The term junior Minister (), in Northern Ireland, is the name given to two positions in the Executive Office, a department in the Northern Ireland Executive answerable to the First Minister and deputy First Minister.
The positions have been filled by Aisling Reilly since 3 February 2024 and Joanne Bunting since 15 September 2025.
Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the First Minister and deputy First Minister acting jointly may determine that a number of members of the Northern 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, which decreased to the current level of £55,000.00 in 2016.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) called for the immediate abolition of the junior minister positions in its 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election manifesto.
Junior Ministers Nominated by the First Minister MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office Dermot Nesbitt 15 December 1999 11 February 2000 Office suspended Dermot Nesbitt 30 May 2000 20 February 2002Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001 James Leslie 20 February 2002 14 October 2002 Office suspended Ian Paisley, Jr. 8 May 2007 26 February 2008 Jeffrey Donaldson 26 February 2008 1 July 2009 Robin Newton 1 July 200916 May 2011 Jonathan Bell 16 May 2011 11 May 2015 Michelle McIlveen 11 May 2015 28 October 2015 Emma Pengelly 28 October 2015 25 May 2016 Alastair Ross 25 May 2016 9 January 2017 Office suspended Gordon Lyons 11 January 2020 2 February 2021 Gary Middleton 2 February 2021 (Acting) 8 March 2021 Gordon Lyons 8 March 2021 17 June 2021 Gary Middleton 17 June 2021 5 May 2022 Office suspended Aisling Reilly 3 February 2024 Incumbent
Nominated by the Deputy First Minister MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office Denis Haughey 2 December 1999 11 February 2000 Office suspended Denis Haughey 30 May 2000 14 October 2002 Office suspended Gerry Kelly 8 May 2007 16 May 2011 Martina Anderson 16 May 2011 12 June 2012 Jennifer McCann 12 June 2012 25 May 2016 Megan Fearon 25 May 2016 9 January 2017 Office suspended Declan Kearney 11 January 2020 5 May 2022 Office suspended Pam Cameron 3 February 2024 15 September 2025 Joanne Bunting 15 September 2025 Incumbent
Assembly Private Secretary
Following the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness announced the creation of the new post of Assembly Private Secretary, available to all ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.
The position is similar to that of a parliamentary private secretary in the House of Commons, providing political support to the Minister within the department. It is non-salaried and held by a backbencher 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 the Alliance 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. None had been published by October 2011, meaning that the posts had not been created by the Northern 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.
See also Executive Office (Northern Ireland) First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland List of government ministers in Northern Ireland
References
External links Executive Office