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| - A fiercely loyal follower of Democratic Unionist Party leader Edwin Poots will become Northern Ireland's next first minister when incumbent Arlene Foster steps down, raising the stakes for post-Brexit trading arrangements in the British-run province. New DUP leader Poots announced on Twitter that 39-year-old hardline unionist Paul Givan will take on the post after Foster was ousted in a party coup over her handling of Brexit. Speaking at a televised press conference, Givan said he hopes for a smooth transition of Northern Ireland's regional government at Stormont "It's a huge responsibility that comes with this position, particularly in serving the people of Northern Ireland as we come through the Covid pandemic, the recovery that's needed in our economy, within our education system, and meeting the needs of the people," he said. A lawmaker at Northern Ireland's devolved assembly, Givan is considered a hardcore pro-UK unionist with stringent conservative views on social issues. He is also a fiercely loyal follower of Poots, the newly-elected DUP leader who has pledged to wage a war against new post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland. Foster, 50, was ousted from her position at the top of the DUP -- Northern Ireland's largest unionist party -- after a new post-Brexit "protocol" came into effect in January. Many unionists feel the new trading arrangements have warped the place of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and while the DUP has strongly opposed it, they have been powerless to intervene. Foster was considered by many in the DUP as a more compromising leader and it is expected Givan will escalate the battle against the "protocol" under the guidance of Poots. At Stormont Poots named various new DUP ministers who will take their offices on Monday. After an acrimonious split with the party, Foster is expected to resign at the same time, cutting short her previous plan to step down "at the end of June". When Foster resigns, deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill, of the pro-Ireland nationalist party Sinn Fein, will automatically be removed from her post. The DUP and Sinn Fein will then have seven days to formally nominate leaders for first minister and deputy first minister respectively, under the terms of the power-sharing government. At age 18, Givan's first job was as a part-time assistant in Poots' constituency and Stormont offices, according to The Belfast Telegraph. He later worked as a special adviser to Poots before becoming a regional legislator for the Lagan Valley constituency in 2010 and was minister for communities from 2016 to 2017. Like Poots, Givan is reported to be a creationist Christian with beliefs that the Earth was made by God, in a party with fundamentalist roots and deeply conservative views on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. In 2007 he spearheaded a controversial local government motion that asked school science departments in the city of Lisburn to draw up plans to teach alternatives to the theory of evolution. In 2015 Givan also put forward proposals for a controversial "conscience clause" he said was needed "to stop the civil persecution of people of faith". Opponents claimed it was a fig leaf designed to allow discrimination against gay people in Northern Ireland. "When I walk into Stormont I don't leave my values at the door," Givan told The Belfast Telegraph in 2014. "My religious beliefs seek to influence every aspect of my life from trying to be a good dad, husband, citizen and politician." Givan also had a prominent role in the collapse of Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive from 2017 to 2020. His decision to slash funding to an Irish language scheme has been described by opponents as "the straw that broke the camel's back", prompting the three-year hiatus of regional government. jts/phz/ach/csp/pvh
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