Mr Seβn Farren is to be named as Minister of Finance in the North today in succession to the SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan.
Mr Durkan, who was elected Deputy First Minister last month, is set to make the announcement following passage of the Budget through the Assembly. Under the rules governing the Executive, the finance brief is the property of the SDLP and so Mr Durkan can name his replacement.
He made it clear following the presentation of his Budget to members last week that he would not continue to hold both posts. The South Down MP, Mr Eddie McGrady, was understood to have been interested in the position. Instead, Mr Durkan has opted to move the Minister of Employment and Learning thus prompting a reshuffle of his key ministers.
Among the names mentioned for Mr Farren's post is the Assembly member for West Tyrone, Mr Joe Byrne.
Meanwhile, police have denied Sinn FΘin claims yesterday that violence at the weekend which followed ╙gra Sinn FΘin protests at south Armagh army installations was the result of police mishandling of an otherwise peaceful situation.
Two Assembly members, Mr Conor Murphy and Mr Alex Maskey, said the protesters went armed only with placards and a letter of protest against what they claimed was the British failure to demilitarise in the Border area. Two members of Sinn FΘin's youth wing yesterday claimed police over-reacted when a bus carrying protesters was stopped on the main Belfast-Dublin road.
A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said 21 officers and three soldiers were injured in the weekend violence and four people had been arrested. She said the police operation had been carried out under the scrutiny of the media, adding that if any complaints were lodged with the Police Ombudsman they would be investigated.