New power-sharing executive to be formed in the North after Justice ministry agreement
A new power-sharing executive will be formed in the North after an independent Assembly member agreed to fill the contentious justice ministry.
East Derry MLA Claire Sugden has been unveiled as the agreed Democratic Unionist and Sinn Féin candidate.
The move ends any uncertainty over whether a new coalition would be formed in Belfast.
The other ministries will be shared out between the DUP and Sinn Féin during an Assembly sitting later on Wednesday.
With the Ulster Unionists and SDLP having opted to form an official opposition and the Alliance Party also deciding not to re-enter the power-sharing executive in the wake of the Assembly election, the DUP and Sinn Féin had faced somewhat of a quandary as to who would be justice minister.
Both parties previously vetoed the other taking the job, instead relying on the cross-community Alliance Party to fill the post.
Without a justice minister an executive would not have been formed and another election would have been likely.
Ms Sugden's elevation from the opposition benches has avoided that scenario.
DUP First Minister Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness flanked the 29-year-old in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings in Belfast as her appointment was confirmed.
