accounts: Tortoise, SkyNews
Westminster Accounts by SkyNews and Tortoise contains detailed records of the finances, All-Party Parliamentary Groups and registered interests of all UK MPs, including those from Northern Ireland.
Lobbying the Northern Ireland Office
Use filters to track details on meetings between lobbyists, interest groups and the Northern Ireland Office on the Open Access UK database by Transparency International.
Civil Society Organisations in Northern Ireland
The Charity Commission of Northern Ireland maintains a searchable and downloadable list and database of all charities registered in Northern Ireland.
Election Results and Relevant Acts
Northern Ireland General Election Results
Full results and additional information on general elections since 1918.
Northern Ireland Assembly Election Results
Elections results to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Assembly was established following the passage of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, with the first election taking place in 1998. Results are held by Ark.ac.uk and contain links to constituency level results. The site also houses results of earlier elections to the former Northern Ireland Parliament, and other elected bodies.
2022 | 2017 | 2016 | 2011 | 2007 | 2003 | 1998 | Northern Ireland Parliament Results
Northern Ireland Referendum Results
Results of referendums held in Northern Ireland since 1998, held variously by Ark.
2016 Brexit | 2011 Alternative Vote | 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement | 1975 EEC Referendum | 1973 Border Poll
Northern Ireland European Elections Results
All results of European Elections held in Northern Ireland until 2019.
2019 | 2014 | 2009 | 2004 | 1999 | 1994 | 1989 | 1984 | 1979
Northern Ireland Council Election Results
The Ark archive contains all local government election results dating back to 1973.
Legal Acts and Agreements
Northern Ireland has no specific constitution, but operates based on a number of agreements with the UK government and the government of Ireland. The unique consociational features of the Assembly and intergovernmental bodies were established under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and amended by the St Andrew’s Agreement. The Windsor Framework governs trade deals with the European Union. This is distilled within the Northern Ireland Act.
Northern Ireland Act 1998, as amended | St Andrew’s Agreement, 2006 | Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, 1998 | Windsor Protocol
Conflict and Peace
CAIN Database on the Troubles
The CAIN Archive is a collection of information and source material on ‘the Troubles’ and politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present. There is also some material on society in the region. CAIN is located in Ulster University and is an associate of INCORE and ARK.
CAIN and INCORE also developed the Accounts of the Conflict, a digital archive of personal accounts of the conflict.
PSNI Disclosure of Paramilitary Style Attacks since 1998
The PSNI disclosure log tracks every paramilitary style attack in Northern Ireland since signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It includes details of victims, times, locations and the group to which the attack has been attributed (if known).
Miscellaneous
Northern Ireland’s Open Data Portal
A collection of NI Public Sector datasets in open, free, and reusable formats.
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Northern Ireland
Parallel Parliament maintains a database of all membership and reports, including of the All-Party Parliamentary group for Northern Ireland.
PRONI Archive
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland maintains a large archive of historical and political information on Northern Ireland, much of which has been digitised.
Literature
Introductions to Northern Irish Politics (In progress)
- Bew, P., Gibbon, P., & Patterson, H. (2002). Northern Ireland 1921-2001: Political Forces and Social Classes. Serif Books.
- Birrell, D., & Gormley-Heenan, C. (2015). Multi-level Governance and Northern Ireland Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dixon, P. (2008). Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and Peace. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Garry, J. (2016). Consociation and Voting in Northern Ireland: Party Competition and Electoral Behavior. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Matthews, N., & Pow, J. (2020). The Routledge Handbook of British Politics and Society. Routledge.
- McEvoy, J. (2008). Politics of Northern Ireland. Edinburgh University Press.
- O’Leary, B. (2019). A Treatise on Northern Ireland. Oxford University Press Volume I: Colonialism | Volume II: Control | Volume III: Consociation and Confederation
- O’Leary, B., & McGarry, J. (2016). The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Tonge, J. (2005). The New Northern Irish Politics. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Walker, B. (2012). A Political History of the Two Irelands. Palgrave MacMillan.
- Wilford, R., & Mitchell, P. (2018). Politics in Northern Ireland. Routledge.
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