Paul Givan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Givan MLA
Givan in 2012
Minister of Education
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 February 2024
Preceded by	Michelle McIlveen (2022)
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 June 2010
Preceded by	Jeffrey Donaldson
Office history First Minister of Northern Ireland In office 17 June 2021 – 4 February 2022 Serving with Michelle O'Neill Preceded by Arlene Foster Succeeded by Michelle O'Neill (2024) Minister for Communities In office 25 May 2016 – 26 January 2017 Preceded by Lord Morrow Succeeded by Deirdre Hargey (2020)
Committee history Chair of the Committee for Justice In office 14 January 2020 – 14 June 2021 Deputy Linda Dillon Preceded by Paul Frew (2017) Succeeded by Mervyn Storey In office 16 May 2011 – 19 December 2014 Deputy Raymond McCartney Preceded by Lord Morrow Succeeded by Alastair Ross Chair of the Committee of Standards and Privileges In office 28 September 2015 – 30 March 2016 Deputy Anna Lo Preceded by Jimmy Spratt Succeeded by Cathal Boylan
Member of Lisburn City Council
In office 5 May 2005 – 22 May 2014
Preceded by	William Lewis
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Constituency	Lisburn Town North
Personal details
Born	Paul Jonathan Givan (1981-10-12) 12 October 1981 (age 43) Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Spouse	Emma Givan
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Ulster

Paul Jonathan Givan (born 12 October 1981) is a politician from Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a political party that supports Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.

From 2021 to 2022, he served as the First Minister of Northern Ireland. When he took the job, he was the youngest person ever to hold that office. Since February 2024, he has been the Minister of Education. He has also been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Lagan Valley area since 2010.

Early Life and Family

Paul Givan was born and raised in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He went to Laurelhill Community College and later studied Business at the University of Ulster.

Politics runs in his family. His father, Alan Givan, was a DUP councillor in Lisburn. His grandfather, Herbie Givan, was one of the first members of the DUP. Part of his family moved from County Monaghan to County Tyrone after the Partition of Ireland in the 1920s.

Start in Politics

Givan's interest in politics began when he was a teenager. At 18, he started working as a part-time assistant for Edwin Poots, another DUP politician. He later became a special adviser to Poots, helping him with his work as a government minister.

Givan said he was inspired to join the DUP after hearing its founder, Ian Paisley, speak at a rally. In 2005, Givan was elected to the Lisburn City Council. In 2010, he was chosen to join the Northern Ireland Assembly, which is the government for Northern Ireland.

In 2016, he was appointed Minister for Communities. In this role, he visited a GAA club to give them a grant and even played some Gaelic football with the children there.

First Minister of Northern Ireland

In June 2021, Givan became the First Minister of Northern Ireland at the age of 39. This made him the youngest person ever to have the job. He shared the office with Michelle O'Neill, the deputy First Minister from the Sinn Féin party.

His appointment was part of a difficult time in Northern Ireland politics. The leader of his party, Edwin Poots, nominated him for the job. However, many in the DUP were unhappy with this decision. This was because of a disagreement about new laws to protect the Irish language. Just hours after Givan was sworn in, his party forced Edwin Poots to resign as leader.

Givan's time as First Minister was short. He resigned in February 2022 after only 231 days. His resignation was part of the DUP's protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was a set of trade rules for Northern Ireland after Brexit. Even after resigning, he kept his seat as an MLA for Lagan Valley in the 2022 election.

Minister of Education

After the Northern Ireland government was restored in February 2024, Givan was appointed as the Minister of Education.

As minister, he said his main goals were to invest in school buildings and improve pay for school staff. He announced that building projects for seven new schools would move forward.

Political Beliefs

Givan is known for his socially conservative views. In 2007, while on Lisburn City Council, he supported a motion that asked schools to teach about creationism alongside the theory of evolution. Creationism is the belief that the universe and life were created by a divine being.