25/05/2016 Stormont Today

of course, as from the smaller parties on the back benches.

So, coming up tonight: She took a little convincing

but an independent MLA from East Londonderry will be

This is probably the most difficult decision I've ever had in my life

It did cause me a lot of anxiety this past week but, as I said,

it's not reaching anybody, it's not reaching any

of my constituents and, most importantly, it's not reaching

anybody in Northern Ireland and I really look forward to it.

But as the formalities began, not everyone was enthusiastic

Less than two weeks ago, Miss Sugden boasted,

in this House, that she was an independent.

And the News Letter's Political Correspondent, Sam McBride,

is here as we dissect a very eventful start of term at Stormont.

We knew the ministerial roles that would be filled today and we knew

that the vast majority of them would come from the DUP

But the big question was who would fill the problematic

Justice Brief after Alliance had turned it down?

By the time the Assembly sat, everyone knew the answer to that

question, but that didn't stop some lively exchanges

Claire has been in this House for several years and we have been

We had that conversation with her initially.

We have had a number of

conversations since then and she has expressed

do this job in order to ensure that our society continues to move

forward, assist us putting a government together,

and she can be assured of the First Minister and my

And I have no doubt whatsoever she will enjoy the full

support of all of our ministerial colleagues to be appointed in the

course of this sitting of the Assembly.

She is a very progressive young woman, she obviously is highly

political, certainly enjoyed the support

of her constituents in the

course of the Assembly elections and we have every confidence in her

It's a great pleasure to be able to rise and

speak in support of the nomination made by the Deputy First Minister of

Claire Sugden to be our new minister of justice on what is for many

reasons of historic day in the

political history of Northern Ireland.

I think that Claire's appointment as Justice Minister will

symbolise the new generation of leadership that is emerging, not

just in this Assembly, not just in the Executive, but right across

As the Deputy First Minister has already said,

Claire has proven herself in this place since

is member for the East Londonderry constituency.

Many inside and outside of this chamber have been

very impressed by her contributions to debates and the proceedings of

She has times been thoughtful, she has been measured

and she has always been constructive I think we have all seen that she

possesses the skills and abilities to be a very good Minister.

The person who said this House of cards

is falling and good will come of it only if the jokers at the top come

crashing down and do not get up again as our new Justice Minister

And to the DUP, I remind them of this,

said by the same person in October of 2015:

One side of the House, the

largest political party, has decided that its

dirty inconsistent mess is

more important than moving Northern Ireland forward.

We are an absolutely no position to support a nomination for somebody

We corrupted it once before and we're doing it again now.

Our strong view is that the position of Justice

disturbing, Mr Speaker, is that even though

we have had some evolution on

our politics these last few weeks, the opportunity to evolve our

politics even further today has been missed.

And it's very clear to our electorate, Mr Speaker, that this is

a position for which no nationalist need apply.

The Deputy First Minister referred to the fact that

the post was first offered to Alliance, and it's no secret

that we put forward five proposals which we

believe would have made this place function better and would have

delivered better for the people of Northern Ireland.

And those proposals were rejected by the First

As is their right, they have sought to look

elsewhere and they have now

asked Claire Sugden to carry out the job.

And that is their right and

clearly, there are the numbers in this House to carry that.

Though I cannot personally support that

nomination, not because I have a fixation with the system, which I

don't, but whilst I cannot support that, I would certainly wish Claire

well in the task which clearly lies ahead of her.

It's no secret that my party did have discussions with the First

and Deputy First Minister in relation to the Justice Boost but we

were very clear - we would only serve

could progress our agenda, if we felt that we

could achieve more in

But I think the reality was our agenda was very different from that

of the DUP and Sinn Fein, which is why I'm

delighted that myself and

Clare Bailey will be in opposition, will be here to hold those parties

And yet today, yet today, for the sake of office, she

is willing to become the patsy of the jokers.

And that, I think, says a lot about this position - seduced

Less than two weeks ago, Miss Sugden boasted in

this House that she was an independent!

Well, no longer, I'm afraid because today, she has become

And whether or not she finds making up the numbers

on the dark side as fulfilling as she thinks, time alone will tell.

Well, that's how the appointment of the Justice Minister panned out

in the Chamber but the cat had been let out of the bag an hour earlier

by the First and Deputy First Ministers in Stormont's Great Hall.

Martin and I are delighted that Claire has agreed to be the new

Justice Minister for the new mandate and we are very much looking forward

to working with her and I hope that you will give her the credit that

she deserves in terms of stepping forward, taking this huge

opportunity to come forward and be the Justice

Minister for everyone in

It's a huge challenge, of course it is, but I

As Martin and Arlene say, this is an opportunity

for me, not only for me, but for the people

of my constituency and the

I am a progressive person, I do look forward to working with my new

I will have the support by Executive colleagues.

And indeed, moving forward, I would like to see collective

responsibility within our government so that Northern Ireland can move

This is probably the most difficult decision

I've ever had in my life and I've said that before.

It did cause me a lot of anxiety this past week.

I think David would be really proud with me. I had conversations with

his wife and she said David would be proud of me. We have confidence in

Claire to do the job. She is a young woman, she is very progressive,

Arlene and I have got to know her over the course of recent days and

have watched her performance and Assembly of the past couple of years

and we are satisfied that she will be able to do this job. She will

have our full support and she will have every assistance, from both

Arlene and myself. We will have a government in place today and we are

determined that it would be a government that gets things done.

It's a government that will work together. You will recognise the

change in how we operate over the next period of time. It will be a

good change. Arlene Foster making big promises

for the next five years. I'm joined now by Sam McBride

from the News Letter. Sam, there were a few whispers

about but it was still a bit of a surprise when we saw

Claire Sugden appear with Arlene Foster

and Martin McGuinness It was quite official image. Claire

Sugden, the only independent in the Chamber, walking out with the two

heads of government. On a personal level, is a story, it's

extraordinary. He is somebody who for weeks ago was not all guaranteed

coming back as an MLA even. She never stood for election before. And

suddenly, against anybody's expectations, she is not only

backers Stormont the Minister. It's an extraordinary rise. Ten days ago,

I raised it with her as a joke and she laughed and said, it's nice to

think about that but it won't happen. And all of a sudden, she has

been confirmed. Even last week, even when this was floated, I thought of

in this way. The DUP and Sinn Fein trying to bargain with the Alliance

Party of trying to get them over the line is a bluff. It was not seen as

a serious gambit than bringing the Greens, the instance, which should

not go anywhere. There has been process of elimination here in that

she is the last person standing that she was also well liked, she is

respected, she doesn't have a lot of experience but she is capable and.

She doesn't have a lot of appearance. She has not got huge

experience in the Chamber. She's only 29. Some people might say

lacking life experience and it is a very difficult brief. It's massively

difficult to not just politically but personally as well. She will now

be getting security briefings, she will have cast to take to storm at

an extra security even above that of other executive ministers. It's not

easy for anyone to take that role in particular but it is an incredible

rise and even though she has very little experience, she is respected

at the top government. Several of those parties and individuals in

opposition were very keen to register their unhappiness at the

appointment, perhaps not so much about Claire Sugden but the fact the

two parties had brought them into the executive. That is potential

banana skin for her. She certainly was very vocal around the time that

Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson were at the head of the executive.

She has spoken glowingly about Arlene Foster and I do wonder

whether if Peter Robinson would still be here, she would be

persuaded to come on board by him. Justice was the big story

at Stormont today but there were also seven other seats

around the Executive table So when the First and Deputy

First Ministers rose to make their nominations everyone

was listening intently. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I

select the Department for the economy and I nominate Simon. We'll

Simon confirm he is willing to take up office and affirmed the terms of

the Pledge of office? I confirm I am willing to take up the office of

Minister for the economy and the terms of pledge of office set out in

the Northern Ireland act 1998. I would like to accuse the Department

of Finance and appoint Martina is our new Minister for Finance. Will

Martine confirm he is willing to take up office and affirmed the

terms of the pledge of office? I confirm the terms of the pledge of

office set out in the Northern Ireland act. I select the Department

for Education and I nominate Peter were. All Peter were confirm he's

willing to take up office and affirmed the terms of the pledge of

office? I confirm I am willing to take up the office of Minister of

education and affirmed the terms of the pledge of office as set out in

the Northern Ireland act 1998. Mr Speaker, I am not nominated the

executive. I select the Department of infrastructure and I would like

to nominate Chris Hassett is the Minister for that department.

SPEAKS IRISH. I confirm that I will take up the

office and I affirm the pledge of office.

I select the Department for agriculture environment and rural

affairs and I nominate Michelle McIlveen.

We'll Michelle McIlveen confirm that she is willing to take up office?

I confirm that I'm willing to take up the office of minister of

agriculture the environment and rural affairs and I affirm the

pledge of office as set out in Jeddah for in the Northern Ireland

act of 1988. I will not be nominating a minister

to this executive. Will the member confirmed he is

willing to take up office and affirm that terms of the pledge of office?

I can confirm that I'm willing to take up the office of minister for

communities and I affirm the terms set out in the Northern Ireland act

1988. Isolate the Department of Health and

nominate Michelle O'Neill as the new minister for health.

Will Michelle O'Neill confirmed that she is willing to take up office and

affirm the term of the pledge of office?

SPEAKS IRISH. I confirm I am willing to take up

the office of minister for health and I affirm the pledge set out in

the Northern Ireland act 1988. So, we now know who'll be doing

what job and joining me is the new Minister for Communities,

Paul Givan. A huge brief - from housing

and welfare to culture, arts, How will you stay across such

a diverse portfolio? I am privileged to be given the

opportunity to take on this responsibility and you are right

that the brief is fast. It touches on a wide range of issues that

connect with people on grassroots levels and I am looking forward to

getting out on the ground to engage with people and try to make our

society a better place for people to live in.

It is often at the end of the list of ministries and has been nicknamed

the Ministry of everything else. Do you think it has that feel to it?

If you consider this department has a budget of ?7 billion every year.

We spent ?90 million every day. That is a department with a huge

responsibility. Primarily deals with Social Security. It goes to local

government, housing. There is a huge opportunity to get involved and I do

feel that you need to be a jack of all trades to try and deliver in

terms of the ministerial responsibilities.

The danger is that you are a jack of all trades and a master of none. How

much do you know about sport and the arts because they are quite discrete

areas. There is no doubt that this will be

a test of my own ability to try and get on top of these issues. I

believe that I will be able to do that and I have had confidence

expressed to me by the First Minister who gave me this

responsibility. I know there will be an impressive team around me and the

department who will help guide me through that but ultimately I want

to bring my own stamp to this department. I want to bring forward

issues that I believe resonate with the public. There are vast number of

areas to get involved in but I am relishing the opportunity to do

that. Will you want to be a minister for

communities for all communities, for everybody, because there might be

some areas you are more comfortable in than others. Will you attend a

GAA match, for example? With that cause your problem?

I have been looking at some of the invitations and going to a GAA match

is something that I will do. It has already been carried out by a member

of the DUP. I will consider any invitation based on its own merits

before I will take a decision on what I will will not go to.

Is there an invitation from the GAA at the moment?

There is. It will not be an issue. I will go to an event that GAA will

organise. Iraq advisers are sporting organisation and almost jealous of

it from within the Nationalists claim it is that it is a grassroots

organisation that is at the centre of the community. I recognise the

value it brings to our society as a cultural and sporting organisation.

Clearly there will be some issues that they still need to address that

I am here to be proactive, to engage with people, and won't be barriers

put up in front of me by the GAA. As we saw earlier, Mike Nesbitt

and Colum Eastwood declined to nominate Ministers

to the Executive, so once the d'Hondt process was completed

the Speaker turned to The nominating officers of the

Ulster Unionist Party and the social do necrotic and Labour Party were

entitled to nominate members but declined to do so -- the SDLP. I'll

asked them if they choose to be recognised as part of the official

opposition. I asked Mike Nesbitt if your party wants to be recognised as

part of the official opposition. We do has to be recognised as part

of the official opposition and to initiate a new era for the Northern

Ireland Assembly. We will not take her seat at the executive table.

Should take our seats of their because the First Minister

McGuinness should set aside First Minister Foster as they do so

comfortably at Stormont Castle. I ask Mr Colum Eastwood is your

party choose to be recognised as part of the official opposition?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yes, we would like to be wrecked as does a member

of the opposition. -- like to be recognised. We will hold them to

account when we need to. The Ulster Unionist Party and the

SDLP will now be recognised as the official opposition.

So, it's officially official - we have an Opposition.

is whether or not the Ulster Unionists and SDLP

will nominate Shadow Ministers to formally keep

a close eye on members of the Executive.

That will perhaps become clear over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I'm joined by another of today's

Ministerial appointments - Chris Hazzard, the Minister

Was it a surprise? We were talking about some of the positions and that

was one of them. Challenging times ahead but there is a fresh sense of

purpose around the executive table and I'm looking forward to getting

stuck in. Would you welcome the appointment of

a formal Shadow infrastructure minister?

Yes, it into something the opposition want to do then fair

enough. If we get to the end of this process and have a better sense of

government and keeping people held to account then all power to them.

It is a young executive, the average age is 38. Is there enough

experience around the executive table to grapple with some of the

very difficult issues that need to be dealt with?

I think so. It is about vision and determination and energy. I think I

have those values. I see those across the table. We have seen

people like Simon Hamilton who has come in and done a good job so I

hope to bring a similar vision and energy to my role.

He covered the education brief in the last mandate. How much do nobody

issues you will be dealing with in your new department?

Bets and pieces. This is the first day. But as an active MLA in my

constituency, infrastructure rows with waterways and street lighting.

We are dealing with these issues every day. I am accustomed to them.

I'm getting to meet members of staff tomorrow to continue those meetings

and get into the brief. It is an exciting time and I'm looking

forward to the challenge. It is a department that people feel

strongly about in terms of street lighting and road-building and a

grass being cut. They can make a difference to members of the public.

If the grass is not cut and the lights are not working, they can get

very cross and their higher is likely to be -- their annoyance is

likely to be directed at you. That is why I am elected to make

these decisions. It is about loving the sort of society we want to see.

And about welding the future we want to see. -- building.

You said yourself in your opening comments that this is a new

executive with a new purpose. It is also a new relationship between the

DUP and Sinn Fein around the executive table with the Justice

Minister who is an independent. Will it be a property party call issued,

different from what we saw in the last Andy?

I would hope so. I think that is what the people elected. I think we

have two main parties and people want to see them in control. We saw

confidence from Martin and Arlene to say this is the government and this

is how we will go forward. Will we see collective

responsibility? I think we will.

If that happens it is going to be a big change.

Once the issue of Ministers had been settled, business turned

There was again a great deal of standing up and sitting down.

That was until the Ulster Unionists picked economy and nominated

After he accepted, it was Arlene Foster's turn to pick

I would request an adjournment to consider matters.

Can I ask a member how long she would anticipate?

Ten minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I name as deputy chair Pam Cameron.

As the member who has been nominated willing to take up office for which

she has been nominated? Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yes, I am

willing to take up office. I call on Martin McGuinness to

select and nominate. Finance, my apologies.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I select the economy and...

My apologies. It has gone, I'm sorry.

Can we have a few minutes adjournment.

Martin McGuinness, playing for time in the chamber.

Sam, there were a lot of ministers, committee chairs and deputy chairs

I suppose we could have expected a few mistakes?

But there were moments when people seem slightly lost as if they could

not find the script. It is a complex system for

allocating ministries and allocating the chairmanships of committees. It

is more complex in some ways because of the uncertainty around what the

small parties would do but it did leave to a bit of confusion at

various points. In reality, a lot of this is sorted out beforehand so

part of this is the public face. Let us talk about some of the names

included today. Perhaps you were surprised at some of those who find

their way to the executive table or committee chairman chips but also

some of the casualties. People you would expect to be part of the front

line of various parties who are nowhere to be seen.

There is a glaring omission on Sinn Fein's benches. The former minister,

Michel, who is a woman and they are trying to elect more women. The

chair of the finance committee similarly. It is difficult to fathom

sometimes how they come up with these things. On the DUP site, a

huge loss is Mervyn Storey. Someone with a lot of experience. He was

pragmatic and his dealings with other parties and quite well

respected I rivals. No position for him whatsoever. But a sharp DUP team

overall. Peter Weir is overdue a promotion. It is a competent looking

set of DUP ministers. It will be a fascinating five-year

mandate if today is anything to go by. Thank you for your comments.

Well, that's all we have time for tonight.

I'll be back tomorrow night with The View on BBC One

Until then, from everyone in the team, goodnight.

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