First female Ministers
Dehra Parker
Dehra Parker was a member of both the Ulster Women’s Unionist Council and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
She was elected to the first Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921 (as Dehra Chichester) and served until her retirement in 1960.
She served as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education in 1937. She was Minister for Health and Local Government from 1949 until 1957, presiding over the implementation of the National Health Service in Northern Ireland.
Bríd Rodgers
Bríd Rodgers was involved in the Campaign for Social Justice and Civil Rights Association from 1965, was a founder member of the SDLP and later became deputy leader of the party in 2001.
She was nominated to Seanad Éireann in 1983 and was a leader of the SDLP team in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement.
Elected as MLA for Upper Bann in 1998, she was appointed to the First Executive in 1999 as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Bairbre de Brún
Bairbre De Brún began her political career as a member of the National Committee Against the H-Blocks and Armagh Gaol.
She was a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle, and in 1998 became an MLA. She was appointed Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
Reelected to the Assembly in 2003, she became a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, topping the poll in the next election in 2009.
