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Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland |
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The termjunior Minister (Irish:aire sóisearach),[1] inNorthern Ireland, is the name given to two positions in theExecutive Office, a department in theNorthern Ireland Executive answerable to theFirst Minister and deputy First Minister.
The positions have been filled byAisling Reilly since 3 February 2024 andJoanne Bunting since 15 September 2025.[2]
Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,[3] theFirst Minister and deputy First Minister acting jointly may determine that a number of members of theNorthern 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,[4] which decreased to the current level of £55,000.00 in 2016.[5][6][7]
TheSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) called for the immediate abolition of the junior minister positions in its2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election manifesto.[8]
| Minister | Image | 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[9] | |
| 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 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Aisling Reilly | | Sinn Féin | 3 February 2024 | Incumbent | |
| Minister | Image | 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[9] | |
| 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 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Pam Cameron |  | DUP | 3 February 2024 | 15 September 2025 | |
| Joanne Bunting | | DUP | 15 September 2025 | Incumbent | |
Following the2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, First MinisterPeter Robinson and deputy First MinisterMartin McGuinness announced the creation of the new post ofAssembly Private Secretary, available to all ministers in theNorthern Ireland Executive.
The position is similar to that of aparliamentary private secretary in theHouse of Commons, providing political support to the Minister within the department. It is non-salaried and held by abackbencher 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 theAlliance 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.[10] None had been published by October 2011, meaning that the posts had not been created by theNorthern 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.[11][12]