The2024 Northern Ireland Executive formation followed on from the2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, but was delayed to February 2024. The 22 months delay in the restoration of theNorthern Ireland Executive resulted from a boycott of the process by theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP).[1] Eventually it resulted in the formation of theExecutive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, led byMichelle O'Neill ofSinn Féin asFirst Minister andEmma Little-Pengelly of the DUP asdeputy First Minister. This marked the first time anIrish republican became First Minister and aBritish unionist became deputy First Minister, rather than vice versa.
WithBrexit in January 2020,issues with the Irish border arose due to theBrexit withdrawal agreement.[2] In theBrexit negotiations potential issues were considered with theIrish backstop.[3] In December 2021, a judge ruled that DUP ministers boycotting theNorth/South Ministerial Council to protest theNorthern Ireland Protocol were an "abject breach of their solemn pledge".[4]
The2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election resulted in Sinn Féin becoming the largest party, marking the first time anIrish nationalist/republican party won the most seats.[5] This gave them the right to nominate Northern Ireland's first-ever nationalistfirst minister of Northern Ireland.[6] TheDemocratic Unionist Party refused to return to power-sharing over disagreements over theNorthern Ireland Protocol and theWindsor Framework.[7] The absence of an executive left senior civil servants controlling the nine government departments.[8]
Under protocol according to theGood Friday Agreement if no executive is formed within six months of an Assembly election, the United Kingdom Government'sNorthern Ireland Secretary can call a new election early.[9] On 28 September 2022,Chris Heaton-Harris, theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland, stated that he had a legal obligation to call an early election on 28 October if no government was formed by that date,[10] probably[11] to be held no later than January 2023.[12][13]Sinn Féin leaderMichelle O'Neill voiced her opposition to such an election: "The people spoke, and the people asked for a functioning executive, they asked for us to make politics work."[14] Both theUK Prime MinisterRishi Sunak and theIrish TánaisteLeo Varadkar had urged the DUP to agree to the formation of a Government.[15]
The parties met on 27 October and failed to elect a Speaker, the fourth time they had met and failed to do so, and no government was formed by the deadline.[16] On 28 October, Heaton-Harris expressed disappointment that no Executive had been formed and acknowledged his legal duty to call an election,[17] but delayed immediately calling one.[18] The chief electoral officer said the election date would likely be 15 December.[19] The last date that an election could be held under the legislation existing then was 19 January 2023.[20]
On 29 October, Heaton-Harris continued to delay calling an election.Claire Hanna, a Member of Parliament for the SDLP, reacted to the news, saying an election was now "less likely". Heaton-Harris held another round of talks with the political parties on 1 November, amid speculation that the UK government could introduce legislation to delay the need for a new election.[21][20] However, Northern Ireland Office MinisterSteve Baker said on 2 November that Heaton-Harris "will soon confirm the date of the next Northern Ireland Assembly election as required by law."[22]
| Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision to extend the period following the Northern Ireland Assembly election of 5 May 2022 during which Ministers may be appointed and after which the Secretary of State must propose a date for another election; about the exercise of functions in the absence of Northern Ireland Ministers; to confer powers on the Secretary of State to determine salaries and other benefits for Members of the Assembly in respect of periods in which the Assembly is not functioning; and to confer powers on the Secretary of State to set the regional rate in Northern Ireland. |
| Citation | 2022 c. 48 |
| Introduced by | Chris Heaton-Harris MP,Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Commons) Lord Caine (Lords) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 December 2022 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
On 4 November, Heaton-Harris said an election would not be held in December.[23] On 9 November, he said that he would be introducing legislation to (retrospectively) extend the deadline to form a new Assembly Executive to 8 December 2022, with the option for an additional 6-week extension.[24] The requisite legislation, theNorthern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022 (c. 48),[25][26] was passed by the Westminster Parliament on 6 December 2022.[27]
In November 2022,British prime ministerRishi Sunak andTánaisteMicheál Martin met inBlackpool at theBritish-Irish Council summit.[28] Sunak said he was confident a breakthrough in negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol were possible.[29]
The December 2022 deadline passed without any resolution. The deadline was extended to 19 January 2023. Heaton-Harris invited the parties to new talks on 11 January 2023 to discuss the situation,[30] but Sinn Féin pulled out in protest at the exclusion of its president,Mary Lou McDonald, after which the SDLP refused to take part as well.[31][32]
Under the then legislation, the latest possible date for the next election, if an Executive is not formed, was 13 April 2023.[24][33] The deadline to form an Executive passed on 19 January 2023, but Heaton-Harris played down the prospect of him calling a snap election.[34]
Under then existing legislation, Heaton-Harris had to call an election by the end of the first week of March 2023. However, he proposed a further extension, with a new deadline to form an Executive of 18 January 2024 proposed.[35][36] This was achieved through theNorthern Ireland (Executive Formation and Organ and Tissue Donation) Act 2023,[37] which completed its passage through the Westminster Parliament in late February 2023.[38][37]
On 27 February 2023, the UK and EU announced theWindsor Framework to make changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.[39] It was hoped that this would lead to formation of an Assembly executive.[40] However, the DUP boycott continued.[41] Talks with the DUP continued without success through to December.[42]
The Assembly was recalled on 17 January 2024. The DUP position was unchanged.[43] Heaton-Harris said that he would, again, bring primary legislation to further extend the deadline to 8 February 2024, via the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill 2024.[44][45]
| Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to make provision to extend the period following the Northern Ireland Assembly election of 5 May 2022 during which Ministers may be appointed. |
| Citation | 2024 c. 2 |
| Introduced by | Chris Heaton-Harris MP,Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Commons) Lord Caine (Lords) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 25 January 2024 |
Status: Current legislation | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2024 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
On 18 January 2024, the legal deadline to restore power-sharing was passed.[46] The same day the largestgeneral strike in more than 50 years was held acrossNorthern Ireland, in protest over pay.[47]Secretary of State for Northern IrelandChris Heaton-Harris released a statement on the situation.[48] In 25 January, theNorthern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2024 (c. 2) was introduced to extend the period necessary for restoration of government withoutcalling a snap election. It came into law the same day.[49]
On 29 January 2024, an urgent meeting of theDemocratic Unionist Party executive was called following the passing over the deadline to restore power sharing at Stormont.[50] Details of the meeting was reportedly leaked to loyalist activistJamie Bryson.[51][52]Jeffrey Donaldson revealed in the morning that his party would return to Stormont.[53][54] This end of the boycott was welcomed bySinn Féin.[55]
The UK Government published a command paper laying out the deal.[56] The deal will end the alignment ofEU law in Northern Ireland.[57] Due to theBrexit withdrawal agreement,internal trade was disrupted between theBritish Isles.[58] A DUP agreement with theSunak ministry will reportedly reduce checks and paperwork on goods moving fromGreat Britain toNorthern Ireland.[59] This involves the creation of a "UK internal market" in order to ease unionist fears over de facto border in theIrish Sea.[60] Some hard-lineloyalists criticised the DUP for "selling out".[61]
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On 30 January, the parties returned to Stormont for talks.[62] The same day further public sector strikes were held.[63] The Assembly sat on Saturday 3 February.[64][65] Fresh elections were to be called had the executive not been formed by 8 February.[66]
On 3 February 2024, the Northern Ireland Assembly met to elect a newSpeaker, withEdwin Poots, a former leader of theDUP, chosen to be the Assembly's 7th Speaker.[67]Sinn Féin'sMichelle O'Neill was nominated asFirst Minister, becoming the first nationalist politician to hold the post, while the DUP'sEmma Little-Pengelly was appointed deputy.[68][69] Alliance and the UUP also took ministerial positions and they were entitled to one each. The Justice portfolio was assigned separately and was also filled by Alliance.[70] The SDLP missed out on any ministerial positions due to winning insufficient seats in the Assembly so they went into opposition instead.[71] The SDLP were joined in opposition by three other members;Jim Allister fromTraditional Unionist Voice,Gerry Carroll fromPeople Before Profit andIndependent UnionistClaire Sugden.
The formation had been considered to boost Sinn Féin's chances in theIrish general election later that year.[72] However this failed to happen withFianna Fáil going on become the biggest party, while Sinn Féin only achieved small gains in elections for theDáil as well asEU elections andlocal elections.
In March 2024, theEast–West Council held their first meeting.[73] Thenon-departmental public bodyIntertrade UK was established as part of a concession to the DUP.[74]
