The word
Stormont is used in three different inter-related contexts in
Northern Ireland.
- Stormont is a suburb of the city of Belfast, in which the Northern Ireland Parliament building is located.
- Stormont is a general term used to describe a system of government produced by the unionist-dominated Parliament of Northern Ireland that governed the Northern Ireland state from 1921 to 1972. To northern Ireland nationalists and republicans, 'Stormont' is used as a codeword for institutionalised unionist domination and discrimination. To unionists, Stormont is perceived as a home rule system of government based on majority rule[?]. Current Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble has conceded that under Stormont rule, Northern Ireland was a cold house for catholics.
- Stormont is a general term used to describe the Parliament Building in Northern Ireland, which is located in the Stormont area of Belfast. It is now the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly[?] created under the Belfast Agreement, and also of the Executive Committee or power-sharing cabinet created under the Agreement, in which nationalists and unionists share power.