Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party formally became Northern Ireland's first minister on Monday, taking over from the retiring Peter Robinson ahead of regional elections in May. Foster, 45, is the first woman and the youngest to hold the most senior political post in Northern Ireland, where power is shared between rival parties in a fragile administration set up to end conflict in the region.

The party she leads wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. The 67-year-old Robinson, who had served as first minister since 2008, had announced he would retire last year and Foster had been acting in his place for several months. "I can think of no greater honour than to have the opportunity to serve my country and the people of Northern Ireland as their first minister," Foster said in her speech in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2016