Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The department was named the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment until 20 July 2001 but was changed to its current title as the initials DHEFETE were pronounced as "Defeat" [REF].