Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Northern Ireland) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Department overview

Formed	1 December 1999
Preceding Department	Department of Education Department of Agriculture
Dissolved	5 May 2016
Superseding agency	Department for Communities Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Department for Infrastructure
Jurisdiction	Northern Ireland
Headquarters	Causeway Exchange, Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7EG
Employees	269 (September 2011)
Annual budget	£112.1 million (current) & £16.3 million (capital) for 2011–12

The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) was a government department in Northern Ireland. It was part of the Northern Ireland Executive, which is like the government for Northern Ireland. DCAL was in charge of things like culture, arts, and fun activities.

The person leading the department was called the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure. After an election in 2016, DCAL closed down. Its jobs were then given to other government departments. This was done to make the Northern Ireland government smaller.

What did the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure do?
- What were DCAL's main jobs?
  - How DCAL worked with other governments
How DCAL started
- When things changed
Who were the Ministers?
- Ministers during direct rule
See also

What did the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure do?

DCAL wanted Northern Ireland to be a "confident, creative, informed and healthy society." Its main goal was to help Northern Ireland grow and improve people's lives. It did this by making the culture, arts, and leisure (fun activities) parts of life as good as possible.

The last Minister for DCAL was Carál Ní Chuilín. She was also in charge of keeping important public records for Northern Ireland.

What were DCAL's main jobs?

The department had many important jobs. These included:

Looking after buildings and how they are designed (architecture).
Supporting different kinds of art.
Celebrating the many different cultures in Northern Ireland.
Managing rivers and canals (inland waterways).
Helping with different languages.
Running libraries.
Helping to give out money from the National Lottery.
Looking after museums.
Managing the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), which keeps old documents.
Promoting and supporting sports.

Some things were not DCAL's job because they were handled by the main UK government in London. These included broadcasting (like TV and radio), ideas and inventions (intellectual property), and running the National Lottery itself.

How DCAL worked with other governments

DCAL worked with similar departments in other governments. In the United Kingdom Government, its main partners were:

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (for fishing in rivers).
The National Archives (for public records).

In the Irish Government, DCAL worked with:

The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (for the Irish language).
The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (for public libraries).
The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (for fishing in rivers).

How DCAL started

In 1998, people in Northern Ireland voted in a special election. This led to the Belfast Agreement, which helped bring peace and set up a new way of governing. This new way was called devolution. It meant that Northern Ireland would get back some of its own law-making powers from the UK government.

The Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were then created. DCAL was one of five new departments set up in December 1999. A minister first took charge of DCAL on 2 December 1999.

When things changed

Sometimes, the Northern Ireland government was paused. This was called "direct rule." During these times, ministers from the main UK government (the Northern Ireland Office) took over DCAL's responsibilities. This happened several times:

From February to May 2000.
For short periods in August and September 2001.
For a longer time, from October 2002 to May 2007.

In 2006, an agreement called the St Andrews Agreement was signed. This agreement said that the Northern Ireland government should make plans to help and protect the Irish language. It also said they should help develop the Ulster Scots language, history, and culture. The agreement also said the UK government should create an "Irish Language Act."

Looking after language policy became DCAL's job in May 2007. By March 2012, plans for the Irish language and Ulster Scots were still being worked on. The department said a plan for "Indigenous or Regional Minority Languages" would be presented soon.

Who were the Ministers?

Here is a list of the people who were Ministers of Culture, Arts and Leisure:

	Minister	Party	Took office	Left office
	Michael McGimpsey	UUP	29 November 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	Michael McGimpsey	UUP	30 May 2000	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Edwin Poots	DUP	14 May 2007	9 June 2008
	Gregory Campbell	DUP	9 June 2008	30 June 2009
	Nelson McCausland	DUP	1 July 2009	4 May 2011
	Carál Ní Chuilín	Sinn Féin	16 May 2011	30 March 2016