The Executive Committee or the Executive Committee for Northern Ireland was the government of Northern Ireland created under the ''

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

''. Generally known as either the ''Cabinet'' or the ''Government'', the executive committee existed from 1922 to 1972. It exercised

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

formally vested in the

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Baili ...

in relation to devolved matters. Under the Act as originally enacted, the "Executive Committee for Northern Ireland" was an executive committee of the Privy Council of Ireland consisting of the ministers appointed by the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kin ...

to head departments of state.Government of Ireland Act 1920 s.8(4)(a), s.8(5)
/ref> Ministers so chosen did not have to be members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland but were required to become members within six months. The '' Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act'', which came into force in December 1922, replaced the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Council of Ireland with the Governor of Northern Ireland and Privy Council of Northern Ireland. As in many Westminster-style systems, the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920'' did not explicitly provide for such an office, but in practice the executive committee was headed by a Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. In theory the executive committee was not answerable to the House of Commons but held their positions "during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant".Section 8.4 as originally enacted.(c) In practice the executive committee was answerable to the elected House of Commons of Northern Ireland. As a result, the executive committee stood in a similar relationship to the legislature and Crown (within devolved Northern Ireland) as the UK's Cabinet does to the Crown and Westminster Parliament. The executive committee thus played an equivalent constitutional role in relation to Northern Ireland as the UK Cabinet did to the United Kingdom as a whole. The system of government created by the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920'' was first suspended by the Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972, and then abolished completely the following year by the Government of the United Kingdom under the

Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the royal assent on 18 July 1973. The Act abolished the suspended Parliament of Northern Ireland and the post of Governor and made ...

. The executive committee was based in the Stormont Parliament Buildings and the nearby

Stormont Castle Stormont Castle is a manor house on the Stormont Estate in east Belfast which is home to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Executive Office. It is a Grade A listed building. History Stormont Castle was completed c.1830 and was reworked in ...

, whilst the Governor resided at

Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

. Original plans to build a separate executive building were abandoned in the 1920s as a result of the economic difficulties that resulted from the Wall Street Crash.

Ministries

Craigavon ministry The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland C ...

– led by James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon – 1922–1940. *

Andrews ministry The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland ...

– led by

J. M. Andrews John Miller Andrews, (17 July 1871 – 5 August 1956) was the second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1940 to 1943. Family life Andrews was born in Comber, County Down, Ireland in 1871, the eldest child in the family of four sons and o ...

– 1940–1943. * Brookeborough ministry – led by

Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, (9 June 1888 – 18 August 1973), styled Sir Basil Brooke, 5th Baronet between 1907 and 1952, was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and paramilitary leader who became the third Prime Mi ...

– 1943–1963. *

O'Neill ministry The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland C ...

– led by

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth prime minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). A moderate unionist, who sought t ...

– 1963–1969. * Chichester-Clark ministry – led by

James Chichester-Clark James Dawson Chichester-Clark, Baron Moyola, PC, DL (12 February 1923 – 17 May 2002) was the penultimate Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and eighth leader of the Ulster Unionist Party between 1969 and March 1971. He was Member of the No ...

– 1969–1971. * Faulkner ministry – led by

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...

– 1971–1972.

Symbols

Image:Flag of Northern Ireland (1953–1972).svg, Ulster Banner, the Executive Committee's flag Image:Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland.svg,

Coat of arms of Northern Ireland The coat of arms of the Government of Northern Ireland was granted to the Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland in 1924. History The coat of arms was designed by Major Sir Nevile Wilkinson, Ulster King of Arms, at Dublin ...

, the Executive Committee's arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Government of Northern Ireland (1921-1972) History of Northern Ireland Government of Northern Ireland