The Northern Ireland Assembly this afternoon chose Alliance leader David Ford as justice minister to exercise the new powers over policing, prisons and the courts.
Justice powers were finally returned to Belfast at midnight last night after 38 years, ending a controversy that led to the collapse of the old Stormont and that imperilled devolution ever since.
Mr Ford welcomed his election in the Assembly today, which came with the support of the two major parties, saying: “This is, I believe, a significant day for Northern Ireland.
“It is a step forward in the peace process, in the political process, and in ensuring that the institutions which have been in place since 1998 are firmly affixed and are playing their part in serving the needs for the people of Northern Ireland.” He said the overnight bomb attack at Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down underlined the need for politicians to work together.
The new minister will take control of the highly sensitive functions of justice, along with a budget of some £1.4 billion (€1.6 billion) and a combined staff of about 4,500.
The new department of justice model will look familiar alongside its equivalent in Dublin and in Scotland, where the parliament already has control of justice.
Issues that the new minister will have to deal with include a wide-ranging investigation into the extent of child sex abuse in church and state-run institutions, prison unrest, the ongoing dissident threat and the summer marching season.
Mr Ford's selection means the Alliance is the fifth party to join the Executive and the de facto end of Alliance’s self-proclaimed role as the opposition within Stormont.
Agreement on the transfer of powers was finally achieved in February at Hillsborough, after nearly two weeks of intensive talks mainly involving the DUP, Sinn Féin and the two governments.
The new department and the minister will follow a broad series of policy themes already agreed at Hillsborough. These range from community safety, to justice and “shared future” policies, to efficiency of delivery bodies and access to justice.
The minister will have overall political control of the prisons, the courts, the forensic science service, compensation systems and youth justice. Matters relating to UK security remain “reserved” by London, as do responsibilities around so- called legacy issues linked to the Troubles.
The Northern Secretary will retain authority over contentious issues such as the inquiries into disputed murders and collusion between state forces and paramilitaries.
Key figures in policing and justice will remain at arms length from the new minister. They include the PSNI chief constable, the Lord Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Policing Board, which oversees the PSNI, and the Attorney General.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin welcomed Mr Ford's election. "Authority and responsibility for policing and justice issues is where they ought to be: at local level, accountable to, and operating for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland," he said. "Today's decision offers an opportunity to further consolidate and develop the achievements of the peace process.
"Those behind last night's bomb in Holywood, Co Down, should take note that the political process continues to move ahead. We stand firm, for peace and democracy. Today's appointment of David Ford as Minister of Justice confirms our collective resolve."
Welcoming the transfer of powers, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said: “Today’s the day we were told would never happen. There was great opposition from the unionist parties. And the SDLP threw in the towel on policing legislation almost 10 years ago in 2001.
“We [Sinn Féin] have delivered an increased policing and justice budget and a whole raft of new legislation. We have secured the transfer of policing and justice powers; and won the support of most of the other parties.
“So this is yet another important step forward in the ongoing process of change. The peace process is being challenged but the peace process is working," Mr Adams said.
The British government, led by Conservative prime minister Edward Heath, dramatically and controversially seized control of justice and security powers from Stormont in 1972 following the introduction of internment without trial by the unionist government and the rapidly escalating violence that followed Bloody Sunday in January that year.
The move was bitterly resisted by unionists, led by then Northern Ireland prime minister Brian Faulkner, and the old Stormont system collapsed as unionists resigned en masse.
Despite attempts to revive devolution with powersharing at Sunningdale in 1974 and other subsequent efforts to restore local government, policing and justice powers were always retained by the team of direct-rule ministers dispatched by London.
Unionists, who opposed the taking of control by London in 1972, were the most hostile to the return of justice powers now. Some were privately horrified at the prospect of a powersharing assembly, including Sinn Féin, gaining control over the police and courts.
However, a series of confidence-building measures agreed with Sinn Féin and others, including an agreement that neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin would propose a ministerial candidate, has changed decades of unionist hostility to local control of policing and the courts.