Northern Ireland Executive

"Cabinet of Northern Ireland" redirects here. For the cabinet of the devolved government from 1922 to 1972, see Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Executive
Irish: Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann
Scots: Norlin Airlan Executive
Map
Overview
Established2 December 1999; 25 years ago (current form)
StateNorthern Ireland
LeaderFirst Minister and deputy First Minister (Michelle O'Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly)
Appointed byNorthern Ireland Assembly[a]
Ministries9[1] (list)
Responsible toNorthern Ireland Assembly
Annual budget£14.2 billion (2023)[2]
HeadquartersStormont Castle, Stormont Estate, Belfast
Websitewww.northernireland.gov.uk
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
Law
Northern Ireland in the UK
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Local government

The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish: Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann,[3] Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlan Executive[4]) is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly, situated in Belfast. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement). The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.

The Northern Ireland Executive consists of the First Minister and deputy First Minister and various ministers with individual portfolios and remits. The main assembly parties appoint most ministers in the executive, except for the Minister of Justice who is elected by a cross-community vote. It is one of three devolved governments in the United Kingdom, the others being the Scottish and Welsh governments.

In January 2017, the then deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal and the Northern Ireland Executive consequently collapsed.[5] The governing of Northern Ireland fell to civil servants in a caretaker capacity until January 2020, when the parties signed the New Decade, New Approach agreement and an Executive was subsequently established.[6] When Democratic Unionist Party First Minister Paul Givan resigned in line with his party's protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol, The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed again.[7] No agreement on power-sharing was made after the 2022 Assembly election, and from October 2022 to February 2024, Northern Ireland was governed by civil servants.[8] On 3 February 2024, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill was appointed First Minister, the first Irish nationalist to be appointed to the position,[9] with DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister.[10]


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  1. ^ "Government departments". Northern Ireland Executive. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  2. ^ Heaton-Harris, Chris (27 April 2023). "Northern Ireland Secretary announces 2023-24 Budget and contingency plans for governance". UK Government. Retrieved 10 February 2024. The total amount available for NI Executive spending is £14.2 billion; The consequences of addressing the £660million gap in the 2022-23 financial year has meant that £297 million provided from the UK Reserve was due to be repaid from the 2023-24 budget.
  3. ^ "Naisc | Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service". education.niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Innin Frae the Jynt Secretars" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Martin McGuinness resigns as NI deputy first minister". BBC News. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Stormont deal: Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill new top NI ministers". BBC News. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  7. ^ Kearney, Vincent (3 February 2022). "Paul Givan resigns as NI First Minister". RTÉ News. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  8. ^ "NI election looms as Stormont deadline passes". BBC News. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  9. ^ https://news.sky.co.uk/story/michelle-oneill-appointed-northern-irelands-first-nationalist-first-minister-in-historic-moment-13062780 [bare URL]
  10. ^ "Stormont: Michelle O'Neill makes history as nationalist first minister". BBC News. 3 February 2024.