Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges

The Northern Ireland Committee on Standards and Privileges is appointed by the Northern Ireland Assembly to oversee the work of the Commissioner for Standards at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

History

The committee was created in 1999 as implementation of schedule 6 the Northern Ireland Act 1998: "preventing conduct which would constitute a criminal offence or contempt of court" and a "a sub judice rule."^[1] Following the Belfast Agreement, a committee on standards and privileges was established under the standing orders of the Northern Ireland Assembly.^[2]

Membership

Membership of the committee is as follows:

Party		Member[3]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Cathy Mason MLA (Chairperson)	South Down
	Alliance	Connie Egan MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	North Down
	Alliance	Stewart Dickson MLA	East Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Jemma Dolan MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	SDLP	Mark H. Durkan MLA	Foyle
	DUP	Paul Frew MLA	North Antrim
	DUP	Harry Harvey MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Brian Kingston MLA	Belfast North
	Sinn Féin	Declan McAleer MLA	West Tyrone

2022–2027 Assembly

Party		Member[4]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Chairperson)	Belfast North
	Alliance	Stewart Dickson MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	East Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Jemma Dolan MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Stephen Dunne MLA	North Down
	Alliance	Connie Egan MLA	North Down
	DUP	Paul Frew MLA	North Antrim
	DUP	Harry Harvey MLA	Mid Ulster
	Sinn Féin	Cathy Mason MLA	South Down
	SDLP	Colin McGrath MLA	South Down

Changes 2022–2027

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
8 April 2024		Stephen Dunne MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley	→		Brian Kingston MLA (DUP)	Belfast North
8 November 2024		Stewart Dickson MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Alliance)	East Antrim	→		Connie Egan MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Alliance)	North Down
3 February 2025		Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Belfast North	→		Cathy Mason MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	South Down
10 February 2025		Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast North	→		Declan McAleer MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
8 September 2025		Colin McGrath MLA (SDLP)	South Down	→		Mark H. Durkan MLA (SDLP)	Foyle

2017-2022 Assembly

Party		Member[5]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Sinéad Ennis MLA (Chairperson)	South Down
	DUP	William Irwin MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Newry and Armagh
	UUP	Doug Beattie MLA	Upper Bann
	DUP	Pam Cameron MLA	South Antrim
	Alliance	Stewart Dickson MLA	East Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Colm Gildernew MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Declan McAleer MLA	West Tyrone
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	George Robinson MLA	East Londonderry

Changes 2017-2022

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
6 July 2020		Doug Beattie MLA (UUP)	Upper Bann	→		John Stewart MLA (UUP)	East Antrim
5 October 2020		Colm Gildernew MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Seán Lynch MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
19 October 2020		John Stewart MLA (UUP)	East Antrim	→		Steve Aiken MLA (UUP)	South Antrim
14 June 2021		William Irwin MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Newry and Armagh	→		Christopher Stalford MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Belfast South
2 July 2021		Seán Lynch MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→	Vacant
20 September 2021		Sinéad Ennis MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	South Down	→		Linda Dillon MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster
27 September 2021		George Robinson MLA (DUP)	East Londonderry	→		Sinéad Bradley MLA (SDLP)	South Down
27 September 2021	Vacant			→		Áine Murphy MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
20 February 2022		Christopher Stalford MLA (DUP)	Belfast South	→	Vacant

2016-2017 Assembly

Party		Member[6]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Cathal Boylan MLA (Chairperson)	Newry and Armagh
	DUP	Adrian McQuillan MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	East Londonderry
	UUP	Doug Beattie MLA	Upper Bann
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw MLA	Belfast South
	DUP	Joanne Bunting MLA	Belfast East
	People Before Profit	Gerry Carroll MLA	Belfast West
	Sinn Féin	Linda Dillon MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Sammy Douglas MLA	Belfast East
	DUP	Emma Little-Pengelly MLA	Belfast South
	Sinn Féin	Seán Lynch MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	SDLP	Richie McPhillips MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Changes 2016-2017

None

2011-2016 Assembly

Party		Member[7]	Constituency
	DUP	Alastair Ross MLA (Chairperson)	East Antrim
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Strangford
	Green (NI)	Steven Agnew MLA	North Down
	DUP	Paula Bradley MLA	Belfast North
	Sinn Féin	Cathal Boylan MLA	Newry and Armagh
	UUP	Michael Copeland MLA	Belfast East
	DUP	Jonathan Craig MLA	Lagan Valley
	Sinn Féin	Pat Doherty MLA	West Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann MLA	Belfast West
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	David McIlveen MLA	North Antrim

Changes 2011-2016

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
26 September 2011		Michael Copeland MLA (UUP)	Belfast East	→		Sandra Overend MLA (UUP)	Mid Ulster
23 April 2012		Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster	→		Colum Eastwood MLA (SDLP)	Foyle
2 July 2012		Pat Doherty MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone	→		Alex Maskey MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast South
10 September 2012		Alex Maskey MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast South	→		Francie Molloy MLA (Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster
3 December 2012		Paula Bradley MLA (DUP)	Belfast North	→		Ian McCrea MLA (DUP)	Mid Ulster
15 April 2013		Francie Molloy MLA (Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster	→		Declan McAleer MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
15 April 2013		Jonathan Craig MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley	→		Paula Bradley MLA (DUP)	Belfast North
7 May 2013		David McIlveen MLA (DUP)	North Antrim	→		Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann
16 September 2013		Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann	→		Mervyn Storey MLA (DUP)	North Antrim
30 September 2013		Kieran McCarthy MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Alliance)	Strangford	→		Anna Lo MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Alliance)	Belfast South
6 October 2014		Paula Bradley MLA (DUP)	Belfast North	→		David Hilditch MLA (DUP)	East Antrim
		Mervyn Storey MLA (DUP)	North Antrim			Robin Newton MLA (DUP)	Belfast East
8 December 2014		Ian McCrea MLA (DUP)	Mid Ulster	→		Sammy Douglas MLA (DUP)	Belfast East
10 December 2014		Alastair Ross MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	East Antrim	→		Jimmy Spratt MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Belfast South
18 May 2015		Sammy Douglas MLA (DUP)	Belfast East	→		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone
28 September 2015		Jimmy Spratt MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Belfast South	→		Paul Givan MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Lagan Valley
5 October 2015		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Gordon Dunne MLA (DUP)	North Down
11 January 2016		Colum Eastwood MLA (SDLP)	Foyle	→		Gerard Diver MLA (SDLP)	Foyle

2007-2011 Assembly

Party		Member[8]	Constituency
	SDLP	Carmel Hanna MLA (Chairperson)	Belfast South
	Sinn Féin	Gerry McHugh MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Allan Bresland MLA	West Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke MLA	South Down
	UUP	Robert Coulter MLA	North Antrim
	DUP	Alex Easton MLA	North Down
	DUP	David Hilditch MLA	East Antrim
	DUP	Adrian McQuillan MLA	East Londonderry
	Sinn Féin	Francie Molloy MLA	Mid Ulster
	UUP	George Savage MLA	Upper Bann
	Green (NI)	Brian Wilson MLA	North Down

Changes 2007-2011

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
29 May 2007		Adrian McQuillan MLA (DUP)	East Londonderry	→		Alastair Ross MLA (DUP)	East Antrim
20 January 2008		Gerry McHugh MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Willie Clarke MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	South Down
27 January 2008		Gerry McHugh MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Claire McGill MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
20 May 2008		Paul Maskey MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West	→		Claire McGill MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
15 September 2008		Alex Easton MLA (DUP)	North Down	→		Jonathan Craig MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley
3 July 2009		Carmel Hanna MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	Belfast South	→		[[Declan O'Loan] MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	North Antrim
14 September 2009		Jonathan Craig MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley	→		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone
		David Hilditch MLA (DUP)	East Antrim			Trevor Clarke MLA (DUP)	South Antrim
11 December 2009		Francis Brolly MLA (Sinn Féin)	East Londonderry	→	Vacant
11 January 2010	Vacant			→		Billy Leonard MLA (Sinn Féin)	East Londonderry
20 April 2010		Billy Leonard MLA (Sinn Féin)	East Londonderry	→		Mickey Brady MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh
31 May 2010		Declan O'Loan MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	North Antrim	→		Pat Ramsey MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	Foyle
25 June 2010		Pat Ramsey MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	Foyle	→		Declan O'Loan MLA (Chairperson, SDLP)	North Antrim
14 September 2010		Allan Bresland MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann
		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone			Paul Frew MLA (DUP)	North Antrim
		Trevor Clarke MLA (DUP)	South Antrim			Ian McCrea MLA (DUP)	Mid Ulster
2 November 2010		George Savage MLA (UUP)	Upper Bann	→		Billy Armstrong MLA (UUP)	Mid Ulster

1998-2003 Assembly

Party		Member[9]	Constituency
	SDLP	Donovan McClelland MLA (Chairperson)	South Antrim
	UUP	Ian Adamson MLA	Belfast East
	UUP	Roy Beggs Jr MLA	East Antrim
	SDLP	Arthur Doherty MLA	East Londonderry
	UUP	John Gorman MLA	North Down
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy MLA	Strangford
	Sinn Féin	Pat McNamee MLA	Newry and Armagh
	SDLP	Danny O'Connor MLA	East Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Dara O'Hagan MLA	Upper Bann
	DUP	Edwin Poots MLA	Lagan Valley
	DUP	Jim Wells MLA	South Down

Changes 1998-2003

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
11 September 2000		Edwin Poots MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley	→		Paul Berry MLA (DUP)	Newry and Armagh
6 March 2002		Roy Beggs Jr MLA (UUP)	East Antrim	→		Derek Hussey MLA (Deputy Chairperson, UUP)	West Tyrone
1 July 2002		Pat McNamee MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh	→		Mick Murphy MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down
16 September 2002		Arthur Doherty MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry	→		Michael Coyle MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry

External links

• The Committee's website