The Department of the Environment (DOE or DOENI; ; Ulster-Scots: ''Männystrie o tha Kintraside'') was a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The Minister for the Environment was overall responsible for the department.

Aim

The DOE's overall aim was to "work in partnership" with the public, private and voluntary sectors to promote the "economic and social welfare of the community" through "promoting sustainable development and seeking to secure a better and safer environment for everyone". The last Minister was Mark H. Durkan (

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

Responsibilities

The main policy responsibilities of the department were: * the natural environment * the built environment * land use planning * road safety * regulation of drivers, vehicles and vehicle operators * local government The DOE's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government were: * the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...

(Defra); * the Department for Communities and Local Government; * the Department for Transport; * the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for Culture of the United Kingdom, culture a ...

(on built heritage). In the Irish Government, its main counterparts were: * the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government; and * the

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

History

The Ministry of Home Affairs was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921 and was responsible for a range of non-economic domestic matters, including local government. A separate Ministry of Health and Local Government was formed in 1944 and split in 1965 to create the Ministry of Development. An environment ministry existed in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive, and the ministry was known as the Department of the Environment under direct rule. The DoE is still used in everyday language in Northern Ireland to describe the Roads Service, which was once run by the department but is currently an agency of the separate Department for Regional Development. Following a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

. The process was known as

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. DoE was one of the six direct rule Northern Ireland departments that continued in existence after devolution in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. A devolved minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

: * between 12 February 2000 and 30 May 2000; * on 11 August 2001; * on 22 September 2001; * between 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007.Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2007

Ministers of the Environment

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the

were responsible for the department: * George Howarth (2000) * Angela Smith (2002–05) * Lord Rooker (2005–06) * David Cairns (2006–07)

References

External links

Department of Environment web site
* {{Authority control Northern Ireland Executive Environment of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...