Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd made NI infrastructure minister

  • Published
Related topics
John O'DowdImage source, Pacemaker
Image caption,

John O'Dowd will be acting in a caretaker capacity until power-sharing is restored

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd has been installed as Northern Ireland's new infrastructure minister.

He signed the pledge of office at Stormont on Monday.

He replaces the Social Democratic and Labour Party's (SDLP) Nichola Mallon, who lost her seat in the assembly election.

Her party leader Colum Eastwood said they would not nominate a replacement as they no longer had a "mandate for government".

Sinn Féin was the next party entitled to nominate for the role, under existing Stormont rules.

However Mr O'Dowd will be operating in a caretaker capacity due to the absence of a functioning executive.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Northern Ireland Assembly

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post by Northern Ireland Assembly

Like other ministers who remain in place without a first and deputy first minister, his decision-making powers are limited.

Any significant, controversial or cross-cutting issues require the approval of the full executive.

Mr O'Dowd is expected to meet with civil servants within the department on Monday.

The Upper Bann assembly member was the education minister between 2011 and 2016.