List of Departments and Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive is the equivalent of the Cabinet of the British government. The Executive was elected on 29 November 1999 and is made up of the First Minister, Deputy First Minister, and 10 Ministers each of whom has responsibility for one of the 10 Departments. There is also a system of Committees made up of 11 Assembly members to "advise and assist" the Ministers. The Committees will provide a system of checks and balances and allow Assembly members to question Ministers on policy matters. The two most senior figures in each Committee are the chair and deputy chair.

First Minster
Mr David Trimble

Deputy First Minister
Mr Seamus Mallon

Agriculture and Rural Development
Minister: Ms Brid Rodgers (Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP)
Chair: The Rev Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party, DUP)
Deputy Chair: Mr George Savage (Ulster Unionist Party, UUP)

Culture, Arts and Leisure
Minister: Mr Michael McGimpsey, (UUP)
Chair: Mr Eamon O'Neill (SDLP)
Deputy Chair: Ms Mary Nelis (Sinn Féin, SF)

Education
Minister: Mr Martin McGuinness, (SF)
Chairman: Mr Danny Kennedy (UUP)
Deputy Chair: Mr Sammy Wilson (DUP)

Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Minister: Sir Reg Empey (UUP)
Chair: Mr Pat Doherty (SF)
Deputy Chair: Mr Sean Neeson (Alliance)

Environment
Minister: Mr Sam Foster, (UUP)
Chair: The Rev William McCrea (DUP)
Deputy Chair: Ms Carmel Hanna (SDLP)

Finance and Personnel
Minister: Mr Mark Durkan, (SDLP)
Chair: Mr Francie Molloy (SF)
Deputy Chair: Mr James Leslie (UUP)

Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Minister: Ms Bairbre de Brún, (SF)
Chair: Dr Joe Hendron (SDLP)
Deputy Chair: Tommy Gallagher (SDLP)

Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment
Minister: Mr Sean Farren, (SDLP)
Chair: Dr Esmond Birnie (UUP)
Deputy Chair: Mr Mervyn Carrick (DUP)

Regional Development
Minister: Mr Peter Robinson, (DUP)
Chair: Mr Dennis Haughey (SDLP)
Deputy Chair: Mr Alan McFarland (UUP)

Social Development
Minister: Mr Nigel Dodds, (DUP)
Chair: Fred Cobain (UUP)
Deputy Chair: Ms Michelle Gildernew (SF)

Short Biographies of the Ministers

Bairbre de Brún (44) (SF)
Minister for Health Social Services and Public Safety
Born and educated in Dublin. Fluent Irish speaker and also speaks French. Moved to Belfast and attended The Queen's University of Belfast. While in Belfast became involved in community politics. Was a leading figure in the H-Block Committee before and during the hunger strikes at the Maze prison. In 1982 joined Sinn Féin. Has been an ardchomhairle member of SF for 15 years. Was SF's spokesperson on policing and justice. Described as hard-working, determined and serious. Most recently came to prominence through her involvement in the multi-party talks and her media interviews.

Nigel Dodds (OBE) (40) (DUP)
Minister for Social Development
He was educated in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. Obtained a first-class law degree from Cambridge. Returned to Northern Ireland in the early 1980s and became a Barrister. In 1985 was elected to Belfast City Council. In 1988 became the youngest (29) Lord Mayor of Belfast. He was a former assistant to his party leader Ian Paisley in Brussels. Dodds escaped injury when the IRA tried to kill him as he visited his son in hospital in 1996. It is thought that Ian Paisley will not run for Europe in 2004 and that Dodds is likely to be the DUP candidate.

Mark Durkan (39) (SDLP)
Minister for Finance and Personnel
Youngest minister in the cabinet. A political activist in his student days at The Queen's University in Belfast and Magee College in Londonderry. In 1984 became the full-time aide of John Hume. In 1995 there was speculation that John Hume would step down from his position as Member of Parliament in favour of Durkan. An SDLP councillor in Derry City Council since 1983 and SDLP chairman from 1990 to 1995.

Reg Empy (Sir) (51) (UUP)
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Married with a family. Educated in Armagh and at The Queen's University of Belfast. Degree in Economics. A background in retailing and owns a clothing business. Twice served as Belfast Lord Mayor and chaired the City Council's economic development committee. Received a Knighthood in the British New Year Honours List (1999). Described as a close colleague of David Trimble since the early 1970s. Was a senior talks negotiator for his party.

Sean Farren (59) (SDLP)
Minister for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment
Born in Dublin and an economics graduate of University College Dublin. He has taught abroad in Switzerland and in Sierra Leone. Moved to Northern Ireland in the early 1970s after accepting a teaching post at the University of Ulster. A former chairman (1980-1984) of the SDLP and has been active in the party since 1973 when he joined in Portstewart, Co Derry. Elected to the previous Assembly for North Antrim in 1982. He was part of the SDLP delegation at the Brooke multi-party talks in 1992, and again in the talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement.

Sam Foster (65) (UUP)
Minister for the Environment
He is a retired social worker. Hobby is bellringing. A former 'B-Special' and former major in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). A leading member of the Orange Order in Fermanagh. A longstanding member and former chairman of Fermanagh District Council with a reputation for having strong opinions on security. Following David Trimble's election as leader of the UUP Foster's role in the UUP has increased. However his appointment as Minister is thought to have taken some party colleagues by surprise.

Michael McGimpsey (53) (UUP)
Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure
Born in Donaghadee,County Down and educated at Regent House, Newtownards, County Down and Trinity College Dublin where he studied English, history and economics. He returned to Newtownards to work in his father's construction firm and opened a do-it-yourself business. McGimpsey and his brother, Chris, came to public notice in the early 1980s when they went to Dublin to present the unionist case to the New Ireland Forum. In 1995 the two brothers returned to Dublin and failed in a Supreme Court challenge to Articles Two and Three of the Republic's Constitution.

Martin McGuinness (49) (SF)
Minister for Education
Born in Derry. Married with children. Hobby is fishing. Became involved in the civil rights movement in Derry after October 1968. Believed to have joined the Republican movement in 1970. Also thought to have been the leader of the Provisional IRA in Derry. Arrested in 1972 and 1974 in the Republic of Ireland and served two terms in prison for IRA membership. Was Sinn Fein's chief negotiator during the multi-party talks leading to the good Friday Agreement. A key advocate of the peace process along side Gerry Adams. Became a Member of Parliament for the Mid-Ulster constituency in 1997 but refused to take his seat at Westminster in accordance with the party's policy of abstention.

Peter Robinson (49) (DUP)
Minister for Regional Development
Married to fellow Assembly member Iris and has three children. A born-again Christian who doesn't smoke or drink. An estate agent by profession. Raised in working-class east Belfast. Was opposed to the Civil Rights Movement. Was a founder member of the DUP and is now deputy leader. In the 1980s he was associated with the Loyalist organisations the Third Force and Ulster Resistance. A Member of Parliament for 20 years many people believe he is almost certain to succeed Paisley as leader of the DUP. He is described as the DUP's hard man, and as being cold, calculating and ruthless but with a razor sharp intellect, a forensic eye for detail and unrivalled organisational abilities.

Brid Rogers (62) (SDLP)
Minister for Agriculture
Born in Gweedore, County Donegal. Went to university in Dublin. Native Irish speaker and teacher. Married with six children. Has lived in Northern Ireland since 1960. Involved in the civil rights movement from 1965 and in 1969 she led the first civil rights march through Lurgan. Joined the SDLP and became the general secretary. In 1983 she was appointed to Seanad Éireann by the then Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald. Recently has been the SDLP's political representative during the various Drumcree disputes.