Arlene Foster succeeds Peter Robinson as Northern Ireland’s First Minister

By The Press Association11th January 2016News Northern IrelandGovernment / Politics, News Northern Ireland

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has been appointed Northern Ireland’s new First Minister.

Mrs Foster has taken over from the retiring Peter Robinson.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone representative is the first woman to be appointed to one of the power-sharing Executive’s two top jobs.

Her elevation was confirmed during the first Assembly sitting of the new year at Parliament Buildings in Belfast.

The 45-year-old, from Co Fermanagh, has already replaced Mr Robinson as leader of the region’s largest political party – the Democratic Unionists.

Mr Robinson, 67, announced his intention to retire from frontline politics last November, days after signing a political deal with Sinn Fein and the British and Irish Governments to stabilise the rocking administration.

The transition of power has been smooth, with Mrs Foster facing no challengers within the DUP.

The married mother-of-three, who defected to the DUP from the Ulster Unionists in 2004, has assumed office alongside long-serving Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Mrs Foster said she took great pride in being the first woman to hold the office, and also its youngest incumbent.

“Mr Speaker, it was with great humility, an enormous sense of responsibility and the imagination of endless potential for Northern Ireland that I affirmed the pledge of office and take up this post today,” she said.

“I can think of no greater honour than to have the opportunity to serve my country and the people of Northern Ireland as their First Minister.

“I am truly humbled by the trust and confidence which has been placed in me and grateful for all those who have kept me in their prayers in recent days.

“As a young girl growing up in rural Fermanagh, the most westerly constituency in the whole of the United Kingdom, in the days when we were plagued by terrorism and decisions affecting our fates and our futures were taken far away, I could not have dreamt that I would be in this position today.

“Is it any wonder that in politics I believe that nothing is impossible?

“But the real measure of success is not in obtaining the office but in how it enables me to help others realise their dreams, ambitions and aspirations.

“For my part I want to make sure what is possible for me is possible for any young boy or girl growing up in Northern Ireland.”

She described her appointment as “historic”.

“I take great pride in the fact that since Northern Ireland was created almost a century ago I am the first woman to hold such a post,” she told a packed Assembly chamber.

“It was with even greater trepidation still that I learned I am also the youngest person to have assumed this post.

“I hope that I can bring the perspectives that both these attributes have to the office.”

As first and deputy first ministers are required to be appointed together, Mr McGuinness was re-nominated to his role as part of Monday’s Assembly procedures.

Mrs Foster experienced the Troubles first hand. Her father, a part time police officer, was shot and badly injured in an IRA murder bid and, as a schoolgirl, she was travelling on a school bus that was blown up in an attempt to kill its driver, an off-duty soldier.

She referenced the conflict in her inaugural speech as First Minister, insisting the past should never be forgotten.

“I am conscious of those who have not lived to see this day,” she said.

“Of course, I think particularly of my (late) father who would have been so proud of what has been achieved.

“I also think of all of those who served the community in the security forces during the dark days of the Troubles and those whose lives were cut all too short.

“I make this promise: In all I do I will honour their memory.

“We are all shaped by our history and our experience.

“Many of us live with the scars, emotional and real that we have endured.

“Far too often during my earlier years I saw the devastating effect that terrorism and violence had on our community.

“We cannot allow the past to forever blight our future.

“That’s why I want to make sure that we never ever go back to the bad old days.”

Mrs Foster said the time had come for a “new generation to step forward” to move Northern Ireland forward.

“That is our responsibility now – to create a better future than the past and one where we can live together in a society free of strife and conflict,” she said.

She said she wanted to restore people’s belief and give them new hope.

“I want to instil a new confidence in our people and a pride in our province. I want everyone to love this country with the same passion that I do.”

Mrs Foster said she wanted to create a “more harmonious society”. She said she would not apologise for being a unionist but insisted she would serve the whole community.

“I see that not just as a legal duty but a moral imperative,” she said.

“I want the same opportunities for every child in Northern Ireland as for my own.

“I want no section or part of the community in Northern Ireland to be isolated, marginalised or left behind, whatever their background or way of life.”

She added: “I believe in Northern Ireland and the people of Northern Ireland. I believe we are a special people.”

Mrs Foster said she wanted Northern Ireland to be a “beacon to the world”.

“I’m tired of Stormont being a watchword for arguing and bickering,” she said. “That’s not why our people elected us. They did so to provide a better future for us all.

“I will do all I can to change the political culture of this place but I can’t change that alone. We can only do it by working together.

“I know from experience it won’t be easy. Real change never is. But I ask today that we find a new way of doing business, one that places a greater premium on consensus than on conflict.”