First and deputy first minister nominees confirmed

image copyrightPA/Pacemaker

The nominations of Paul Givan and Michelle O'Neill as Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers have been confirmed in the Assembly.

It comes after a deal was done ending a stalemate over Irish language laws, with the UK government saying it will legislate for language protections if the Stormont executive does not.

DUP MPs and peers, however, expressed concern at the agreement.

The assembly met at 12:00 BST to confirm the nominations.

However, it is understood that the vast majority of DUP MLAs - 24 to four - on Thursday morning voted against Mr Poots nominating Mr Givan as first minister at this time, during a meeting ahead of the special assembly sitting.

The nominations follow a late-night deal achieved in the early hours of Thursday after talks involving Sinn Féin, the DUP and Mr Lewis ended the stalemate, with Mr Lewis declaring Irish language legislation would be legislated for at Westminster if Stormont fails to do so by October.

But DUP MPs and peers expressed concern at the move to end a stalemate over Irish language laws.

It is understood some DUP MPs also joined the MLA meeting, but Mr Poots and Mr Givan left before the vote was taken.

If you were Edwin Poots today, you may think that the crisis was just beginning.

It has been a dramatic night, but it has also been a dramatic morning.

I have no idea where this is going to end up, but Mr Poots does not have the support of his MLA and MPs for doing what he has just done.

And it's not even close this time. It is overwhelmingly decisive.

Mr Poots is now in a corner. Relations with his own party are now hanging by a thread.

Officially nominating Mr Givan, Mr Poots said the assembly needs more people like him to win for unionism.

Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said the new executive will face many challenges in the time ahead but that Ms O'Neill was a strong, dedicated and undaunted leader.

Accepting the nomination, Mr Givan said Mr Poots was a leader "who had a big heart for the people around him".

He said he looked forward to his leadership.

Ms O'Neill said the new executive's "top priority" is its response to Covid, "ensuring the continued successful rollout of our vaccination programme across the population, and rebuilding our economy to sustain jobs and people's livelihoods".