Junior Minister (Northern Ireland)
Encyclopedia
The term Junior Minister, in Northern Ireland
, is the name given to two positions in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
(OFMDFM).
The incumbent junior ministers are Jonathan Bell
(Democratic Unionist Party
) and Martina Anderson
(Sinn Féin
).
Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,, the First Minister and deputy First Minister
acting jointly may determine that a number of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly
shall be appointed as junior ministers.
The salary of each junior minister in 2007-2008 (when devolution was restored) was £60,067.42, which increased to the current level of £62,709.96 in 2008-2009.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party
(SDLP) called for the immediate abolition of the junior minister positions in its 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election manifesto.
and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
announced the creation of the new post of Assembly Private Secretary, available to all ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive
.
The position is similar to that of a parliamentary private secretary
in the House of Commons, providing political support to the Minister within the department. It is non-salaried and held by a backbencher
from the same party as the Minister. While not ministerial, and therefore below the rank of Junior Minister, it provides experience to members considered as potential future ministers. It is not compulsory to appoint an Assembly Private Secretary; indeed the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
has not made appointments.
As of May 2011, OFMDFM officials were drawing up a code of conduct and enabling processes to facilitate the creation of the posts. None had been published by October 2011, meaning that the posts had not been created by the Northern Ireland Assembly
up to that point. However, they were declared as public offices in the register of members' interests on 29 June 2011 and 7 October 2011.
The prospective Assembly Private Secretaries are:
Democratic Unionist Party
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin has adopted the term Parliamentary Under Secretary to describe the position.
Ulster Unionist Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, is the name given to two positions in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive...
(OFMDFM).
The incumbent junior ministers are Jonathan Bell
Jonathan Bell (UK politician)
Jonathan Fergus Bell MLA is a Democratic Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland. He was selected in 2010 to fill the vacancy for the Strangford constituency of the Northern Ireland Assembly following the resignation of Iris Robinson...
(Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
) and Martina Anderson
Martina Anderson
Martina Anderson, MLA is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who occupies the post of Director of Unionist Engagement for Sinn Féin and is a former volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Biography:...
(Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
).
Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,, the First Minister and deputy First Minister
First Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
acting jointly may determine that a number of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...
shall be appointed as junior ministers.
The salary of each junior minister in 2007-2008 (when devolution was restored) was £60,067.42, which increased to the current level of £62,709.96 in 2008-2009.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
(SDLP) called for the immediate abolition of the junior minister positions in its 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election manifesto.
Nominated by the First Minister
| Minister | Party | Took office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dermot Nesbitt Dermot Nesbitt Dermot Nesbitt is a politician from Northern Ireland.Nesbitt studied economics at Queens University Belfast and joined the Ulster Unionist Party... |
15 December 1999 | 11 February 2000 | ||
| Office suspended | ||||
| Dermot Nesbitt Dermot Nesbitt Dermot Nesbitt is a politician from Northern Ireland.Nesbitt studied economics at Queens University Belfast and joined the Ulster Unionist Party... |
30 May 2000 | 20 February 2002 | ||
| James Leslie James Leslie (UK politician) James Seymour Leslie was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Singida, Tanzania, Leslie read law and land economy at Queens' College, Cambridge, before becoming a merchant banker... |
20 February 2002 | 14 October 2002 | ||
| Office suspended | ||||
| Ian Paisley, Jr. Ian Paisley, Jr. Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Jr., MP is the Member of Parliament for North Antrim and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Democratic Unionist Party and an author. He is the son of the DUP's founder and former leader, Ian Paisley.In 1990, he married Fiona, and they have four children... |
8 May 2007 | 26 February 2008 | ||
| Jeffrey Donaldson Jeffrey Donaldson Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party... |
26 February 2008 | 1 July 2009 | ||
| Robin Newton Robin Newton Robin Newton is a Unionist politician for the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He is an MLA for East Belfast. Newton was sworn in as a Junior Minister within the Office of First and deputy First Minister on 1 July 2009... |
1 July 2009 | 16 May 2011 | ||
| Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell (UK politician) Jonathan Fergus Bell MLA is a Democratic Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland. He was selected in 2010 to fill the vacancy for the Strangford constituency of the Northern Ireland Assembly following the resignation of Iris Robinson... |
16 May 2011 | |||
Nominated by the deputy First Minister
| Minister | Party | Took office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denis Haughey Denis Haughey Denis Haughey is a former nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Coalisland, Haughey studied politics at Queens University, Belfast, becoming involved in the civil rights movement and the first Chair of the Tyrone Civil Rights Association and a founder member of the Social Democratic... |
2 December 1999 | 11 February 2000 | ||
| Office suspended | ||||
| Denis Haughey Denis Haughey Denis Haughey is a former nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Coalisland, Haughey studied politics at Queens University, Belfast, becoming involved in the civil rights movement and the first Chair of the Tyrone Civil Rights Association and a founder member of the Social Democratic... |
30 May 2000 | 14 October 2002 | ||
| Office suspended | ||||
| Gerry Kelly Gerry Kelly Gerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998... |
8 May 2007 | 16 May 2011 | ||
| Martina Anderson Martina Anderson Martina Anderson, MLA is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who occupies the post of Director of Unionist Engagement for Sinn Féin and is a former volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Biography:... |
16 May 2011 | |||
Assembly Private Secretary
Following the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, First Minister Peter RobinsonPeter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
announced the creation of the new post of Assembly Private Secretary, available to all ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
.
The position is similar to that of a parliamentary private secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
in the House of Commons, providing political support to the Minister within the department. It is non-salaried and held by a backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
from the same party as the Minister. While not ministerial, and therefore below the rank of Junior Minister, it provides experience to members considered as potential future ministers. It is not compulsory to appoint an Assembly Private Secretary; indeed the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
has not made appointments.
As of May 2011, OFMDFM officials were drawing up a code of conduct and enabling processes to facilitate the creation of the posts. None had been published by October 2011, meaning that the posts had not been created by the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...
up to that point. However, they were declared as public offices in the register of members' interests on 29 June 2011 and 7 October 2011.
The prospective Assembly Private Secretaries are:
Democratic Unionist Party
- Paul GirvanPaul GirvanPaul Girvan is a Northern Irish politician. As a member of the Democratic Unionist Party , he was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council in 1997, and from 2002-04 served as its mayor...
MLA (OFMDFM) - Alastair RossAlastair RossAlastair Ross is a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Ross studied at the Friends School in Lisburn and at the University of Dundee before returning to study Irish Politics at Queen's University Belfast. While there, he became a Democratic Unionist Party activist...
MLA (Department of Enterprise, Trade and InvestmentDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and InvestmentThe Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
) - Simon HamiltonSimon HamiltonSimon Hamilton MLA is a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland. He was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Democratic Unionist Party member for Strangford....
MLA (Department of Finance and PersonnelDepartment of Finance and PersonnelThe Department of Finance and Personnel is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
) - Alex EastonAlex EastonAlex Easton MLA is a Northern Ireland Unionist politician.He was educated at Bangor Technical College and since 1989 he has worked in the Health Service in the accident and emergency department in Newtownards Hospital...
MLA (Department of Health, Social Services and Public SafetyDepartment of Health, Social Services and Public SafetyThe Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
) - William HumphreyWilliam HumphreyWilliam Ewart Humphrey , an American politician, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1917. He represented the state of Washington at large from 1903 to 1909 and the First Congressional District of Washington from 1909 to 1917...
MLA (Department for Social DevelopmentDepartment for Social DevelopmentThe Department for Social Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Social Development.-Aim:...
)
Sinn Féin
- Pat DohertyPat DohertyPatrick "Pat" Doherty is an Irish republican politician and abstentionist Member of Parliament for West Tyrone. He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the same constituency since 25 June 1998...
MP MLA (Department of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentDepartment of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentThe Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
) - Barry McElduffBarry McElduffBarry McElduff is an Irish politician.Born in County Tyrone, McElduff attended the Christian Brothers Grammar School in Omagh before attending Queen's University Belfast and becoming an Irish republican activist for Sinn Féin....
MLA (Department of Culture, Arts and LeisureDepartment of Culture, Arts and LeisureThe Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
) - Mitchel McLaughlinMitchel McLaughlinJohn Mitchel McLaughlin is the former General Secretary of Sinn Féin and an MLA.McLaughlin was born in Derry city, Northern Ireland and educated at Long Tower Boys School, Derry and Christian Brothers Technical College, Derry....
MLA (Department of EducationDepartment of Education (Northern Ireland)The Department of Education is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
)
Sinn Féin has adopted the term Parliamentary Under Secretary to describe the position.
Ulster Unionist Party
- Danny KinahanDanny KinahanDaniel de Burgh Kinahan MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party politician from Northern Ireland, and a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Antrim...
MLA (Department for Regional DevelopmentDepartment for Regional DevelopmentThe Department for Regional Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
)
Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Colum EastwoodColum EastwoodColum Eastwood is a Social Democratic and Labour Party politician in Northern Ireland who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011....
MLA (Department of the EnvironmentDepartment of the Environment (Northern Ireland)The Department of the Environment is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Environment.-Aim:...
)
See also
- Office of the First Minister and deputy First MinisterOffice of the First Minister and deputy First MinisterThe Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive...
- First Minister and deputy First MinisterFirst Minister and deputy First MinisterThe First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...