Executive of the 6th Northern Ireland Assembly | |
---|---|
Date formed | 11 January 2020 |
Date dissolved | 4 February 2022 |
People and organisations | |
Head of state | Elizabeth II |
Head of government | Paul Givan |
Deputy head of government | Michelle O'Neill |
No. of ministers | 10 (+ 2 junior ministers) |
Member party | DUP Sinn Féin SDLP UUP Alliance |
Status in legislature | Power–sharing coalition 85 / 90 (94%) |
History | |
Election(s) | 2017 assembly election |
Legislature term(s) | 6th Assembly |
Predecessor | Executive of the 5th Assembly |
Successor | Executive of the 7th Assembly |
This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
The Executive of the 6th Northern Ireland Assembly was appointed on 11 January 2020, after the confirmation of Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill as First and deputy First Ministers.
Following the 2 March 2017 elections to the sixth Northern Ireland Assembly, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin remained the two largest parties in the Assembly. Parties in Northern Ireland that were eligible to join the Northern Ireland Executive were given a deadline of 27 March 2017 to form an Executive. The deadline passed and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire passed an emergency law at Westminster to allow more time for talks to take place. Brokenshire threatened direct rule if no agreement was reached by early May 2017. This deadline was later extended to 29 June after Prime Minister, Theresa May's decision to call a snap general election for 8 June 2017.
On 29 June 2017, the DUP and Sinn Féin had both announced that they had not come to an agreement to form the next Northern Ireland Executive. Brokenshire extended the deadline until 3 July 2017 for further talks to continue. Abortive talks continued intermittently through 2017, 2018 and 2019 but were overshadowed by the UK Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and the DUP role in supporting the minority British Government. Intensive talks resumed in December 2019 following the 2019 UK General Election with a new deadline of 13 January 2020 for fresh assembly elections set by Secretary of State Julian Smith. An agreement was published by the two governments on 9 January 2020 and it was accepted by the leading parties.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland returned to the Executive, having been absent since 2016; Alliance's Naomi Long obtained the cross-community vote to become Minister for Justice. [1]
The 2024 Northern Ireland Executive Formation will restore power-sharing at Stormont. [2]
Portfolio | Minister | Party | Term | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Executive Ministers | ||||
First Minister | Arlene Foster | DUP | 2020–2021 | |
Deputy First Minister | Michelle O'Neill | Sinn Féin | 2020–2021 | |
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs | Edwin Poots | DUP | 2020–2022 | |
Communities | Deirdre Hargey | Sinn Féin | 2020–2022 | |
Economy | Diane Dodds | DUP | 2020–2021 | |
Education | Peter Weir | DUP | 2020–2021 | |
Finance | Conor Murphy | Sinn Féin | 2020–2022 | |
Health | Robin Swann | Ulster Unionist | 2020–2022 | |
Infrastructure | Nichola Mallon | SDLP | 2020–2022 | |
Justice | Naomi Long | Alliance | 2020–2022 | |
Also attending Executive meetings | ||||
Junior Minister (assisting the First Minister) | Gordon Lyons | DUP | 2020–2021 | |
Junior Minister (assisting the deputy First Minister) | Declan Kearney | Sinn Féin | 2020–2022 | |
Changes 14 June 2021 | ||||
Office | Name | Party | Term | |
Economy | Paul Frew | DUP | 2021 | |
Education | Michelle McIlveen | DUP | 2021–2022 | |
Changes 17 June 2021 | ||||
Office | Name | Party | Term | |
First Minister | Paul Givan | DUP | 2021–2022 | |
Deputy First Minister | Michelle O'Neill | Sinn Féin | 2021–2022 | |
Junior Minister (assisting the First Minister) | Gary Middleton | DUP | 2021–2022 | |
Changes 6 July 2021 | ||||
Office | Name | Party | Term | |
Economy | Gordon Lyons | DUP | 2021–2022 | |
Changes 3 February 2022 | ||||
Office | Name | Party | Term | |
First Minister | Vacant | 2022 | ||
Deputy First Minister | Vacant | 2022 | ||
Changes 16 May 2022 | ||||
Office | Name | Party | Term | |
Infrastructure | John O'Dowd | Sinn Féin | 2022 |
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It was created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The new autonomous Northern Ireland was formed from six of the nine counties of Ulster: four counties with unionist majorities – Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Derry/Londonderry – and two counties with slight Irish nationalist majorities – Fermanagh and Tyrone – in the 1918 General Election. The remaining three Ulster counties with larger nationalist majorities were not included. In large part unionists, at least in the north-east, supported its creation while nationalists were opposed.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson, it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
The Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement. The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.
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