Junior Minister (Northern Ireland)

The term Junior Minister, in Northern Ireland, is the name given to two positions in the Executive Office, a department in the Northern Ireland Executive answerable to the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

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The positions have been filled by Gordon Lyons and Declan Kearney since 11 January 2020

Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,[1] 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,[2] which decreased to the current level of £55,000.00 in 2016.[3][4][5]

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.[6]

Junior Ministers

Nominated by the First Minister
MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office
   Dermot NesbittUUP15 December 199911 February 2000
Office suspended
   Dermot NesbittUUP30 May 200020 February 2002[7]
   James LeslieUUP20 February 200214 October 2002
Office suspended
   Ian Paisley, Jr.DUP8 May 200726 February 2008
   Jeffrey DonaldsonDUP26 February 20081 July 2009
   Robin NewtonDUP1 July 200916 May 2011
   Jonathan BellDUP16 May 201111 May 2015
    Michelle McIlveenDUP11 May 201528 October 2015
    Emma PengellyDUP28 October 201525 May 2016
    Alastair RossDUP25 May 20169 January 2017
Office suspended
    Gordon LyonsDUP11 January 20202 February 2021
    Gary MiddletonDUP2 February 2021 (Acting)

Nominated by the Deputy First Minister
MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office
   Denis HaugheySDLP2 December 199911 February 2000
Office suspended
   Denis HaugheySDLP30 May 200014 October 2002[8]
Office suspended
   Gerry KellySinn Féin8 May 200716 May 2011
   Martina AndersonSinn Féin16 May 201112 June 2012
   Jennifer McCannSinn Féin12 June 201225 May 2016
   Megan FearonSinn Féin25 May 20169 January 2017
Office suspended
   Declan KearneySinn Féin11 January 2020

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 initially did not make appointments.

As of May 2011, OFMDFM officials were drawing up a code of conduct and enabling processes to facilitate the creation of the posts.[9] 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.[10][11]

The prospective Assembly Private Secretaries are:

Democratic Unionist Party [12]

Sinn Féin[13]

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

Ulster Unionist Party[14]

Social Democratic and Labour Party[15]

See also

References
  1. Section 19, Northern Ireland Act 1998
  2. Members' Salaries 2007–2008, Northern Ireland Assembly
  3. Members' Salaries 2008–2009, Northern Ireland Assembly
  4. Members' Salaries 2009–2010, Northern Ireland Assembly
  5. Members' Salaries 2010–2011, Northern Ireland Assembly Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. SDLP Manifesto: Assembly & Local Government Elections 2011 (PDF). Belfast: SDLP. 2011. p. 52.
  7. Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
  8. Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
  9. "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.
  10. "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.
  11. "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.
  12. "DUP Leader outlines new DUP team at Stormont". DUP. May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  13. "Gerry Adams announces Sinn Féin Ministerial team". Sinn Féin. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  14. "Kinahan welcomes appointment as Assembly Private Secretary". UUP. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  15. "Councillor Colum Eastwood MLA". SDLP. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
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