Formed 1 December 1999 Employees 380 (September 2011) | Jurisdiction Northern Ireland | |
 | ||
Preceding Department Department of the Prime Minister
(1921–72)
Northern Ireland Office
(1972–99)
Office of the Chief Executive
(Jan.–May 1974) Headquarters Stormont Castle, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3TT Annual budget £78.6 million (current) & £11.2 million (capital) for 2011–12 | ||
The Executive Office is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive. The Ministers with overall responsibility for the department are the First Minister and deputy First Minister.
Contents
The department was originally known as the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, with the same capitalisation used in the department's logo. Following a change in policy in 2007 (see First Minister and deputy First Minister), the word "deputy" was then spelt with a lower-case d, but the older version of the name is retained in the logo. In May 2016, the department was renamed the Executive Office as a result of the Fresh Start Agreement.
Ministers
Until 9 January 2017, the First Minister and deputy First Minister were Arlene Foster (Democratic Unionist Party) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) respectively. On 9 January 2017, McGuinness resigned, forcing the vacancy of Foster's position under the rules of the Assembly. Both roles are currently vacant. They were assisted by two junior ministers: Alastair Ross (DUP) and Megan Fearon (Sinn Féin). Both roles are also currently vacant as a result of McGuinness' resignation.
Responsibilities
The Executive Office's overall aim is to “deliver a peaceful, fair, equal and prosperous society". Its key stated objectives include: "driving investment and sustainable development"; "Tackling disadvantage and promoting equality of opportunity"; and the "effective operation of the institutions of government".
The office has the following main responsibilities:
The Executive Office's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are:
Its main counterparts in the Irish Government are:
History
A Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was appointed on its formation in June 1921, supported by the Department of the Prime Minister, but the office was abolished in March 1972, on suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and introduction of direct rule.
The Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972 transferred the powers of the Prime Minister to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland within the British Government. A Chief Executive of Northern Ireland briefly held office in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive. The Secretary of State was supported by the Northern Ireland Office, which was responsible for security and political affairs during the Troubles.
Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. OFMDFM was one of five new devolved Northern Ireland departments created in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.
The First Minister and Deputy First Minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office:
Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.