| 2nd Northern Ireland Assembly | |
| Body: | Assembly |
| Country: | Northern Ireland |
| Meeting Place: | Parliament Buildings, Stormont |
| Election: | 2003 assembly election |
| Government: | Executive of the 2nd Assembly (Direct Rule) |
| Term Start: | 15 May 2006 |
| Term End: | 29 January 2007 |
| Before: | 1st Assembly |
| After: | 3rd Assembly |
| Membership1: | 108 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Speaker |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Eileen Bell |
| Session1 Start: | 15 May 2006 |
| Session1 End: | 7 July 2006 |
| Session2 Start: | 11 September 2006 |
| Session2 End: | 3 October 2006 |
| Session3 Start: | 24 November 2006 |
| Session3 End: | 29 January 2007 |
The Northern Ireland Assembly elected in November 2003 never met as such: Northern Ireland's devolved government and representative institutions had been suspended with the re-introduction of direct rule by the United Kingdom government on 14 October 2002. However, the persons (Members of the Legislative Assembly, MLAs) elected to the Assembly at the 2003 assembly election were called together in a non-legislative capacity, initially under the Northern Ireland Act 2006[1] and then under the St Andrews Agreement.[2] These bodies failed to form a government before the 2007 election.
The following is a list of the members of that second Assembly,[3] including members co-opted after the election to replace those who had resigned or died, and changes in party affiliation.
| Party | Designation | Nov 2003 election | Jan 2007 end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party | Unionist | 30 | 32 | ||
| Ulster Unionist Party | Unionist | 27 | 24 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Nationalist | 24 | 21 | ||
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | Nationalist | 18 | 18 | ||
| Alliance Party | Other | 6 | 5 | ||
| UK Unionist Party | Unionist | 1 | 1 | ||
| Progressive Unionist Party | Unionist | 1 | 1 | ||
| Independent | Nationalist | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independent | Other | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independent | Unionist | 1 | 2 | ||
| Speaker | None | 0 | 1 | ||
| Vacant | Nationalist | 0 | 1 | ||
| Totals by Designation | Unionist | 60 | 60 | ||
| Nationalist | 42 | 41 | |||
| Other | 6 | 6 | |||
| None | 0 | 1 | |||
| Total | 108 | ||||
Notes
This is a list of MLAs elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election, sorted by party.
† Co-opted to replace an elected MLA
‡ Changed affiliation during the term
The list is given in alphabetical order by constituency.
| Date co-opted | Constituency | Party | Outgoing | Co-optee | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 July 2004 | Foyle | Mary Nelis | Raymond McCartney | Resignation of Mary Nelis.[4] | ||
| 29 November 2004 | Belfast West | Bairbre de Brún | Sue Ramsey | Resignation of Bairbre de Brún.[5] | ||
| 25 September 2006 | Belfast West | Michael Ferguson | Vacant | Death of Michael Ferguson.[6] The vacancy remained unfilled on the dissolution of the Assembly. | ||
| 9 January 2007 | Lagan Valley | Patricia Lewsley | Marietta Farrell | Resignation of Patricia Lewsley to take up the post of Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People. | ||
| 23 January 2007 | Belfast East | David Ervine | Dawn Purvis | Death of David Ervine. | ||
| Date | Constituency | Name | Previous affiliation | New affiliation | Circumstance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 December 2003 | Lagan Valley | Jeffrey Donaldson | Jeffrey Donaldson resigned from the UUP.[7] | ||||
| 18 December 2003 | Lagan Valley | Norah Beare | Norah Beare resigned from the UUP. | ||||
| 18 December 2003 | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Arlene Foster | Arlene Foster resigned from the UUP. | ||||
| 5 January 2004 | Lagan Valley | Jeffrey Donaldson | Jeffrey Donaldson joined the DUP.[8] | ||||
| 5 January 2004 | Lagan Valley | Norah Beare | Norah Beare joined the DUP. | ||||
| 5 January 2004 | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Arlene Foster | Arlene Foster joined the DUP. | ||||
| 4 July 2005 | Newry and Armagh | Paul Berry | Paul Berry was suspended by the DUP following an internal disciplinary panel meeting and media coverage of his private life. He resigned from the party outright following legal challenges on 10 February 2006.[9] | ||||
| 23 November 2005 | Mid Ulster | Francie Molloy | Francie Molloy was suspended by Sinn Féin on 23 November 2005 following disagreements about reforms of local government.[10] Molloy was subsequently readmitted to the party. | ||||
| 10 April 2006 | North Down | Eileen Bell | Eileen Bell was appointed Speaker of the Assembly on 10 April 2006 for the first session on 15 May.[11] | ||||
| 15 January 2007 | Mid Ulster | Geraldine Dougan | Geraldine Dougan resigned from Sinn Féin. | ||||
| 2 February 2007 | Newry and Armagh | Davy Hyland | Davy Hyland resigned from Sinn Féin. | ||||