Belfast Falls (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

54°35′31″N 5°57′47″W / 54.592°N 5.963°W / 54.592; -5.963

Belfast Falls
Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast Falls shown within Belfast and Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1973
Election method	First past the post

Belfast Falls was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Belfast Falls was a borough constituency comprising part of western Belfast. It was created in 1929, when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland.

Belfast Falls was created by the division of Belfast West into four new constituencies. It was formed from the Falls ward and included the Falls Road. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

Politics

The constituency was the most staunchly nationalist in Belfast. It was initially held by Nationalist Party members, then later by a variety of labour movement activists and members of smaller nationalist parties.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1929	Richard Byrne	Nationalist Party
1933
1938
1942	Eamon Donnelly	Independent Republican
1945	Harry Diamond	Socialist Republican Party
1949
1953
1958		Republican Labour Party
1962
1965
1969	Paddy Devlin	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1970	Paddy Devlin	Social Democratic and Labour Party
1973	Constituency abolished

Election results

Politics of Northern Ireland
(1921–72)

Government Governor Privy Council Ministries Prime Minister Craigavon ministry Andrews ministry Brookeborough ministry O'Neill ministry Chichester-Clark ministry Faulkner ministry Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments
Parliament Acts Statutory rules and orders Senate Speaker of the Senate Leader of the Senate House of Commons Speaker Leader of the Opposition Members 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 Senate
Elections Elections in Northern Ireland 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 By-elections Constituencies Political parties
See also Fourth Home Rule Bill Constitution Act 1973
Other countries
v t e

General Election 22 May 1929: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nationalist	Richard Byrne	6,941	55.8
	NI Labour	Billy McMullen	5,509	44.2
Majority			1,432	11.6
Turnout			12,450
	Nationalist win (new seat)

General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Richard Byrne	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Richard Byrne	5,334	53.3	*N/A*
	NI Labour	John Glass	4,667	46.7	New
Majority			667	6.6	N/A
Turnout			10,001
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

Death of Byrne

By-election 2 April 1942: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Republican	Eamon Donnelly	4,595	54.8	*New*
	Nationalist	George McGouran	1,971	23.5	−29.8
	NI Labour	John Glass	1,821	21.7	−25.0
Majority			2,623	31.3	N/A
Turnout			8,387
	Ind. Republican gain from Nationalist		Swing

General Election 14 June 1945: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Socialist Republican	Harry Diamond	5,016	42.9	*New*
	Federation of Labour	John Collins	3,912	33.5	New
	Nationalist	James McGlade	2,766	23.6	+0.1
Majority			1,104	9.4	N/A
Turnout			11,694
	Socialist Republican gain from Ind. Republican		Swing

General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Socialist Republican	Harry Diamond	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Socialist Republican hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 22 October 1953: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	7,510	73.1	*N/A*
	Independent Irish Labour	Seamus MacKearney	2,761	26.9	New
	Irish Labour	Jack MacGougan	1,361	11.8	New
Majority			4,749	46.2	N/A
Turnout			11,632
	Republican Labour gain from Socialist Republican		Swing	N/A

General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	7,510	73.1	0.0
	Independent Irish Labour	Seamus MacKearney	2,761	26.9	0.0
Majority			4,749	46.2	0.0
Turnout			10,271
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	7,662	76.6	+3.5
	Ind. Labour Group	John Joseph Brennan	2,343	23.4	New
Majority			5,319	53.2	+7.0
Turnout			10,005
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Republican Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Falls
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Paddy Devlin	6,275	53.1	*New*
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	5,549	46.9	N/A
Majority			726	6.2	N/A
Turnout			11,824		N/A
	NI Labour gain from Republican Labour		Swing	N/A

References

^ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
^ Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast

v t e Parliament of Northern Ireland constituencies
1921–1929	1929–1973
Antrim	Antrim Borough Bannside Carrick Larkfield (from 1969) Larne Mid Antrim Newtownabbey (from 1969) North Antrim South Antrim
Armagh	Central Armagh Mid Armagh North Armagh South Armagh
Belfast East	Belfast Bloomfield Belfast Dock Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria
Belfast North	Belfast Clifton Belfast Duncairn Belfast Oldpark Belfast Shankill
Belfast South	Belfast Ballynafeigh Belfast Cromac Belfast Willowfield Belfast Windsor
Belfast West	Belfast Central Belfast Falls Belfast St Anne's Belfast Woodvale
Down	Ards Bangor (from 1969) East Down Iveagh Lagan Valley (from 1969) Mid Down Mourne North Down South Down West Down
Fermanagh and Tyrone	East Tyrone Enniskillen Lisnaskea Mid Tyrone North Tyrone South Fermanagh South Tyrone West Tyrone
Londonderry	City of Londonderry Foyle Mid Londonderry North Londonderry South Londonderry
Queen's University	Queen's University (to 1969)

Parliamentary constituencies in County Antrim and the city of Belfast

Parliament of Ireland
to 1800

County Antrim (???–1800)
Antrim (1666–1800)
Belfast (1613–1800)
Carrickfergus (1326–1800)
Lisburn (1661–1800)
Randalstown (???–1800)

Westminster 1801–present

Historic

Antrim (1801–85, 1922–50)
Mid Antrim (1885–1922)
Belfast (1801–85)
Belfast Cromac (1918–22)
Belfast Duncairn (1918–22)
Belfast Falls (1918–22)
Belfast Ormeau (1918–22)
Belfast Pottinger (1918–22)
Belfast Shankill (1918–22)
Belfast South (1885–1918, 1922–2024)
Belfast St Anne's (1918–22)
Belfast Victoria (1918–22)
Belfast Woodvale (1918–22)
Carrickfergus (1801–85)
Lisburn (1801–85)
Queen's University of Belfast (1918–50)

Current

East Antrim (1885–1922, 1983—)
North Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
South Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
Belfast East (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast North (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast South and Mid Down (2024—)
Belfast West (1885–1918, 1922—)
Lagan Valley 1983—

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

First Dáil
1919–21

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast Cromac Belfast Duncairn Belfast Falls Belfast Ormeau Belfast Pottinger Belfast St Anne's Belfast Shankill Belfast Victoria Belfast Woodvale Queen's University of Belfast

Second Dáil
1921–22

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Queen's University of Belfast

Parliament of Northern Ireland
1921–72

1921–29

Antrim (1921–29)
Belfast East (1921–29)
Belfast North (1921–29)
Belfast South (1921–29)
West Belfast (1921–29)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)

1929–72

Bannside (1929–72)
Belfast Ballynafeigh (1929–72)
Belfast Bloomfield (1929–72)
Belfast Central (1929–72)
Belfast Clifton (1929–72)
Belfast Cromac (1929–72)
Belfast Dock (1929–72)
Belfast Duncairn (1929–72)
Belfast Falls (1929–72)
Belfast Oldpark (1929–72)
Belfast Pottinger (1929–72)
Belfast Shankill (1929–72)
Belfast St Anne's (1929–72)
Belfast Victoria (1929–72)
Belfast Willowfield (1929–72)
Belfast Windsor (1929–72)
Belfast Woodvale (1929–72)
Carrick (1929–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Larne (1929–72)
Mid Antrim (1929–72)
Newtownabbey (1969–72)
North Antrim (1929–72)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)
South Antrim (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West
Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	East Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Lagan Valley

European Parliament
1979–2020

Northern Ireland

Constituencies in Ireland by county
Republic of Ireland	Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Dublin Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow
Northern Ireland	Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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