Junior Minister (Northern Ireland)

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This article is part of a series within the
Politics of the United Kingdom on the
Politics of Northern Ireland
Executive

 a Lowercase "d" per here.

Assembly
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Northern Ireland in the UK
Northern Ireland and Ireland
Local government

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 Alastair Ross (Democratic Unionist Party) and Megan Fearon (Sinn Féin).[1]

Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,[2] 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,[3] which increased to the current level of £62,709.96 in 2008–2009.[4][5][6]

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.[7]

Junior Ministers

Nominated by the First Minister

Minister Image Party Took office Left office
style="background:Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Dermot Nesbitt Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/shortname 15 December 1999 11 February 2000
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Dermot Nesbitt Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/shortname 30 May 2000 20 February 2002[8]
style="background:Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" |     James Leslie Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/shortname 20 February 2002 14 October 2002
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Ian Paisley, Jr. File:Ian Paisley, Jr..jpg Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 8 May 2007 26 February 2008
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Jeffrey Donaldson File:Jeffrey Donaldson 2013.jpg Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 26 February 2008 1 July 2009
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Robin Newton Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 1 July 2009 16 May 2011
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Jonathan Bell Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 16 May 2011 11 May 2015
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Michelle McIlveen Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 11 May 2015 28 October 2015
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Emma Pengelly Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 28 October 2015 25 May 2016
style="background:Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |     Alastair Ross Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/shortname 25 May 2016 Incumbent

Nominated by the Deputy First Minister

Minister Image Party Took office Left office
style="background:Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/color"|     Denis Haughey Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/shortname 2 December 1999 11 February 2000
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/color" |     Denis Haughey Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/shortname 30 May 2000 14 October 2002[9]
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |     Gerry Kelly Template:Sinn Féin/meta/shortname 8 May 2007 16 May 2011
style="background:Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |     Martina Anderson Template:Sinn Féin/meta/shortname 16 May 2011 12 June 2012
style="background:Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |     Jennifer McCann Template:Sinn Féin/meta/shortname 12 June 2012 25 May 2016
style="background:Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |     Megan Fearon Template:Sinn Féin/meta/shortname 25 May 2016 Incumbent

Assembly Private Secretary

Following the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, First Minister Peter Robinson 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.[10] 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.[11][12]

The prospective Assembly Private Secretaries are:

Democratic Unionist Party [13]

Sinn Féin[14]

Sinn Féin has adopted the term Parliamentary Under Secretary to describe the position.

Ulster Unionist Party[15]

Social Democratic and Labour Party[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Northern Ireland Executive: Ministers and their departments Archived 16 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Section 19, Northern Ireland Act 1998
  3. ^ Members' Salaries 2007–2008, Northern Ireland Assembly
  4. ^ Members' Salaries 2008–2009, Northern Ireland Assembly
  5. ^ Members' Salaries 2009–2010, Northern Ireland Assembly
  6. ^ Members' Salaries 2010–2011, Northern Ireland Assembly Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ SDLP Manifesto: Assembly & Local Government Elections 2011 (PDF). Belfast: SDLP. 2011. p. 52.
  8. ^ Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
  9. ^ Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
  10. ^ "Assembly Private Secretaries to be appointed to Government departments". Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Register of Members' Interests (last updated 29 June 2011)". Northern Ireland Assembly. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Register of Members' Interests (last updated 7 October 2011)". Northern Ireland Assembly. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "DUP Leader outlines new DUP team at Stormont". DUP. May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Gerry Adams announces Sinn Féin Ministerial team". Sinn Féin. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Kinahan welcomes appointment as Assembly Private Secretary". UUP. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Councillor Colum Eastwood MLA". SDLP. Retrieved 19 October 2011.

External links

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