All Eyes on the Northern Ireland Executive

*Update 18 June 2021*

Northern Irish politics is anything but boring or predictable – a bit like payroll and reward really.

Edwin Poots, referred to in the below article, resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) after 21 days in post.  His statement says:

“I have asked the Party Chairman to commence an electoral process within the Party to allow for a new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party to be elected.

The Party has asked me to remain in post until my successor is elected.’

This is not a political comment, merely a statement and interpretation of facts.

We must never forget that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom (UK) as, as such, deserves the respect that we pay to the other countries. 

Recent Northern Irish politics have seen a change in leader for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), with Edwin Poots replacing Arlene Foster. Mrs Foster also served as First Minister, a role that Mr Poots has said he will not take on, instead nominating colleague Paul Givan below:

As I have said, as part of the UK and as UK professionals, we need to be aware of what is happening in this devolved nation. Just like Wales and Scotland, what happens in Northern Ireland matters, if only to look at the issues that are devolved that may impact UK payroll and reward professionals.

Arguably, the biggest devolution impact at the moment is the fact that Northern Ireland have full powers over employment law. Many employment rights are UK-wide, however, an increasingly significant number are not, for example:

• The provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 do not apply. This impacts things such as the right to take Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave, something for which there is no legislation in Northern Ireland, pending the enactment of the Bill that was recently introduced
• The Working Time Regulations 1998 do not apply. Therefore, the changes to the holiday pay reference period from 12 to 52 weeks only applies to workers under a Great British contract of employment
• The Equality Act 2010 does not apply. Therefore, Gender Pay Gap Reporting does not apply either, as the Regulations that imposed this were written under the 2010 Act

What happens in Northern Ireland matters very much if we are to consider ourselves UK professionals. If we don’t take into consideration this part of the UK, we are limiting ourselves to being Great British professionals.

On 14 June 2021, Arlene Foster resigned as First Minister. This was earlier than her original intention to stand down at the end of June 2021.

The resignation means that Deputy First Minister (Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill) lost her position, as the two roles are a joint office. Although Northern Ireland’s Executive is run as a mandatory coalition between political parties, it does not function without the largest two parties (the DUP (1st) and Sinn Féin (2nd)) who are allocated the First Minister and Deputy roles.

Effectively, there is no Executive in Northern Ireland. There is now 7 days for the approval of a new First and 14 days for the approval of a new Deputy First:

• The DUP ‘s leader (Mr Poots) will propose Mr Givan for First Minister
• Sinn Féin will make a proposal for Deputy

There must be a First and Deputy First Minister for the Executive to function. There cannot be one without the other.

If replacements are not nominated, the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis is obliged to call an Assembly election. Given that devolution was only restored in January 2020 after 3 years and the next elections are due in May 2022, this is something that Mr Lewis will probably want to avoid.

It seems to be hinging on the Irish language, so look out for references to the New Decade, New Approach deal from January 2020. Sinn Féin are indicating that the protection, recognition and development of the Irish language is a key part of this deal. This needs to be delivered before the Assembly mandate ceases to apply in May 2022.

If the necessary legislation is to pass through the legislative process, this must start its passage before the summer recess, scheduled for 10 July 2021. Speaking ahead of her resignation statement, Mrs Foster said that the 2020 deal was ‘the only model for success’.

(It is also interesting that the same deal proposes increasing the 7-day approvals process to 6 weeks. Yet, no legislation is in place for this to happen, so 7 days (First Minister) and 14 days (Deputy) it is).

It is going to be a frantic week for the continued devolution in Northern Ireland.