1st Northern Ireland Assembly

This is a list of the 108 members of the first Northern Ireland Assembly, the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland established by the Good Friday Agreement. Members (fully Members of the Legislative Assembly, MLAs) elected in June 1998 are listed,^[1] as well as those subsequently co-opted to replace those who had resigned or deceased.^[2] MLAs are grouped by party, and changes in party affiliation are noted.^[2]

1st Northern Ireland Assembly
← Forum 2nd Assembly →
Overview
Legislative body	Assembly
Jurisdiction	Northern Ireland
Meeting place	Parliament Buildings, Stormont
Term	1 July 1998 – 14 October 2002
Election	1998 assembly election
Government	Executive of the 1st Assembly
Members	108
Speaker	Lord Alderdice
First Minister	David Trimble — Reg Empey until 6 November 2001 — David Trimble until 1 July 2001
Deputy First Minister	Mark Durkan — Seamus Mallon until 6 November 2001
Sessions
1st 1 July 1998 – 9 March 1999 2nd 15 July 1999 – 8 February 2000 3rd 5 June 2000 – 4 July 2000 4th 11 September 2000 – 4 July 2001 5th 10 September 2001 – 3 July 2002 6th 9 September 2002 – 14 October 2002

Party strengths

Party		Designation	Jun 1998 election	Oct 2002 end
●	Ulster Unionist Party	Unionist	28	27
●	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Nationalist	24	23
●	Democratic Unionist Party	Unionist	20	20
●	Sinn Féin	Nationalist	18	18
	Alliance Party	Other	6	5
	UK Unionist Party	Unionist	5	1
	Progressive Unionist Party	Unionist	2	2
	Northern Ireland Women's Coalition	Other	2	2
	United Unionist Coalition	Unionist	-	3
	Northern Ireland Unionist Party	Unionist	-	3
	Independent	Nationalist	0	1
	Independent	Unionist	3	2
	Speaker	None	0	1
Totals by designation		Unionist	58	58
		Nationalist	42	42
		Other	8	5
		None	0	1
Total			108
● = Northern Ireland Executive

Graphical representation

• 
  At election, 25 Jun 1998
• 
  1 Jul to 21 Sep 1998
• 
  18 Oct 2003 to end

This is not the official seating plan.

MLAs by party

This is a list of MLAs elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, sorted by party.

Party		Name	Constituency
	Ulster Unionist Party (26)	Ian Adamson	Belfast East
		Billy Armstrong	Mid Ulster
		Roy Beggs, Jr.	East Antrim
		Billy Bell	Lagan Valley
		Esmond Birnie	South Belfast
		Fred Cobain	Belfast North
		Robert Coulter	North Antrim
		Joan Carson	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Ivan Davis	Lagan Valley
		Reg Empey	Belfast East
		Sam Foster	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		John Gorman	North Down
		Tom Hamilton †	Strangford
		Derek Hussey	West Tyrone
		Danny Kennedy	Newry and Armagh
		James Leslie	North Antrim
		David McClarty	East Londonderry
		Alan McFarland	North Down
		Michael McGimpsey	Belfast South
		Dermot Nesbitt	South Down
		Duncan Shipley-Dalton	South Antrim
		Ken Robinson	East Antrim
		George Savage	Upper Bann
		John Taylor	Strangford
		David Trimble	Upper Bann
		Jim Wilson	South Antrim
	Social Democratic and Labour Party (23)	Alex Attwood	Belfast West
		P. J. Bradley	South Down
		Joe Byrne	West Tyrone
		Michael Coyle †	East Londonderry
		John Dallat	East Londonderry
		Mark Durkan	Foyle
		Sean Farren	North Antrim
		John Fee	Newry and Armagh
		Tommy Gallagher	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Carmel Hanna	Belfast South
		Denis Haughey	Mid Ulster
		Joe Hendron	Belfast West
		Patricia Lewsley	Lagan Valley
		Alban Maginness	Belfast North
		Seamus Mallon	Newry and Armagh
		Donovan McClelland	South Antrim
		Alasdair McDonnell	Belfast South
		Eddie McGrady	South Down
		Eugene McMenamin	West Tyrone
		Danny O'Connor	East Antrim
		Eamon O'Neill	South Down
		Bríd Rodgers	Upper Bann
		John Tierney	Foyle
	Democratic Unionist Party (21)	Paul Berry	Newry and Armagh
		Gregory Campbell	East Londonderry
		Mervyn Carrick	Upper Bann
		Wilson Clyde	South Antrim
		Nigel Dodds	Belfast North
		Oliver Gibson	West Tyrone
		William Hay	Foyle
		David Hilditch	East Antrim
		William McCrea	Mid Ulster
		Maurice Morrow	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Ian Paisley	North Antrim
		Ian Paisley Jr.	North Antrim
		Edwin Poots	Lagan Valley
		Iris Robinson	Strangford
		Mark Robinson	Belfast South
		Peter Robinson	Belfast East
		Jim Shannon	Strangford
		Denis Watson ‡	Upper Bann
		Peter Weir ‡	North Down
		Jim Wells	South Down
		Sammy Wilson	Belfast East
	Sinn Féin (18)	Gerry Adams	Belfast West
		Bairbre de Brún	Belfast West
		Pat Doherty	West Tyrone
		Michelle Gildernew	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Gerry Kelly	Belfast North
		John Kelly	Mid Ulster
		Alex Maskey	Belfast West
		Barry McElduff	West Tyrone
		Martin McGuinness	Mid Ulster
		Gerry McHugh	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Mitchel McLaughlin	Foyle
		Pat McNamee	Newry and Armagh
		Francie Molloy	Mid Ulster
		Conor Murphy	Newry and Armagh
		Mick Murphy	South Down
		Mary Nelis	Foyle
		Dara O'Hagan	Upper Bann
		Sue Ramsey	Belfast West
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (5)	Eileen Bell	North Down
		Seamus Close	Lagan Valley
		David Ford	South Antrim
		Kieran McCarthy	Strangford
		Seán Neeson	East Antrim
	Progressive Unionist Party (2)	David Ervine	Belfast East
		Billy Hutchinson	Belfast North
	Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (2)	Monica McWilliams	Belfast South
		Jane Morrice	North Down
	UK Unionist Party (2)	Pauline Armitage ‡	East Londonderry
		Robert McCartney	North Down
	Northern Ireland Unionist Party (3)	Norman Boyd ‡	South Antrim
		Patrick Roche ‡	Lagan Valley
		Cedric Wilson ‡	Strangford
	United Unionist Coalition (2)	Fraser Agnew ‡	Belfast North
		Boyd Douglas ‡	East Londonderry
	Independent Unionist (2)	Roger Hutchinson ‡	East Antrim
		Gardiner Kane ‡	North Antrim
	Independent Nationalist (1)	Annie Courtney †‡	Foyle
	Speaker (1)	John Alderdice ‡	Belfast East

† Co-opted to replace an elected MLA

‡ Changed affiliation during the term

MLAs by constituency

The list is given in alphabetical order by constituency.

Members of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly
Constituency	Name	Party
Belfast East	Ian Adamson		Ulster Unionist Party
	John Alderdice ‡		Speaker
	Reg Empey		Ulster Unionist Party
	David Ervine		Progressive Unionist Party
	Peter Robinson		Democratic Unionist Party
	Sammy Wilson		Democratic Unionist Party
Belfast North	Fraser Agnew ‡		United Unionist Coalition
	Fred Cobain		Ulster Unionist Party
	Nigel Dodds		Democratic Unionist Party
	Billy Hutchinson		Progressive Unionist Party
	Gerry Kelly		Sinn Féin
	Alban Maginness		Social Democratic and Labour Party
Belfast South	Esmond Birnie		Ulster Unionist Party
	Carmel Hanna		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Alasdair McDonnell		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Michael McGimpsey		Ulster Unionist Party
	Monica McWilliams		Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
	Mark Robinson		Democratic Unionist Party
Belfast West	Gerry Adams		Sinn Féin
	Alex Attwood		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Bairbre de Brún		Sinn Féin
	Joe Hendron		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Alex Maskey		Sinn Féin
	Sue Ramsey		Sinn Féin
East Antrim	Roy Beggs, Jr.		Ulster Unionist Party
	Sean Neeson		Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
	David Hilditch		Democratic Unionist Party
	Roger Hutchinson ‡		Independent Unionist
	Danny O'Connor		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Ken Robinson		Ulster Unionist Party
East Londonderry	Pauline Armitage ‡		United Kingdom Unionist Party
	Gregory Campbell		Democratic Unionist Party
	Michael Coyle †		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	John Dallat		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Boyd Douglas ‡		United Unionist Coalition
	David McClarty		Ulster Unionist Party
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	Joan Carson		Ulster Unionist Party
	Sam Foster		Ulster Unionist Party
	Tommy Gallagher		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Michelle Gildernew		Sinn Féin
	Gerry McHugh		Sinn Féin
	Maurice Morrow		Democratic Unionist Party
Foyle	Annie Courtney †‡		Independent Nationalist
	Mark Durkan		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	William Hay		Democratic Unionist Party
	Mitchel McLaughlin		Sinn Féín
	Mary Nelis		Sinn Féín
	John Tierney		Social Democratic and Labour Party
Lagan Valley	Billy Bell		Ulster Unionist Party
	Seamus Close		Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
	Ivan Davis		Ulster Unionist Party
	Patricia Lewsley		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Edwin Poots		Democratic Unionist Party
	Patrick Roche ‡		Northern Ireland Unionist Party
Mid Ulster	Billy Armstrong		Ulster Unionist Party
	Denis Haughey		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	John Kelly		Sinn Féin
	William McCrea		Democratic Unionist Party
	Martin McGuinness		Sinn Féin
	Francie Molloy		Sinn Féin
Newry and Armagh	Paul Berry		Democratic Unionist Party
	John Fee		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Danny Kennedy		Ulster Unionist Party
	Pat McNamee		Sinn Féin
	Conor Murphy		Sinn Féin
	Seamus Mallon		Social Democratic and Labour Party
North Antrim	Robert Coulter		Ulster Unionist Party
	Sean Farren		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Gardiner Kane ‡		Independent Unionist
	James Leslie		Ulster Unionist Party
	Ian Paisley		Democratic Unionist Party
	Ian Paisley Jr		Democratic Unionist Party
North Down	Eileen Bell		Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
	John Gorman		Ulster Unionist Party
	Robert McCartney		United Kingdom Unionist Party
	Alan McFarland		Ulster Unionist Party
	Jane Morrice		Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
	Peter Weir ‡		Democratic Unionist Party
South Antrim	Norman Boyd ‡		Northern Ireland Unionist Party
	Wilson Clyde		Democratic Unionist Party
	David Ford		Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
	Donovan McClelland		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Duncan Shipley-Dalton		Ulster Unionist Party
	Jim Wilson		Ulster Unionist Party
South Down	P. J. Bradley		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Dermot Nesbitt		Ulster Unionist Party
	Eddie McGrady		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Mick Murphy		Sinn Féin
	Eamon O'Neill		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Jim Wells		Democratic Unionist Party
Strangford	Tom Hamilton †		Ulster Unionist Party
	Kieran McCarthy		Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
	Iris Robinson		Democratic Unionist Party
	Jim Shannon		Democratic Unionist Party
	John Taylor		Ulster Unionist Party
	Cedric Wilson ‡		Northern Ireland Unionist Party
Upper Bann	Mervyn Carrick		Democratic Unionist Party
	Dara O'Hagan		Sinn Féin
	Bríd Rodgers		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	George Savage		Ulster Unionist Party
	David Trimble		Ulster Unionist Party
	Denis Watson ‡		Democratic Unionist Party
West Tyrone	Joe Byrne		Social Democratic and Labour Party
	Pat Doherty		Sinn Féin
	Oliver Gibson		Democratic Unionist Party
	Derek Hussey		Ulster Unionist Party
	Barry McElduff		Sinn Féin
	Eugene McMenamin		Social Democratic and Labour Party

† Co-opted to replace an elected MLA ‡ Changed affiliation during the term

Changes since the election

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Constituency	Party		Outgoing	Co-optee	Reason
11 December 2000	Foyle		SDLP	John Hume	Annie Courtney	Resignation of John Hume.
22 January 2001	Strangford		UUP	Tom Benson	Tom Hamilton	Death of Tom Benson.
9 September 2002	East Londonderry		SDLP	Arthur Doherty	Michael Coyle	Death of Arthur Doherty.

‡ Changes in affiliation

Date	Constituency	Name	Previous affiliation		New affiliation		Circumstance
21 September 1998	Belfast North	Fraser Agnew		Ind. Unionist		United Unionist Coalition	Fraser Agnew established a new political party to access facilities provided to Assembly parties.
21 September 1998	East Londonderry	Boyd Douglas		Ind. Unionist		United Unionist Coalition	Boyd Douglas established a new political party to access facilities provided to Assembly parties.
21 September 1998	Upper Bann	Denis Watson		Ind. Unionist		United Unionist Coalition	Denis Watson established a new political party to access facilities provided to Assembly parties.
4 January 1999	Strangford	Cedric Wilson		UK Unionist		Ind. Unionist	Cedric Wilson left the UKUP in response to proposals from Robert McCartney to resign their Assembly seats in opposition to Sinn Féin participating in the Executive.
4 January 1999	South Antrim	Norman Boyd		UK Unionist		Ind. Unionist	Norman Boyd left the UKUP in response to proposals from Robert McCartney to resign their Assembly seats in opposition to Sinn Féin participating in the Executive.
4 January 1999	Lagan Valley	Patrick Roche		UK Unionist		Ind. Unionist	Patrick Roche left the UKUP in response to proposals from Robert McCartney to resign their Assembly seats in opposition to Sinn Féin participating in the Executive.
4 January 1999	East Antrim	Roger Hutchinson		UK Unionist		Ind. Unionist	Roger Hutchinson left the UKUP in response to proposals from Robert McCartney to resign their Assembly seats in opposition to Sinn Féin participating in the Executive.
24 March 1999	Strangford	Cedric Wilson		Ind. Unionist		NI Unionist	Cedric Wilson established the NIUP having recently left the UKUP.
24 March 1999	South Antrim	Norman Boyd		Ind. Unionist		NI Unionist	Norman Boyd established the NIUP having recently left the UKUP.
24 March 1999	Lagan Valley	Patrick Roche		Ind. Unionist		NI Unionist	Patrick Roche established the NIUP having recently left the UKUP.
24 March 1999	East Antrim	Roger Hutchinson		Ind. Unionist		NI Unionist	Roger Hutchinson established the NIUP having recently left the UKUP.
1 December 1999	East Antrim	Roger Hutchinson		NI Unionist		Ind. Unionist	Roger Hutchinson expelled from the NIUP for sitting on Assembly committees against party policy.
5 July 2000	Upper Bann	Denis Watson		United Unionist Coalition		DUP	Denis Watson joined the DUP.
2 November 2001	East Londonderry	Pauline Armitage		UUP		Ind. Unionist	Pauline Armitage suspended from the UUP for voting against the party whip.
9 November 2001	North Down	Peter Weir		UUP		Ind. Unionist	Peter Weir expelled from the UUP for refusing to support the re-nomination of David Trimble as First Minister.
1 April 2002	East Antrim	Roger Hutchinson		Ind. Unionist		DUP	Roger Hutchinson joined the DUP.
30 April 2002	North Down	Peter Weir		Ind. Unionist		DUP	Peter Weir joined the DUP.
11 November 2002	North Antrim	Gardiner Kane		DUP		Ind. Unionist	Gardiner Kane resigned from the DUP.
1 April 2003	Foyle	Annie Courtney		SDLP		Ind. Nationalist	Annie Courtney resigned from the SDLP after not being re-selected by the party as a candidate for the 2003 Assembly election.
12 June 2003	East Londonderry	Pauline Armitage		Ind. Unionist		UK Unionist	Pauline Armitage resigned her membership of UUP and joined the UKUP.
18 October 2003	East Antrim	Roger Hutchinson		DUP		Ind. Unionist	Roger Hutchinson resigned from the DUP to contest the 2003 Assembly election as an independent unionist.