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| | Northern Ireland Assembly Encyclopedia Article, Definition, History, Biography (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13) |
 | | The Assembly is based on the principle of power-sharing, in order to ensure that both communities in Northern Ireland, unionist and nationalist, participate in governing the region. |
 | | The Assembly was first convened in 1998 but attempts to secure its operation on a permanent basis have been frustrated by disagreements between the two biggest unionist parties and Sinn Féin, the largest nationalist party, which is linked to the Provisional IRA. |
 | | The 1998 Act provides that, unless the Assembly is dissolved early, elections should occur once in every five years on the first Thursday in May. However the second election to the Assembly was delayed by the UK government until 23 November 2003. |
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