Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland.

This article describes the executive and legislative bodies in Northern Ireland. For details of the UK Government in Westminster, see the parallel article for England.

Since devolution in 1998, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Northern Ireland.

System of government in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland devolution settlement, made under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, gives legislative control over certain matters, known as ‘transferred matters’, to the Northern Ireland Assembly. In the main, transferred matters are in the economic and social field:

• health and social services
• education
• employment and skills
• agriculture
• social security
• pensions and child support
• housing
• economic development
• local government
• environmental issues, including planning
• transport
• culture and sport
• the Northern Ireland Civil Service
• equal opportunities
• justice and policing.

‘Excepted matters’ remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament at Westminster and include areas such as national security and international relations.

‘Reserved matters’ are also dealt with by the UK Parliament, unless it is decided by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (in the UK Government) that some of these should be devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Reserved matters include areas such as financial services, pensions regulation and consumer safety.

Excepted and reserved matters are defined in detail in the Schedules of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. For more information, see the UK Government guidance.

The devolution settlement for Northern Ireland has recently been the subject of further debate and reform. The Stormont House Agreement of 23 December 2014 included plans for additional fiscal devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly, along with the devolution of powers for parades and related protests. Following this Agreement, the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015 set out the devolution of powers on corporation tax to the Northern Ireland Assembly. A memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the devolved powers on corporation tax was signed in January 2016 and draft guidance was published in September 2016.

Legislature

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland, consisting of 90 elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). There are five MLAs for each of the 18 constituencies. Elections normally take place every five years. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) system of proportional representation is used to elect MLAs.

Following the May 2016 election there was, for the first time, an official opposition to scrutinise the work of Ministers. This followed the passing of the Assembly and Executive Reform (Assembly Opposition) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, and the decision of members from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to form an opposition, rather than agreeing to join the Executive power-sharing arrangement.

Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government for Northern Ireland. It is made up of the First Minister, the deputy First Minister, two Junior Ministers and eight other government ministers.

Members of the Executive are nominated by the political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The First Minister and deputy First Minister are nominated by the largest and second largest political parties respectively and act as joint chairs of the Executive. They must stand for election jointly and, to be elected, they must have cross-community support by the parallel consent formula. This means that a majority of both the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) who have designated themselves Nationalists and those who have designated themselves Unionists, and a majority of the whole Assembly, must vote in favour.

The nomination of other government ministers is based on the principle of power-sharing to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest political communities, the Unionist and Nationalist communities, both participate in governing Northern Ireland. The number of ministers which a party can nominate, with the exception of the Minister of Justice, is determined by its share of seats, using the D'Hondt method of proportional representation. The Minister of Justice is appointed following a cross-community Assembly vote.

Each minister has responsibility for a specific Northern Ireland government department. A reduction in the number of ministers came into effect in May 2016, reflecting the reduction in the number of departments from 12 to 9 under the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016.

The Executive Committee exercises executive authority on behalf of the Northern Ireland Assembly. It takes decisions on significant and controversial issues – that is, matters which cut across the responsibility of two or more ministers, or which require a common Executive position, and also on legislation proposed by ministers. The Executive Committee also agrees a Programme for Government and the Northern Ireland budget for approval by the Assembly. The majority of the budget is funded by grants from the UK Government, allocated as follows:

• The largest element is a block grant. Since the late 1970s, annual changes in the block grant have been determined by the non-statutory Barnett formula (this January 2018 House of Commons Library briefing (CBP-7386) provides further information).
• Other UK government grants are for less predictable demand-driven spending. Changes in these grants are negotiated by the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.

The article on the ‘Political and Economic Situation’ provides further information on budget setting in Northern Ireland.

Two departments of the Northern Ireland Executive have responsibility for education. The Department of Education (DE) is responsible for the central administration of early years, primary and secondary education and the youth service, while the Department for the Economy (DfE) has responsibility for the further and higher education sectors, and for employment and skills programmes including apprenticeships.

Until May 2016, these responsibilities were divided between the Department of Education (DE) and the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). At that date, DEL’s responsibilities were merged into the Department for the Economy (DfE), as part of a reorganisation aimed at encouraging greater efficiency in the Northern Ireland administration, and reducing 12 government departments to 9. Information on the responsibilities of all 9 departments is available.

Judiciary

Northern Ireland has its own court system and legal profession. The judicial system is headed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Executive’s Department of Justice is responsible for the administration of the courts, which it runs through the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service. The Department also has responsibility for policy and legislation about criminal law, legal aid policy, the police, prisons and probation. However, the UK Supreme Court hears appeals on points of law in cases of major public importance.

Local government

There are 11 local councils in Northern Ireland, run by democratically-elected councillors. These 11 councils took over from the previous 26 councils on 1 April 2015 under a programme of reform aiming to deliver high quality and more efficient public services.

The councils have a range of roles and responsibilities, including providing services in such areas as waste and recycling, leisure and recreational facilities, and building control, and responsibilities relating to local development planning; local economic development; local tourism; and heritage. These local councils do not, however, carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. They do not, for example, have responsibility for education, transport, public housing, or for fire or police services.

Article last reviewed April 2021.