Robinson hopeful over ministers

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DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson has said he hopes the four biggest parties can agree who their future ministers will be early next week.

Mr Robinson confirmed that the DUP intends to rotate its ministerial positions within the lifetime of a power-sharing executive.

He was speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme.

He said it is important that the future ministers are identified before the new devolution date of 8 May.

"Legally it (the executive) only takes effect on the first day of the new assembly," Mr Robinson said.

Preparation

"Nonetheless, if we are going to have the preparatory work done - the indicative ministers being properly briefed within the departments, the indicative ministers working up a programme for government so that we hit the ground running - then you do need to have an indicative running of d'Hondt.

"I think all of the parties are up for that and I would hope we'll be able to get onto that early next week."

The allocation of ministries in the new Northern Ireland Assembly is calculated through the d'Hondt system.

The mechanism was thought ideal for the Northern Ireland Assembly because it ensures that the body works as a power-sharing institution.

As the largest party, the DUP has the first choice of ministry, followed by Sinn Fein, the second largest party, and so on.

The new executive is to come into effect on 8 May.