Northern Irish Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann Norlin Airlan Assemblie
Sixth Assembly
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Robin Newton, DUP Since 12 May 2016
Structure
Seats	90
Assembly political groups	DUP (28) (U)      Sinn Féin (27) (N)      SDLP (12) (N)      UUP (10) (U)      Alliance (8) (O)      Green (2) (O)      PBP (1) (O)      TUV (1) (U)      Independent (1) (U)
Assembly committees	16 Executive Office Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Communities Economy Education Finance Health Infrastructure Justice Assembly and Executive Review Committee Audit Committee Business Committee Procedures Committee Public Accounts Committee Standards and Privileges Committee
Salary	£48,000 per year + expenses
Elections
Assembly last election	2 March 2017
Assembly next election	5 May 2022 or earlier
Meeting place
Assembly Chamber
Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast
Website
www.niassembly.gov.uk

The Northern Ireland Assembly (Irish: Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann,Ulster-Scots: Norlin Airlan Assemblie) 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 Assembly is one of two "mutually inter-dependent" institutions created under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the other being the North/South Ministerial Council with the Republic of Ireland. The Agreement aimed at bringing an end to Northern Ireland's violent 30-year Troubles. The Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 90 members known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation. In turn, the Assembly selects most of the ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive using the principle of power-sharing under the D'Hondt method to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest voting blocs, unionists and Irish nationalists, both participate in governing the region.