Northern Ireland

Arlene Foster elected new leader of the DUP

Arlene Foster is elected leader of the DUP taking over the hotseat from outgoing leader Peter Robinson 
Arlene Foster is elected leader of the DUP taking over the hotseat from outgoing leader Peter Robinson  Arlene Foster is elected leader of the DUP taking over the hotseat from outgoing leader Peter Robinson 

ARLENE Foster has said she wanted "people of all religious persuasions" to feel at home with the DUP after she was formally elected as leader on Thursday night.

The Finance Minister was the sole nominee to replace Peter Robinson as head of the north's largest unionist party.

The 45-year-old mother of three is the DUP's first female leader.

She will become the first woman to lead Northern Ireland when she becomes First Minister next month.

In a speech to party faithful at the Park Avenue Hotel in east Belfast on Thursday night, she said: "The style of leadership may change but the fundamental values of this party will not."

Her appointment followed a vote by DUP Assembly members and MPs which was ratified by the party executive.

Two other contenders, deputy leader Nigel Dodds and Sammy Wilson, ruled themselves out of the race for the leadership.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA left the Ulster Unionist Party in 2004 over the early release of paramilitary prisoners and the decision to share power with Sinn Féin.

Her father was targeted by the IRA when she was aged eight. As a teenager, she survived a republican bomb attack targeting the driver of her school bus who was a part-time UDR soldier.

"The Troubles have scarred Northern Ireland's history but we must not let them shape our future," she said.

"We have an opportunity to build the best legacy possible to those who lost their lives during the Troubles - a prosperous Northern Ireland, confident, outward looking and at peace with itself."

She said people in the north did not want to hear politicians "squabbling".

"People who get up early in the morning, get their kids to school, go and do a hard day's work and come home tired, don't want to turn their TVs on and hear us sound completely and utterly out of touch with real life, arguing over things that don't matter to them or their family," she said.

Mrs Foster said the DUP was still committed to the union.

"But I also want people of all religious persuasions, from all social backgrounds to make this party their home because we are the ones who can create a growing economy, who can best reform our NHS and who can tackle educational underachievement in our working class communities," she said.

Her appointment was welcomed by politicians including Secretary of State Theresa Villiers and Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tweeted his congratulations on Thursday night.