Michelle McIlveen

Michelle McIlveen MLA
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 May 2016
Preceded by	Michelle O'Neill
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 March 2007
Preceded by	John Taylor
Minister of Regional Development
In office 21 September 2015[note 1] – 6 May 2016
Preceded by	Danny Kennedy
Succeeded by	Chris Hazzard
Personal details
Born	21 January 1971 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Alma mater	Queen's University, Belfast
Religion	Free Presbyterian

Michelle McIlveen, MLA (born 21 January 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. She was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member for Strangford. She is currently the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

She is the DUP spokesperson on children and young people. She is also a former councillor on Ards Borough Council, to which she was first elected in 2005. She served as the Junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. On 1 September 2015, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) minister Danny Kennedy resigned from the Department for Regional Development after his party's decision to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Executive (due to allegations of the Provisional IRA's continued existence by Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable George Hamilton).^[1]

Under Northern Ireland Assembly rules, when a Department Minister resigns, their party has seven working days to replace the minister or the position is given to another party under the D'Hondt method. This then fell to the DUP, who undertook a cycle of ministerial resignations/appointments/resignations to avoid losing their ministries to other parties like the UUP during the period of time when claims of IRA activity were being made and investigated. The position of Minister for Regional Development lay vacant until 28 September 2015. McIlveen was appointed as minister, with Emma Pengelly replacing her as Junior Minister.^[2]

References

1. Resigned on 21 September 2015, re-entered office on 23 Sept. till 24 Sept., then 30 Sept.-1 Oct. 2015. Following the 20 October she permanently occupies the office

1. Kevin McGuigan murder: Provisional IRA still exists, says PSNI chief; accessed 14 May 2016.
2. DUP profile, dup.org.uk; accessed 14 May 2016.