Executive of the 6th Northern Ireland Assembly

Executive of the 6th Northern Ireland Assembly
5th Executive of Northern Ireland
January 2020 – February 2022
First Ministers Foster and Givan; deputy First Minister O'Neill
Date formed	11 January 2020
Date dissolved	4 February 2022
People and organisations
Head of state	Elizabeth II
Co-heads of government	Arlene Foster; Paul Givan (First Ministers) Michelle O'Neill (deputy First Minister)
No. of ministers	10 (+ 2 junior ministers)
Member party	DUP Sinn Féin SDLP UUP Alliance
Status in legislature	Power–sharing coalition 85 / 90 (94%)
History
Election	2017 assembly election
Legislature term	6th Assembly
Predecessor	Executive of the 5th Assembly
Successor	Executive of the 7th Assembly

This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the
Politics of Northern Ireland
Executive Executive Committee First Minister Michelle O'Neill deputya First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly Civil Service Government departments  a Lowercase "d" per here.
Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots MLA Acts Private Members' Bills Committees Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges Statutory rules Members (MLA) Commissioner for Standards at the Northern Ireland Assembly
Law Supreme Court (UK) Courts of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland in the UK His Majesty's Government Northern Ireland Office Secretary of State Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP Interministerial Standing Committee Parliament of the United Kingdom Direct rule Grand Committee Select Committee Elections Current Westminster MPs
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland All-Ireland Good Friday Agreement North/South Ministerial Council North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association British–Irish Council
Local government Local government in Northern Ireland Counties Districts Local Government Boundaries Commissioner for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Local Government Association
Category NI portal Other countries
v t e

The Executive of the 6th Northern Ireland Assembly was appointed on 11 January 2020, after the confirmation of Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill as First and deputy First Minister.

Following the 2 March 2017 elections to the sixth Northern Ireland Assembly, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin remained the two largest parties in the Assembly. Parties in Northern Ireland that were eligible to join the Northern Ireland Executive were given a deadline of 27 March 2017 to form an Executive. The deadline passed and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire passed an emergency law at Westminster to allow more time for talks to take place. Brokenshire threatened direct rule if no agreement was reached by early May 2017. This deadline was later extended to 29 June after Prime Minister, Theresa May's decision to call a snap general election for 8 June 2017.

On 29 June 2017, the DUP and Sinn Féin had both announced that they had not come to an agreement to form the next Northern Ireland Executive. Brokenshire extended the deadline until 3 July 2017 for further talks to continue. Abortive talks continued intermittently through 2017, 2018 and 2019 but were overshadowed by the UK Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and the DUP role in supporting the minority British Government. Intensive talks resumed in December 2019 following the 2019 UK General Election with a new deadline of 13 January 2020 for fresh assembly elections set by Secretary of State Julian Smith. An agreement was published by the two governments on 9 January 2020 and it was accepted by the leading parties.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland returned to the Executive, having been absent since 2016; Alliance's Naomi Long obtained the cross-community vote to become Minister for Justice.^[1]

The 2024 Northern Ireland Executive Formation will restore power-sharing at Stormont.^[2]

• List of Northern Ireland Executives
• Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 2017