Junior Minister (Northern Ireland) Facts for Kids

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.

The positions are currently vacant.

Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, 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, which decreased to the current level of £55,000.00 in 2016.

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.

Junior Ministers
- Nominated by the First Minister
- Nominated by the Deputy First Minister
Assembly Private Secretary
See also

Junior Ministers

Nominated by the First Minister

	Minister	Party	Took office	Left office
	Dermot Nesbitt	UUP	15 December 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	Dermot Nesbitt	UUP	30 May 2000	20 February 2002
	James Leslie	UUP	20 February 2002	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Ian Paisley, Jr.	DUP	8 May 2007	26 February 2008
	Jeffrey Donaldson	DUP	26 February 2008	1 July 2009
	Robin Newton	DUP	1 July 2009	16 May 2011
	Jonathan Bell	DUP	16 May 2011	11 May 2015
	Michelle McIlveen	DUP	11 May 2015	28 October 2015
	Emma Pengelly	DUP	28 October 2015	25 May 2016
	Alastair Ross	DUP	25 May 2016	9 January 2017
Office suspended
	Gordon Lyons	DUP	11 January 2020	2 February 2021
	Gary Middleton	DUP	2 February 2021 (Acting)	8 March 2021
	Gordon Lyons	DUP	8 March 2021	17 June 2021
	Gary Middleton	DUP	17 June 2021	5 May 2022

Nominated by the Deputy First Minister

	Minister	Party	Took office	Left office
	Denis Haughey	SDLP	2 December 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	Denis Haughey	SDLP	30 May 2000	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Gerry Kelly	Sinn Féin	8 May 2007	16 May 2011
	Martina Anderson	Sinn Féin	16 May 2011	12 June 2012
	Jennifer McCann	Sinn Féin	12 June 2012	25 May 2016
	Megan Fearon	Sinn Féin	25 May 2016	9 January 2017
Office suspended
	Declan Kearney	Sinn Féin	11 January 2020	5 May 2022

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. 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.

The prospective Assembly Private Secretaries are:

Democratic Unionist Party