Having served as minister for finance, the economy and health in previous Stormont administrations, Simon Hamilton is better placed than most to understand the challenges that lie ahead in both departments.
And while he said Northern Ireland starts this week in a much better place than the last one, patience will be needed to allow new ministers to settle into their departments.
Sinn Fein will now hold both the finance and economy departments following restoration of the institutions at Stormont.
And while it was a surprise to many that Caoimhe Archibald landed the top job at the Department of Finance, Mr Hamilton — who went on to serve as CEO of Belfast Chamber of Commerce and now runs a consultancy firm — said he has no doubt she has the capabilities to quickly get to grips with what he called “the engine room” of government in Northern Ireland.
“It can be a very hard role to win friends in,” he said.
“It’s a ministry where the tough decisions on where priorities are going to be are made, and there’s always going to someone disappointed with their budgets across the departments.
“But I have no doubts in her ability to run what is often an unglamorous, but in the end critically vital department.
“As with all new ministers taking up their posts this week, we all have to be patient and allow them time to settle.
“We’ve been saying for so long that it’s important they get back to work at Stormont. Now it’s vital that they get down to that work. But all the problems will not be fixed overnight. We will have to have that patience.”
There was a brief period of confusion in the Assembly chamber on Saturday afternoon, with the DUP nomination of Paul Givan as Education Minister coming as a surprise to Sinn Fein, and the republican party calling a pause as the process wasn’t going as they had expected.
Caoimhe Archibald was then installed as Finance Minister, a position that seemed likely to be taken by the DUP’s Gordon Lyons, who will now head up Communities instead.
Mr Hamilton said Ms Archibald’s first task will be to address where the £3.3bn promised by the UK Government on Stormont’s restoration will be going.
“But it won’t be as simple as sitting down and allocating that money, as a lot of it has all ready been ring-fenced for commitments already made,” he said.
“Finding out what’s left and deciding where it goes will be the job.
“While it may sound like a lot of money, there are always going to be disappointed ministers. That’s what you deal with in the Finance Department.
“That’s why it will be crucial to come up with a multi-year budget.
“First, that can relieve a little of the pressure of constantly juggling budgets year after year, but you can make sure that if one department doesn’t get what it expects in year one, they can know it’s coming in year two or three. That way all departments can better plan in the long term.
“A three-year budget would be ideal. That would take the new Assembly up to the end of its current mandate.
“But there will be other decisions to make and not all of them are going to be popular. Finding ways to increase finances, through rate rises, are going to poses difficult questions.
“Other departments will always try to make a friend of the Finance Minister. Making friends in the other direction is not part of the job.”