# Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (repealed), Paragraph 2

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) The first meeting of the forum shall be at a time decided by the Secretary of State.
(2) The time decided under sub-paragraph (1) shall be—
(a) after the commencement of negotiations within section 2, and
(b) within, or as soon as possible after the expiry of, the period of four weeks beginning with the date of the poll in the elections.
(3) Subsequent meetings shall be at times determined by the members of the forum.
(4) But the forum shall not meet at any time notified by the Secretary of State to the chairman as being a time when, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, it would not be appropriate for the forum to meet because negotiations within section 2 are intended to take place; but the Secretary of State shall not prevent the holding of a meeting for more than four consecutive weeks.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/11/schedule/2/paragraph/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-entry-to-negotiations-etc-act-1996-repealed/schedule-2/paragraph-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.