Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance

In the wake of the First World War and Partition of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Civil Service was organised out of the remnants of the Dublin Castle administration. The Unionist Government set up six Ministries (Finance, Home Affairs, Education, Agriculture, Commerce and Labour) and a Prime Minister's Office. It essentially mirrored the set-up in Great Britain, with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance becoming the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

The earliest incarnation of what was to become NIPSA was the Belfast and District Public Officers’ Association (BDPOA), but it was short-lived, down to its own success, when it opened a Derry branch and became the Ulster Public Officers’ Association. Its first General Secretary was John Walters.[2]

In 1922, another organisation, The Association of Established Civil Servants, sprung up and sought Whitley recognition from the NICS, but this was met with resistance, not least from HM Pollock, the then Minister for Finance, who instead suggested the establishment of House Committees with separate employee and employer sides, but this never materialised.[3]

The Government eventually set up a Civil Service Representative Council which was a shadow of the Whitley model campaigned for by the AECS. It had a purely consultative role.

In 1929, the CSRC became the subject of a parliamentary row when Nationalist MP Patrick O’Neill informed Minister Pollock during a debate that not one of the CSRC's 17 was a Roman Catholic. Its legitimacy was continually knocked by the AECS but it remained the only staff side mechanism recognised by the Government.

The AECS resigned all its members from the CSCR in 1933 which led to the dissolution of both organisations. They were replaced less than six months later by a new organisation, the Association of Civil Servants in the Government of Northern Ireland. It took until 1937 to receive recognition from the Government but it remained the principal staff association of Civil Servants until 1950.[4]

The AGSGNI became the Northern Ireland Civil Servants’ Association in 1950. It organised 64 branches across Northern Ireland, and although most remained geographically based a significant number retained a specialised nature, (e.g. telephonists and cleaners).

In 1953, the Association boasted a growing membership of 5,000. Brendan Harkin, a former organiser with the Electrical Trades Union and convenor with the Confederation of Shipbuilding & Engineering Unions (Confed), was appointed NICSA Assistant Secretary.[5]

The NICSA, AECS and Civil Service Association merged in 1971 to become NIPSA, with Brendan Harkin as its first General Secretary.

Between conferences NIPSA's executive power rests with the annually elected General Council. The 25 member body is elected through a secret ballot of the Union's 46,000 members.[6]

There are two main groupings on the General Council, NIPSA Broad Left and NIPSA Unity. According to a Fair Employment Tribunal decision in 2016, Unity "comprises members of the Communist Party of Ireland, members of Sinn Féin and others", while Broad Left "comprises members of the Socialist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, People Before Profit and others".[7] Newton Emerson, writing in The Irish News, characterises Unity as "far left" and Broad Left as "even farther left".[8]

The Civil Service Group's executive control is vested in its Annual Delegate Conference which convenes on the day preceding the NIPSA General Conference. It is here that the Civil Service Group Executive is elected from an electoral college made up of attending branches. Despite what is often perceived as a Civil Service bias with NIPSA, it is actually the Civil Service Group which is the smaller of the two sections.[9]

The Public Officers' Group essentially mirrors that of the Civil Service Group. Its conference is held on the same day and its executive committee is elected in a similar manner.[10]