Executive of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly

The Executive of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly (1 July 1998 – 14 October 2002) was, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a power-sharing coalition.

Executive of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly
1st Executive of Northern Ireland
Date formed	1 July 1998
Date dissolved	14 October 2002
People and organisations
Head of state	Elizabeth II
Head of government	David Trimble (1998–July 01; Nov. 01–02) Reg Empey (July 01–Nov. 01)
Deputy head of government	Seamus Mallon (1998–01) Mark Durkan (2001–02)
No. of ministers	10
Member party	UUP SDLP DUP Sinn Féin
Status in legislature	Power–Sharing Coalition 90 / 108 (83%)
History
Election	1998 assembly election
Legislature term	1st Assembly
Predecessor	1974 Executive of Northern Ireland Direct rule (1974–98)
Successor	Executive of the 2nd Assembly (Direct rule)

Following the first election to the new Northern Ireland Assembly the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin all took up their ministerial posts and formed an executive, the Democratic Unionist Party refused to attend meetings of the executive committee in protest at Sinn Féin's participation.^[1]

Full power was devolved to the Executive on 2 December 1999.^[2] This power was revoked by the Secretary of State on four separate occasions. The first was for a period of 3 months from 11 February 2000 – 30 May 2000 because of no arms decommissioning.^[3] The next two times were for periods of 24 hours on 10 August 2001 to help deal with arms negotiations^[4] and 21 September 2001 following the Holy Cross dispute.^[5] The final suspension came on 14 October 2002 after the Stormontgate controversy surrounding an alleged Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring based in Stormont.^[6]

1st Executive of Northern Ireland

Office	Name	Term	Party
First Minister	David Trimble[7][8][9]	1998–01		UUP
Deputy First Minister	Seamus Mallon[8][9]	1998–01		SDLP
Changes 2 December 1999
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development	Bríd Rodgers[9]	1999–00		SDLP
Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure	Michael McGimpsey[9]	1999–00		UUP
Minister of Education	Martin McGuinness[9]	1999–00		Sinn Féin
Minister for Employment and Learning	Sean Farren[9]	1999–00		SDLP
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment	Reg Empey[9]	1999–00		UUP
Minister of the Environment	Sam Foster[9]	1999–00		UUP
Minister of Finance and Personnel	Mark Durkan[9]	1999–00		SDLP
Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety	Bairbre de Brún[9]	1999–00		Sinn Féin
Minister for Regional Development	Peter Robinson[9]	1999–00		DUP
Minister for Social Development	Nigel Dodds[9]	1999–00		DUP
Changes 11 February 2000
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of Education	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister for Employment and Learning	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of the Environment	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of Finance and Personnel	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister for Regional Development	Office suspended [10]	2000
Minister for Social Development	Office suspended [10]	2000
Changes 30 May 2000
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development	Bríd Rodgers[11]	2000–02		SDLP
Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure	Michael McGimpsey[11]	2000–02		UUP
Minister of Education	Martin McGuinness[11]	2000–02		Sinn Féin
Minister for Employment and Learning	Sean Farren[11]	2000–01		SDLP
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment	Reg Empey[11]	2000–02		UUP
Minister of the Environment	Sam Foster[11]	2000–02		UUP
Minister of Finance and Personnel	Mark Durkan[11]	2000–01		SDLP
Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety	Bairbre de Brún[11]	2000–02		Sinn Féin
Minister for Regional Development	Peter Robinson[11]	2000–01		DUP
Minister for Social Development	Nigel Dodds[11]	2000		DUP
Changes 1 July 2001
Office	Name	Term	Party
First Minister	Reg Empey (acting) [12]	2001		UUP
Changes 27 July 2001
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister for Regional Development	Gregory Campbell	2001		DUP
Minister for Social Development	Maurice Morrow	2000–01		DUP
Changes 24 October 2001
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister for Regional Development	Peter Robinson[13]	2001–02		DUP
Minister for Social Development	Nigel Dodds[13]	2001–02		DUP
Changes 6 November 2001
Office	Name	Term	Party
First Minister	David Trimble[14]	2001–02		UUP
Deputy First Minister	Mark Durkan[14]	2001–02		SDLP
Changes 14 December 2001
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister for Employment and Learning	Carmel Hanna[15]	2001–02		SDLP
Minister of Finance and Personnel	Sean Farren[15]	2001–02		SDLP
Changes 20 February 2002
Office	Name	Term	Party
Minister of the Environment	Dermot Nesbitt[16]	2002		UUP