Consequently, on 27 November 1980, Humphrey Atkins, reported to the House of Commons that there was little prospect for a devolved government in Northern Ireland due to a lack of consensus amongst the parties.

The British government was clear that it was an "essential precondition" for a devolved administration to successfully function that any proposals needed the support of both Unionists and Nationalists in Northern Ireland.

Great interest centred on the performance of Sinn Féin, fighting its first full election in many decades and on the inter-Unionist rivalry between the DUP and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

[7] Mallon described his disqualification as a "symbolic disbarment" of the SDLP from political life in Northern Ireland and said that the British Government was guilty of a "complete portfolio of abuses of democracy".

[7] The SDLP's representatives were by this time demoralised, unsure of what role constitutional nationalism had in Northern Ireland and seriously considered a mass resignation of their Assembly seats, even with the risk that Sinn Féin might take them in the ensuing by-election.

[7] The SDLP felt further vindicated in abstaining from the Assembly after Harold McCusker allegedly told the Alliance Party's John Cushnahan he could not support him as chairman of the education committee because he was Catholic.

FitzGerald believed the move prevented an even larger proportion of the "frustrated minority population" voting for Sinn Féin and added that "There is no point in the SDLP attending the Assembly, in which the parties of the vast majority of seats are committed against any possibility of power-sharing... That's, just a dead-end, a cul-de-sac."

He said he wished to sustain the SDLP as a moderate nationalist party because an undermining of its position FitzGerald feared would be "highly dangerous" for the stability of the entire island.

The following month the Secretary of State, James Prior, made his second appearance before the Assembly and stressed that it was an "essential precondition" for devolved government to operate successfully in Northern Ireland that any proposals must have substantial support from "both sides of the community".

[3] In June 1983 the Assembly passed a motion, supported by the DUP and UUP, demanding that British authorities "crack down" on the flying of the Irish tricolour in Northern Ireland.

Days later republican paramilitaries opened fire on churchgoers at a Pentecostal Church in Darkley, County Armagh; in protest the UUP withdrew from the Assembly citing what they regarded as inadequate security.

In the following months four UUP representatives (John Carson, Raymond Ferguson, James Kirkpatrick and William Thompson) defied the party line and returned to the Assembly.

Westminster UUP MP Ken Maginnis attempted to amend the 1982 Act by altering the 70 per cent requirement so that it only applied to those attending the Assembly rather than the total elected membership, meaning a devolved government could be created without a role for Nationalist politicians.

The UUP opposed power-sharing, citing the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention report of 1975 and also rejected the "Irish dimension" sought by the SDLP.

In it the DUP, like the UUP, rejected power-sharing with the SDLP but in contrast argued for the restoration of a majority rule government led by a Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, albeit with a nod to "safeguards" for minorities.

[3] Throughout 1985 the idea of the Irish Government having input in Northern Ireland's internal workings gained traction in the public space as Hurd admitted such arrangements were being actively discussed.

The final meeting of the Assembly before the 4 July recess was marked by disorder and two Alliance politicians were ordered to leave the chamber for referring to DUP members as "thugs" and "gangsters".

[3] The growing anxiety of Unionists was highlighted when during the summer recess James Molyneaux and Ian Paisley sent a letter to Margaret Thatcher signaling their readiness to consider any "reasonable" proposal for safeguarding Catholic/Nationalists interests in a devolved government short of actual seats in Cabinet (i.e. no power-sharing).

[3] The Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald on 15 November 1985 at Hillsborough Castle and gave the Irish government for the first time a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland through an "Inter Governmental Conference".

On 16 November the Assembly held a special adjournment debate at which the members, bar Alliance, voted to request a referendum in Northern Ireland on the Agreement.