The agriculture, environment and rural affairs committee at Stormont has a Sinn Féin chair and deputy chair, with mid-Ulster MLA Linda Dillon in the top seat, and east Derry MLA Caoimhe Archibald as her understudy.

Both women are new to Stormont. Dillon comes to the job having previously worked alongside former Minister for Agriculture Michelle O’Neill out of the Sinn Féin advice centre in Coalisland. Archibald has a background in horticulture, with a PhD obtained from Queen’s University in molecular biology and, in recent times, has worked for Teagasc in mushroom research.

The remainder of the committee is a mix of old and new faces. Returning to the committee are Sydney Anderson (DUP), Edwin Poots (DUP), Oliver McMullan (SF) and Robin Swann (UUP). Joining them are David Ford (Alliance), Maurice Bradley (DUP), George Robinson (DUP), Patsy McGlone (SDLP) and Harold McKee (UUP).

That leaves a committee without an MLA from strong farming areas such as Fermanagh and south Tyrone, west Tyrone or Newry and Armagh.

Role

The role of the committee is to ‘‘advise and assist each minister in the formulation of policy’’. They also sign off on any changes to legislation, so can make life difficult for the agriculture minister and their officials.