Junior Minister (Northern Ireland)

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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 Emma Pengelly (Democratic Unionist Party) and Jennifer McCann (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
    Dermot Nesbitt No image.svg UUP 15 December 1999 11 February 2000
Office suspended
    Dermot Nesbitt No image.svg UUP 30 May 2000 20 February 2002[8]
    James Leslie No image.svg UUP 20 February 2002 14 October 2002
Office suspended
    Ian Paisley, Jr. Ian Paisley, Jr..jpg DUP 8 May 2007 26 February 2008
    Jeffrey Donaldson 60px DUP 26 February 2008 1 July 2009
    Robin Newton No image.svg DUP 1 July 2009 16 May 2011
    Jonathan Bell JonathanBellDUP.jpg DUP 16 May 2011 11 May 2015
    Michelle McIlveen Michelle McIlveen DUP.jpg DUP 11 May 2015 28 October 2015
    Emma Pengelly No image.svg DUP 28 October 2015 Incumbent

Nominated by the deputy First Minister

Minister Image Party Took office Left office
    Denis Haughey No image.svg SDLP 2 December 1999 11 February 2000
Office suspended
    Denis Haughey No image.svg SDLP 30 May 2000 14 October 2002[9]
Office suspended
    Gerry Kelly Gerry Kelly, MLA.jpg Sinn Féin 8 May 2007 16 May 2011
    Martina Anderson Martina Anderson MEP, Strasbourg - Diliff.jpg Sinn Féin 16 May 2011 12 June 2012
    Jennifer McCann JenniferMcCann.jpg Sinn Féin 12 June 2012 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
  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
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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