First Minister and deputy First Minister

First Minister and deputy First Minister
Incumbent Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness since 5 June 2008 and 8 May 2007 (respectively)
Appointer	Northern Ireland Assembly
Term length	At the discretion of the largest party and second largest party within the Northern Ireland Assembly
Inaugural holder	David Trimble and Seamus Mallon
Formation	2 December 1999
Salary	£111,677 each (includes salary as MLA)
Website	www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk

The First Minister and the deputy First Minister (Irish: Céad-Aire agus an leas-Chéad-Aire, Ulster Scots: Heid Männystèr an tha Heid Männystèr depute, First Meinister an First Meinister depute, First Meenister an First Meenister depute or First Minister an First Minister depute) are positions in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in Northern Ireland. The two positions are a diarchy, meaning they have equal power; both were initially nominated and appointed by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly using cross-community (consociational) principles under the Good Friday Agreement (April 1998). That process was changed following the St Andrews Agreement (October 2006) to allow the First Minister to be appointed by the largest party and the deputy First Minister by the second largest party.

The incumbents are Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party as First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin as deputy First Minister.

Responsibilities

Northern Ireland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Northern Ireland

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The First Minister and deputy First Minister share their responsibilities with each other in a diarchy. The First Minister is, though, the first to greet official visitors to Northern Ireland and shares the same title as his counterparts in Scotland and Wales. However, the deputy First Minister has the same power as the First Minister and their decisions are made jointly.

Specifically, they are tasked with co-chairing meetings of the Northern Ireland Executive, "dealing with and co-ordinating" the work of the Executive, and the response of the administration to external relationships.

The First Minister and deputy First Minister agree the agenda of Executive meetings and can jointly determine "significant or controversial matters" to be considered by the Executive.

The ministers' policy responsibilities include:

• economic policy
• equality
• European Union issues
• human rights
• the machinery of government (including the Ministerial Code)
• public appointments policy
• standards in public life

Two junior ministers assist the First Minister and deputy First Minister in carrying out the work of OFMDFM. They are jointly accountable to the First Minister and deputy First Minister. The incumbent junior ministers are Jonathan Bell (DUP) and Martina Anderson (Sinn Féin).

Election

The diarchy was created to enable the leaders of the main unionist and nationalist parties to work together, jointly representing both main communities.

Initially, under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the First Minister was elected by the Assembly on a joint ticket with the deputy First Minister through a cross-community vote. For the purposes of a cross-community vote, MLAs are designated as unionist, nationalist or other.

The nominees for First Minister and deputy First Minister required the support of:

• a majority of the members voting in the election;
• a majority of the designated unionists voting; and
• a majority of the designated nationalists voting.

This procedure was used on 2 December 1999 to elect David Trimble (UUP) and Seamus Mallon (SDLP). Following several suspensions, Trimble was not re-elected on 2 November 2001 due to unionist opposition. He was subsequently re-elected alongside Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 6 November 2001. On that occasion, three Alliance Party of Northern Ireland members redesignated from 'other' to 'unionist' to support Trimble's nomination.

Following the St Andrews Agreement in October 2006, this procedure was changed to allow for:

• a First Minister nominated by the largest party of the largest designation;
• a deputy First Minister nominated by the largest party of the second largest designation.

This procedure, which removed the need for a joint ticket between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, was used to appoint Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness on 8 May 2007. It was again used to appoint Peter Robinson (DUP) alongside Martin McGuinness on 5 June 2008 and again on 12 May 2011.

However, if the largest party of the largest designation (currently the DUP) were not the largest party overall, the appointment procedure would be as follows:

• a First Minister nominated by the largest party;
• a deputy First Minister nominated by the largest party of the largest designation.

This could potentially allow for a Sinn Féin First Minister if that party were to overtake the DUP in future elections. The Minister of Justice is now the only Northern Ireland Executive Minister elected on a cross-community vote. All other ministers are party appointees.

Vacancy

The First Minister or deputy First Minister may also appoint another Northern Ireland Executive Minister to exercise the functions of the office during a vacancy, for a continuous period up to six weeks.

Vacancies have occurred on three occasions to date:

• Sir Reg Empey for David Trimble (1 July-6 November 2001);
• Arlene Foster for Peter Robinson (11 January-3 February 2010);
• John O'Dowd for Martin McGuinness (20 September 2011-31 October 2011).

Terminology

"Deputy" becomes "deputy"

The second position has been spelt "Deputy" or "deputy" First Minister, due to differing preferences by civil servants (and potentially ministers), although the spelling of the title has no constitutional consequences in practice.

The first two holders of the office, namely Seamus Mallon and Mark Durkan, were both referred to during their periods of office as "Deputy First Minister", with a capital D. This version was also adopted in 1999 for the logo of the OFMDFM. Several weeks after Martin McGuinness took up office as Deputy First Minister in 2007, civil servants in his department began asking the Assembly's Hansard team to replace the capital D with a lower-case d, pointing out that the title was spelled this way in the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the legislation which established the office. Some believe that the case was changed to highlight the fact that the position holds the same power as the position of First Minister, but a spokesman for McGuinness said that neither McGuinness nor his advisers had asked for the change. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, William Hay, ordered the change and the capital D was dropped from Hansard references. The Office of the First and deputy First Minister continues to use both versions of McGuinness' title on its website.

Officials edited the department's archive of press releases to make that change (despite its use by Mallon and Durkan when in office) but the capital D still appears in some places, and a spokesman confirmed on 20 March 2008 that the office had "no plans" to change the OFMDFM logo. However, the Assembly committee that scrutinises their work is now listed as the "Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister". Ultimately it was decided that McGuinness should be the deputy First Minister, unless all the other letters in the title are in capitals. Confusion isn't completely resolved however; if McGuinness writes to the Assembly committee that scrutinises his work, his note will have a letterhead that comes from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, but he'll get a reply back from the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

In official language, the positions are sometimes abbreviated to FM/dFM,

"Joint First Minister" and "Co-First Minister"

Sinn Féin started using the phrases Joint First Minister and Co-First Minister in 2009 to describe the deputy First Minister to highlight the fact that the First Minister and deputy First Minister operated as a diarchy. Martin McGuinness used the term Joint First Minister himself when he arrived for a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in February 2009; the DUP denounced the term as "republican speak" and it is not used in legislation. Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice has long been calling Robinson and McGuinness "the joint first ministers", to highlight the joint nature of the office and to demonstrate his opposition to the power-sharing arrangements. In the Assembly chamber David McClarty used the phrase but was corrected by William Hay, the Speaker.

History

Alex Salmond (right) meets Ian Paisley (centre) and Martin McGuinness (left) in 2008

Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and subsequent the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Assembly was established in 1998 with a view to assuming devolved powers from the Westminster Parliament. On 1 July 1998, David Trimble (Ulster Unionist Party) and Seamus Mallon (Social Democratic and Labour Party) were nominated and elected First Minister and Deputy First Minister designates respectively. Eventually, on 2 December 1999, power was devolved and Trimble and Mallon formally took office as joint heads of the Northern Ireland Executive.

On 6 November 2001, Mark Durkan (SDLP) became Deputy First Minister after Seamus Mallon's retirement. The Executive and the two positions were suspended between 15 October and 8 May 2007 following a breakdown in trust between the parties.

On 8 May 2007, Ian Paisley (DUP) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) were nominated and appointed First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively in line with the announcement by their two parties on 26 March 2007.

Paisley announced his intention to resign on 4 March 2008.. His deputy as DUP leader, Peter Robinson was ratified as Democratic Unionist Party leader designate on 17 April 2008 and took office in that role on 31 May 2008. As leader-designate of the largest designated unionist party in the Northern Ireland Assembly he was also in effect the First Minister designate and became First Minister on 5 June 2008.

Separately, between 12 February 2000 and 30 May 2000, and 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007, however, devolution was suspended, and along with it the offices of First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister became the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. There were also two 24-hour periods of suspension on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001. to allow timetables for negotiation to restart.

First Ministers and deputy First Ministers

First Ministers

#	Minister	Photo	Party	Took office	Left office
	David Trimble		Ulster Unionist	2 December 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	David Trimble		Ulster Unionist	30 May 2000	30 June 2001
	Sir Reg Empey (acting)		Ulster Unionist	1 July 2001	6 November 2001
	David Trimble		Ulster Unionist	6 November 2001	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Ian Paisley		Democratic Unionist	8 May 2007	5 June 2008
	Peter Robinson		Democratic Unionist	5 June 2008	11 January 2010
	Arlene Foster (acting)		Democratic Unionist	11 January 2010	3 February 2010
	Peter Robinson		Democratic Unionist	3 February 2010	Incumbent

Deputy First Ministers

#	Minister	Photo	Party	Took office	Left office
	Seamus Mallon		SDLP	2 December 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	Seamus Mallon		SDLP	30 May 2000	6 November 2001
	Mark Durkan		SDLP	6 November 2001	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Martin McGuinness		Sinn Féin	8 May 2007	20 September 2011
	John O'Dowd (acting)		Sinn Féin	20 September 2011	31 October 2011
	Martin McGuinness		Sinn Féin	31 October 2011	Incumbent

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland assumed the responsibilities of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

See also

• Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
• Northern Ireland Executive
• Junior Ministers

External links

• OFMDFM