Paul Givan

Paul Jonathan Givan (born 12 October 1981) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA in Northern Ireland who served as the Minister for Communities in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2016 until its collapse in January 2017.

Background

Givan was educated at Laurelhill Community College, and is a graduate of the University of Ulster where he obtained a degree in Business Studies and completed an Advanced Diploma in Management Practice. He was first elected to Lisburn City Council in 2005, aged 23 without a modicum of life experience.

Political career

Givan was first co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2010, replacing Jeffrey Donaldson.

In May 2016, Givan was appointed Minister for Communities

In his role as sports minister in November 2016, he visited a GAA club in Lisburn to award a grant and played Gaelic football with some child players of the club.

Controversy

Creationism

Givan supports creationism and was responsible for a motion calling for schools in Lisburn to teach alternatives to the theory of evolution. The motion was passed by Lisburn City Council in September 2007 and the controversial DUP recommendation by its Corporate Services Committee that it write to post primary schools in the area asking what plans they have to develop teaching material in relation to 'creation, intelligent design and other theories of origin'.

Prostitution legislation

In 2014, a formal complaint was made by prostitute Laura Lee for his treatment of her after she had been invited to appear at a hearing to discuss proposed changes to prostitution legislation in Northern Ireland. Givan asked her how much she charged, and controversially accused her of exploiting disabled people for not giving them discounts.

Freedom of Conscience Amendment Bill

In February 2015, Givan proposed a Northern Ireland Freedom of Conscience Amendment Bill, after controversy and legal action arose over a religious bakery, "Ashers Baking Company", having refused to bake a cake in support of same-sex marriage. This motion caused uproar on popular websites like Twitter, having led to an American petition against the bill, receiving 100,000 signatures in 48 hours. Stephen Fry promptly commented on this bill, saying that it was "sick" and that "once again the religious right twist truth to present themselves as victims".

Líofa Bursary Scheme

In December 2016, Givan cut funding for the Líofa Gaeltacht scheme, which enabled 100 people to go to the Donegal Gaeltacht and learn Irish. His decision to cut funding for the Irish language scheme prompted Gerry Adams to label him as an "ignoramus". Martin McGuinness cited the removal of the Bursary Scheme as "the straw that broke the camels back" in his resignation speech from the role of Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly leading to a political crisis in the Stormont Executive.

In a reversal of his previous decision Givan tweeted on 12/1/17 "My decision on the Líofa Bursary Scheme was not a political decision. I have now identified the necessary funding to advance this scheme." This was seen by some as an attempt to appease Sinn Féin to prevent new elections being triggered.