Lord Alderdice, who has resigned as Alliance Party leader, has been appointed speaker of the new Assembly by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam. He will preside at its first meeting tomorrow. But his permanent appointment is subject to the Assembly's approval.
Lord Alderdice surprised many political observers in the North when he announced his resignation yesterday evening.
Three hours later Dr Mowlam issued a statement saying she was pleased to appoint him as "the initial presiding officer" of the new body.
Announcing his resignation earlier, Lord Alderdice expressed disappointment at the party's performance in last week's Assembly elections and said the time was right to hand over to someone else.
Other political leaders paid tribute to the man who has been Alliance leader for 11 years. It is understood Dr Mowlam had previously considered appointing the Alliance deputy leader, Mr Seamus Close, as Assembly Speaker.
Mr Close is now favourite for the Alliance leadership. Some party sources believe that the Assembly member, Mr Sean Neeson, might also be interested in the position.
Speaking after announcing his resignation, Lord Alderdice said he believed Alliance would have polled better in the election, securing between eight and 10 seats in the Assembly and so gaining a cabinet position. It won only six seats and is not entitled to a ministerial post.
It received 6 per cent of first-preference votes. Lord Alderdice said that while this was a "perfectly respectable" performance, he was disappointed not to have met the standards he had set.
"The result is not what I wanted and I thought it better to step down at this stage and hand over to a new leader. I have never believed in leaders waiting until it is absolutely disastrous and then handing over the tatters of a party to their successor.
"It is vital Alliance makes a positive and dynamic contribution to the new Assembly and I believe that can best be achieved by allowing a new leader to carry on the task of building a fair, just, peaceful and prosperous society, free from sectarian divisions."
Lord Alderdice denied that his peerage had contributed to Alliance's disappointing election result. He said the size of the middle ground in the North was often exaggerated and added that the success of the Women's Coalition had denied his party two extra seats in the Assembly.
He said Alliance was in a healthier financial and organisational state than when he became leader. Lord Alderdice said he had been privileged to play a role in the Belfast Agreement. Alliance will register in the Assembly as non-aligned. However, it could possibly join the unionist group if Mr Trimble appeared to be in danger from anti-agreement members.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said Lord Alderdice had made a "distinguished contribution" to political life in Northern Ireland.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said she had worked closely with him during the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Dublin and in the ELDR, the liberal political group in Europe.
"He has contributed enormously to the development of normal democratic politics in Northern Ireland during his political career."
Paying tribute to Lord Alderdice, the Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said he was the first "pro-Union party leader" to recognise Sinn Fein's mandate. "Although he did not go as far as Sinn Fein would have liked, he did accept the reality of the need for an all-Ireland dimension to any settlement to the conflict.
"He brought his party to accept the right of the Dublin Government to have direct input into the affairs of the whole island and, under his leadership, Alliance were the only pro-Union party to participate in the Dublin Forum for Peace and Reconciliation."
The former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, described Lord Alderdice as "one of the most thorough politicians in Northern Ireland, who paid great attention to detail and shown immense patience and persistence".
Mr Bruton added: "Alliance, as a non-sectarian party, has had a difficult role to play over the years." The leader of the British Liberal Democrats, Mr Paddy Ashdown, also paid tribute to Lord Alderdice.
"I have valued John highly as a close colleague and friend for many years. He has been a magnificent leader of Alliance and has made an immeasurable contribution to peace in Northern Ireland over the years," Mr Ashdown said.