The Assembly and the Executive
Video transcript
This is a written transcript of the 'The Assembly and the Executive' video that helps describe the difference between the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive.
The items in square brackets [] provide additional contextual information to aid the understanding of the video's content.
Presenter Jim Fitzpatrick is standing outside Parliament Buildings in the Stormont Estate.
Mr Fitzpatrick: Okay, so what is this place and what's it for? What is the Northern Ireland Assembly?
[An overhead view of Stormont Estate appears. We can see the majority of the estate with Parliament Buildings in focus at the top of the Prince of Wales Avenue.]
It's the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It meets here in Parliament Buildings at Stormont.
[Scene changes to show the Speaker’s table in the Assembly Chamber. The Chamber and table are empty.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: Essentially the Assembly is to Northern Ireland what the Scottish Parliament is to Scotland or the Senedd is to Wales or Parliament at Westminster is to the UK as a whole.
[The camera pans around the empty Assembly Chamber and we can see the rich mahogany desks and chairs and the Assembly’s flax logo woven into the blue carpet. We also see the ornately decorated ceiling in the Assembly Chamber.]
[Scene cuts to a clip of Westminster with Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsey Hoyle, (as of July 2024) addressing MPs.]
Speaker Hoyle: We now come to questions to Prime Minister
[Scene reverts back to the Assembly Chamber with former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Alex Maskey, addressing MLAs.]
Mr Maskey: Time for questions to the Executive Office.
[While Mr Fitzpatrick narrates we see various clips of MLAs in the Assembly Chamber contributing to debates.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: As the name suggests Assembly, it's the official body where politicians elected across the whole of Northern Ireland gather to do their work.
They are the Members of the Legislative Assembly, MLAs.
There's 90 of them in total. As a legislative Assembly its key role is to make law that applies across Northern Ireland. Law that can have a real impact on people's lives,
[Alex Maskey is now addressing MLAs to a vote of the the Organ and Tissue Donation Deemed Consent Bill which must have a majority to go through the Assembly.]
Mr Maskey: ...to this particular debate.
And the question is that the Organ and Tissue Donation Deemed Consent Bill do now pass.
All those in favour say Aye. Contrary No. I think the ayes have it. The ayes have it.
Mr Fitzpatrick: And this is what the Assembly isn't…
[Mr Fitzpatrick is now outside Parliament Buildings, just outside the curtilage at the front of the building, describing the differences between the Assembly and the Executive.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: The Assembly isn't the government of Northern Ireland. - that's the Executive.
And the Executive isn't based here at Parliament Buildings,
but just down the hill over here…
[Scene cuts to Mr Fitzpatrick standing outside Stormont Castle which is also located on Stormont Estate and where the Executive are based.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: …at Stormont Castle.
[While Mr Fitzpatrick narrates we see shots of Stormont Castle – an overhead shot showing the top portion of the Castle and shots showing the front of the building. The camera pans to show the intricate architecture of the Castle]
Mr Fitzpatrick: The Executive is to Northern Ireland what the Cabinet is for the UK as a whole. Stormont castle is the Northern Ireland equivalent of Downing Street.
The Executive decides on policy and a Programme for Government.
Its members are Ministers who run departments.
Jayne Brady is Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Secretary to the Executive.
[We see Mr Fitzpatrick and Ms Brady walk up the steps of Stormont Castle and enter the building.]
[Ms Brady stands inside the Executive Office meeting room in Stormont Castle and describes what the Executive means for Northern Ireland and how it is operated.]
Ms Brady: The Executive is essentially the government for Northern Ireland.
We're actually in the Executive Office.
[Scene shows the Executive Office inside Stormont Castle, where Ms Brady is standing and where she and department heads meet with the First and deputy First Minister]
This is the home of the First and the deputy First Minister.
And so they lead the Executive Office, but they are also the joint Chairs of the Executive Committee.
And this is where we sit to hold those Executive meetings.
[Scene shows a close up of the empty table in the main Executive Office meeting room]
Ms Brady: In my role, I am Chief Policy Advisor to the First and deputy First Minister but I'm also Secretary to the Executive.
So I attend the Executive meetings in a formal capacity as part of that.
But I'm also head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Chair for Civil Service Board.
We've got 23,000 staff across all of Northern Ireland from departments of road gritting, through our health and social care areas, providing those essential services.
[We cut to Mr Fitzpatrick sitting on one of the benches outside of Parliament Buildings describing how the Assembly and the Executive are operated differently.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: So, when you say ‘Stormont’, remember ‘Stormont’ can mean two separate but connected things.
‘The Assembly’ - think ’Parliament’, and ‘the Executive’ - think ‘government’.
And here's how the two work together.
[We now see scenes of a debate within a full Assembly Chamber.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: The members of the Executive are drawn from the Assembly.
In the same way that UK Government Ministers are questioned by MPs at Westminster, Ministers from the Executive come to the Assembly Chamber to answer questions on a regular basis.
[We see First Minister Michelle O'Neill respond during Question Time to an MLA’s question in the Assembly Chamber.]
First Minister, Michelle O’Neill: Can I thank the Member for that question.
Mr Fitzpatrick: And the Assembly also has a role in scrutinizing the work of the Executive. Ministers and officials appear before Assembly Committees to be challenged on their work.
[We see Minister of Justice Naomi Long giving evidence during an Assembly Committee for Justice meeting, answering questions from members of the Committee and discussing work within the Department.]
Minister for Justice, Naomi Long: So I'm welcoming the opportunity to meet with you today and I want to set out what I'm hoping to deliver in this mandate and I hope that we can work together to do that.
[We cut to a scene of former Minister of Health, Robin Swann, during a debate in the Assembly Chamber. Mr Fitzpatrick narrates over the footage.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: Ministers can propose legislation, but it's the Assembly that helps craft and shape the law. It's the principle source of laws on devolved matters.
[Mr Fitzpatrick enters an empty Assembly Chamber with Leslie Hogg, Clerk and Chief Executive of the Assembly.]
Mr Fitzpatrick: Lesley Hogg is the Clerk and Chief Executive of the Assembly.
[Leslie Hogg describes her role and the work of Assembly staff. While Ms Hogg describes her role, we see various shots of MLAs in the Assembly Chamber and during Committee meetings.]
Ms Hogg: My job and that of all the public officials who work here, is essentially to support MLAs in their three key roles: representing their constituents, making new laws, and scrutinizing the work of devolved government.
We work behind the scenes in a number of ways.
We provide procedural advice to the Speaker, Assembly Committees and individual MLAs.
We have teams of specialist staff who help MLAs and Assembly Committees draft the new laws they want to make.
We have staff who support a wide range of Assembly Committees in the extensive work that they undertake.
For example, reviewing, proposed new legislation in detail, conducting inquiries into specific events, and scrutinizing the work of devolved government.
[Mr Fitzpatrick walks down the Prince of Wales Avenue that leads up to Parliament Buildings and gives a brief conclusion]
Mr Fitzpatrick: So let's sum up what the Assembly is.
It's where politicians represent their constituents, scrutinize the work of devolved Government and make law for Northern Ireland.
