OUTGOING Stormont Assembly Speaker Alex Maskey says it was a "tremendous honour", as he left politics for the final time at the weekend.

With the return of the Executive on Saturday, the former Sinn Féin West Belfast MLA was finally able to leave frontline politics following a two-year DUP boycott of the power-sharing institutions. DUP MLA Edwin Poots was elected the new Speaker.

Mr Maskey was elected as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly in January 2020.

During his time in the job, he represented the Assembly during key occasions including the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April 2023, and the visit of the US senior business delegation in October 2023.

"When I first became Speaker, I recognised that the Assembly was on probation and had to prove itself to an expectant public," he said.

"The Assembly faces the same circumstances, arguably even more so. Undoubtedly, a huge in-tray awaits the Assembly and new Executive. I want to thank Assembly staff, all of the MLAs I have served alongside over the years, my party colleagues, and my family.

"Today's Assembly is much more reflective of the diversity of our society compared to the Assembly I entered in 1998. The corridors of Parliament Buildings depict figures and events which are representative of our whole community.

"While debates in the chamber may still see the strong expression of views, they are night and day compared to some of the conduct of Assembly business in the early days. I am very pleased that one of my last official acts was to make the arrangements for the election of my successor as Speaker and the appointment of a new Executive.

"There are many challenges but there is also great potential for the future. I wish every MLA all the very best for the important work you have ahead of you."

Mr Maskey received warm words from across the chamber as he departed politics after 40 years. Sinn Féin colleague Sinéad Ennis MLA said Alex Maskey was a "trailblazer" for the party.

"Nowhere will Alex's loss be more keenly felt than by his colleagues in Sinn Féin and by the party as a whole," she said. "He was the first Sinn Féin member of Belfast City Council and the first republican mayor in the history of Belfast. He has been a constant presence over the decades, whether it was the Good Friday Agreement negotiations or the many subsequent rounds of negotiations.

"Alex was always there and always a key figure, bringing experience, maturity, a fierce commitment to equality and a tireless determination to make politics work for everyone.

"I grew up looking up to Alex and watching him and others guide our society towards peace and equality. My younger self could not have comprehended that, one day, I would have the privilege of standing here, wishing him well as he takes a step back from the front line of political life.

"My mind would have been just as blown to think that I would have the opportunity to work with Alex and the even greater honour of calling him a friend."

New speaker Edwin Poots MLA said: "Mr Maskey came to this place in 1998, and Mr Kelly and I are still here from 1998. We were the three last people standing. When I came here, I was a relatively young person in my early thirties; those gentlemen were more middle-aged. 

"Nonetheless, Mr Maskey and I engaged in many a boxing match in the chamber and in Committees over the years, but we came to an understanding of each other, and it ended up that we were able to work together progressively on many issues.

"In his contribution as Speaker, he conducted that role with complete fairness and impartiality. I commend him for the work that he did as Speaker over the past four years, sometimes in difficult and trying circumstances, but, nonetheless, conducted with professionalism.

"I wish him well as he retires, and I hope that he has a healthy and happy retirement."

SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole joked that Mr Maskey had been on "the longest farewell tour since Springsteen".

"Alex was a fine Speaker who had a brilliant record of acting with impartiality, robustness and fairness in the chair," he added. "As others have said, as a republican, he made real progress in his outreach around cross-community work. Just last year, he and I had a somewhat surreal moment chatting to one another in Hillsborough Castle while we were waiting for the new King to arrive.

"I think that he and I were both slightly nonplussed by being there, but Alex, as always, stood up to the moment and did himself and his party proud.

"He has now been on the longest farewell tour since Springsteen, and I hope that he enjoys a retirement now that the tour is coming to an end."