NI 100: Event to mark centenary of parliament's official opening

A special event has been held at Belfast City Hall to mark the 100th anniversary of the official opening of Northern Ireland's first parliament.

It was opened by King George V, whose speech calling for reconciliation on the island was read once more.

The royal visit on 22 June 1921 confirmed NI's creation. Some historians believe the speech helped end the War of Independence.

The existence of the border remains a subject of political debate.

Two former party leaders have made different predictions about the constitutional future of Northern Ireland.

The new parliament was officially opened by King George V on 22 June 1921

Former Ulster Unionist leader Lord Empey has said he was convinced it will still exist in another century, while retired Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said he there could be a united Ireland within the next 20 years.

In a BBC News NI interview, Mr Adams, 72, was asked whether, if he lived to 90, he would see a united Ireland.

"I would imagine so, I would like to think so," he replied.

"I certainly think our children and our grandchildren will grow old in a united Ireland."

Actors Stephen Beggs and Mary Lindsay re-enacted the reading of King George V's speech at Belfast City Hall on Tuesday evening

Events are being held throughout 2021 to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland including an inter-denominational church service and an investment conference.

The visit to Belfast of King George V, the grandfather of the current Queen, was one of the landmark political events in 1921.

He arrived by boat with his wife Queen Mary and went straight to Belfast City Hall by horse-drawn carriage to carry out the state opening of the newly-created parliament.

It was set up two weeks previously, in line with the Westminster model of a lower and upper house.

Huge crowds gathered at Belfast City Hall for the state opening of parliament in 1921

The Northern Ireland House of Commons contained 52 members but only the 40 unionists took their seats.

The King addressed them in what is now the council chamber at Belfast City Hall.

To mark the centenary of that event, Belfast City Council arranged an event on Tuesday evening at which the King's speech was read out again.

At 22:30 BST, a lighting animation, featuring images of King George V's visit, will be projected on the facade of City Hall.

Portuguese royalty in Belfast

The chairs used by the royal couple 100 years ago were retained and recently underwent conservation work - they featured in Tuesday's centenary event.

King George V and Queen Mary sat on the chairs in Belfast City Hall 100 years ago

Belfast Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme that when that work took place deep-blue silk lining the chairs was discovered.

Experts were able to trace the silk back to Portugal, where the chairs had belonged to King Manuel II, and when it became a republic, the deposed king moved to Twickenham in England.

"For some reason these chairs ended up in the ownership of Sir Crawford McCullagh who lent [them] to City Hall for the event and the council later bought them," said Ms Nicholl.

Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl says the anniversary marks the "shared complex history" of Northern Ireland

The 100th anniversary of the official opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament would mean different things to different people, said the lord mayor.

"Every political party signed up this programme of events," she said.

"I feel conscious of the magnitude of this day historically but also proud that we have been able to mark key events in the decade in such an inclusive way.

"I think you can be distracted by the dysfunction of Stormont sometimes but if you look at local leadership it can be heartening as there is collaboration and cross-community work.

"The majority of people are able to be good neighbours and work well together."

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