Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)

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The Department of the Environment (DOE or DOENI; Template:Langx;[1] Ulster-Scots: Männystrie o tha Kintraside) was a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The Minister for the Environment was overall responsible for the department.

Aim

The DOE's overall aim was to "work in partnership" with the public, private and voluntary sectors to promote the "economic and social welfare of the community" through "promoting sustainable development and seeking to secure a better and safer environment for everyone".[2]

The last Minister was Mark H. Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party).[3]

Responsibilities

The main policy responsibilities of the department were:[4]

  • the natural environment
  • the built environment
  • land use planning
  • road safety
  • regulation of drivers, vehicles and vehicle operators
  • local government

The DOE's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government were:

In the Irish Government, its main counterparts were:

History

Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The Ministry of Home Affairs was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921 and was responsible for a range of non-economic domestic matters, including local government. A separate Ministry of Health and Local Government was formed in 1944 and split in 1965 to create the Ministry of Development. An environment ministry existed in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive, and the ministry was known as the Department of the Environment under direct rule.

The DoE is still used in everyday language in Northern Ireland to describe the Roads Service, which was once run by the department but is currently an agency of the separate Department for Regional Development.

Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. DoE was one of the six direct rule Northern Ireland departments that continued in existence after devolution in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.

A devolved minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office:

Ministers of the Environment

Minister Image Party Took office Left office
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Sam Foster File:No image.svg Template:Party shortname 29 November 1999 11 February 2000
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Sam Foster File:No image.svg Template:Party shortname 30 May 2000 20 February 2002[19]
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Dermot Nesbitt File:No image.svg Template:Party shortname 20 February 2002 14 October 2002
Office suspended
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Arlene Foster File:MLA Arlene Foster.jpg Template:Party shortname 8 May 2007 9 June 2008
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Sammy Wilson File:SammyWilson.jpg Template:Party shortname 9 June 2008 2 July 2009
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Edwin Poots File:Edwin Poots (cropped).jpg Template:Party shortname 3 July 2009 4 May 2011
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Alex Attwood File:May Day, Belfast, April 2011 (056).JPG Template:Party shortname 16 May 2011 15 July 2013
style="background:Template:Party color" |     Mark H. Durkan File:No image.svg Template:Party shortname 16 July 2013 30 March 2016
Office and department abolished

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department:

See also

References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (page 30)
  2. ↑ Northern Ireland Budget 2011–15, page 80
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Northern Ireland Executive
  4. ↑ DOE: About us Template:Webarchive
  5. ↑ Defra: About Defra Template:Webarchive
  6. ↑ Communities and Local Government: About us
  7. ↑ Department for Transport: About us
  8. ↑ DCMS: Historic environment
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Roads Template:Webarchive
  11. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Commencement) Order 2000
  12. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2000
  13. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  14. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  15. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  16. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  17. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2002
  18. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2007
  19. ↑ Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
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