The Privy Council of Northern Ireland is a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of Ireland.

The council was created in 1922 as a result of the division of Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The latter remained part of the United Kingdom, albeit with its own parliament. The previous Privy Council of Ireland was obsolete although never formally abolished in British law.

The Privy Council of Northern Ireland consisted of senior members of the Government of Northern Ireland, including the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland; its members were appointed for life. The Council usually met at Hillsborough Castle, and meetings would be attended by the Governor of Northern Ireland and several Privy Counsellors. The Governor-in-Council performed a range of functions, from summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the Parliament of Northern Ireland to making statutory rules in accordance with various Acts of Parliament. However, the Council's proceedings were purely formal, with no debate or discussion.

The last appointments were made in 1971, after which it was effectively abolished when the office of Governor and the Parliament of Northern Ireland were formally abolished in 1973[1] and its powers were transferred to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a member of the British Cabinet.

Members are entitled to use the prefix The Right Honourable, whilst peers who are members use the post-nominal letters PC (NI). Two members are still living as of May 2022: Lord Kilclooney (appointed 1970) and Robin Bailie (appointed 1971).

Notable members

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973".

See also

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