NI 100: Laying the foundations of the Northern Ireland Parliament

The inaugural meeting of Northern Ireland's Parliament took place in Belfast City Hall

Northern Ireland's first prime minister Sir James Craig came into office exactly 100 years ago.

It took another 11 years for the new parliament in which he sat to move into a permanent home.

Craig was still prime minister when Stormont's Parliament Buildings opened in November 1932.

Before the move to east Belfast, most sessions of the 52-seat parliament were held in the south of the city at the Presbyterian Church's training college.

Negotiations were held in the summer of 1921 to decide on the annual rent.

The initial offer was £5,000 but that was rejected and in the end £8,000 was agreed.

Although the parliament was based from late 1921-1932 in the Presbyterian college, the initial meetings were held in the council chamber at Belfast City Hall, including the inaugural meeting on 7 June.

A picture from the time shows it was a grand occasion, but the pomp and ceremony was not on the same scale as the official opening 15 days later by King George V.

Sir James Craig, centre, pictured here with his family

Nonetheless, the 7 June meeting has its own place in political history.

Sir James Craig, the Unionist leader at the time, was appointed prime minister and went on to serve in the post for the next two decades, until his death in 1940.

Of the 52 elected MPs, only Unionists took their seats. Nationalist and Sinn Féin members, including Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins, stayed away.

The make-up of the parliament was:

• 40 Unionists

• 6 Nationalists

• 6 Sinn Féin

Craig, who later became Viscount Craigavon, was personally involved in the negotiations to find a home for the new parliament.

The building of Stormont took much longer than expected

The Presbyterian Church has kept records of correspondence it received about using its training college building on a temporary basis.

In one letter, Craig wrote to "ascertain whether the college would be made available for our new Parliament House during the three years or so which it will take to erect a permanent building, and on what terms?"

• The huge challenges that faced NI's new government

• The election that allowed a two-year-old to vote

• Tracing the history of the 100-year-old Irish border

Financial negotiations took place and by September 1921 the parliament was up and running in its new temporary home at Assembly College, which is now known as the Union Theological College.

The building of Stormont took much longer than expected.

'A palace in no-man's land'

Other venues for the parliament were considered, including Belfast Castle and Belvoir Park.

One of the reasons Stormont was chosen was the space around it, 224 acres in total.

The building was constructed near the highest point and is 365 feet wide, one foot for each day of the year.

However, the location on the edge of the city raised eyebrows in some quarters.

The Nationalist politician Joe Devlin described it as a "palace in no-man's land".

Construction work at Stormont in June 1925

The creation of the Northern Ireland Parliament came about as a result of the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, which partitioned Ireland.

Six counties in the north east of the island - Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone - remained part of the United Kingdom, while the other 26 counties eventually became independent.

Northern Ireland officially became a political entity on 3 May 1921.

Unionists were keen to hold an election as soon as possible and set up new political structures, to copper-fasten the newly-created border.

The absence of a settled location for a new parliament did not stop them putting the new arrangements in place.

The BBC News NI website has a dedicated section marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland and partition of the island.

There are special reports on the major figures of the time and the events that shaped modern Ireland available at bbc.co.uk/ni100.

Year '21: You can also explore how Northern Ireland was created a hundred years ago in the company of Tara Mills and Declan Harvey.

Listen to the latest Year '21 podcast on BBC Sounds or catch-up on previous episodes.

Image credits

• D1415_A_11~46_47A~P - With kind permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

• D1415/D/14 - With kind permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

• D1415/D/14 - With kind permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

• CWPB/1/1 - With kind permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

• CWPB/1/1 - With kind permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland