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Logo of the 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. It
is referred to in the legislation as the Executive
Committee of the Assembly. The Executive is an example of
a consociationalist government.
The executive consists of a First Minister and
deputy First Minister (a diarchy) and various ministers with individual
portfolios and remits. The Assembly elects the members of the
Executive. It is one of three devolved governments in the United Kingdom,
the others being the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly
Government.
Ministers
Structure
In contrast with Westminster
System cabinets, which generally need only be backed by a majority of legislators,
ministerial positions in the Northern Ireland Executive are
allocated to all of those parties with significant representation
in the Assembly. The number of ministries to which each party is
entitled is determined by the D'Hondt system. In
effect, major parties cannot be excluded from participation in
government, and power-sharing is enforced by the system. The
Executive can not function if either of the two largest parties
refuse to take part, as these parties are allocated the First
Minister and deputy First Minister positions. However, other
parties are not required to enter the Executive even if they are
entitled to do so; instead, they can choose to go into opposition if they wish.
There were some calls for the Social Democratic and
Labour Party and Ulster Unionist Party to do just
this after the 2007 Assembly
elections[1],
but ultimately the two parties chose to take the seats in the
Executive to which they were entitled.
History
Each of the three elections since the Assembly was created in
1998 has resulted in an Executive or potential Executive consisting
of the four largest Northern Irish parties - the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic and
Labour Party and the Ulster Unionist Party - though
the number of ministries allotted to each has waxed and waned with
their varying electoral fortunes. The Executive first officially
took power on December 2, 1999, but has been suspended on various
occasions, the last effective from 15 October 2002 until 8 May
2007, as the Ulster Unionist Party, then
holding the office of First Minister, walked out after a
high-profile Police Service of
Northern Ireland investigation into an alleged IRA spy ring. No
convictions resulted. While it was suspended, the functions the
Executive exercised reverted to the Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland.
Executive
committee
On midnight of 7 May 2007, control of Northern Ireland was
transferred from the Northern Ireland Office to the Executive of
the currently elected Assembly.[2]
They were appointed by the Assembly on 8 May 2007.[3]
Two Junior Ministers from the Office of First Minister and
deputy First Minister also attend cabinet meetings. The two junior
ministers come from the partys of the FM and deputy FM.
On 11 January, 2010, Peter Robinson stepped aside from his
duties as First Minister, with Arlene Foster becoming Acting First
Minister. [7]
See also
References
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