Northern Ireland Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive is made up of the First Minister, deputy First Minister, two Junior Ministers and eight departmental ministers.

Ministers of the Executive are nominated by the political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The number of Ministers which a party can nominate is determined by its share of seats in the Assembly. The First Minister and deputy First Minister are nominated by the largest and second largest parties respectively and act as chairpersons of the Executive. Each Executive minister has responsibility for a specific Northern Ireland government department.