The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the

Government of Northern Ireland The government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland. Following the partitio ...

between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in 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 ...

; however, 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 Kingdo ...

, as with

governors-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

in other Westminster Systems such as in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, chose to appoint someone to head the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

even though no such post existed in

statute law Statutory law or statute law is written law passed by a body of legislature. This is opposed to Oral law, oral or customary law; or regulatory law promulgated by the Executive (government), executive or common law of the judiciary. Statutes may or ...

. The office-holder assumed the title ''prime minister'' to draw parallels with the

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

. On the advice of the new prime minister, the lord lieutenant then created the ''Department of the Prime Minister''. The office of Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972 and then abolished in 1973, along with the contemporary government, when

direct rule Direct rule is when an imperial or central power takes direct control over the legislature, executive and civil administration of an otherwise largely self-governing territory. Examples Chechnya In 1991, Chechen separatists declared independence ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

was transferred to London. The Government of Ireland Act provided for the appointment of the executive committee of the

Privy Council of Northern Ireland The Privy Council of Northern Ireland is a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of Ireland. The council was created in 1922 as ...

by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. No parliamentary vote was required. Nor, theoretically, was the executive committee and its prime minister ''responsible'' to the

House of Commons of Northern Ireland The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the '' Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished w ...

. In reality the governor chose the leader of the party with a majority in the House to form a government. On each occasion this was the leader of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

; such was the UUP's electoral dominance using both a simple plurality and for the first two elections, a proportional electoral system. All prime ministers of Northern Ireland were members of the Orange Order. The prime minister's residence from 1920 until 1922 was Cabin Hill, later to become the junior school for

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

. After 1922

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 i ...

was used, though some prime ministers chose to live in

Stormont House Stormont House (also called Speaker's House) is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was designed by Ralph Knott, although Sir Edwin Lutyens has been credited with s ...

, the unused residence of the Speaker of the

. The new offices of

first minister and deputy first minister The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...

were created by the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

of 1998. In contrast with the Westminster-style system of the earlier Stormont government, the new

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ter ...

operates on the principles of consociational democracy. In 1974,

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 ...

was chosen to lead the

not as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland but as

Chief Executive of Northern Ireland A power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive was formed following the Northern Ireland Assembly (1973), Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1973. The executive served as the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved government of Northern Irel ...

List of office-holders

Parliamentary Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister

*1921–1929 The 12th Viscount Massereene *1929–1930 The 6th Viscount Bangor *1930–1941

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

John Andrew Long John Andrew Long (1869–1941) was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Long worked as a farmer and served on various public boards before his election as an Ulster Unionist member of the Senate of Northern Ireland The Senate of North ...

*1941–1948 Sir Joseph Davison *1948–1960

William Moore Wallis Clark William Moore Wallis Clark (10 January 1897 – 1 May 1971) was an Ulster Unionist member of the Senate of Northern Ireland The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government ...

*1960–1970

Daniel McGladdery *1970–1972

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

John Brooke, M.P.

Additional Parliamentary Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister

*1969 Bob Simpson

Footnotes

Sources

*Alan J. Ward, ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition'' (Irish Academic Press, 1994)
Government of Ireland Act, 1920
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Northern Ireland Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland