His own assembly career began in , when he was co-opted in the Lagan Valley constituency to replace Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who became an MP. Prior to his appointment as first minister, he was chairman of the Stormont Justice Committee, although he has now been replaced in that role by party colleague Mervyn Storey.
He became communities minister in , with his time in the post cut short by the collapse of Stormont in January Mr Givan found himself at the centre of a political row in over his decision to cut funding for an Irish language scheme. He has also previously supported schools teaching the theory of creationism.
The responsibility that he has, and all the decisions, it's a lot of pressure on reasonably young shoulders. There were not too many surprises in these announcements. Seventeen posts in total were handed out today - three women were included. So this is Edwin Poots' attempt to reach out to the other side to try and heal the wounds, but as we have noted in the tweets from Diane Dodds and Peter Weir, it looks as if that mission has failed.
Speaking to some in the Donaldson camp, this has fallen far short of what was expected in terms of building bridges within the party. As for Paul Givan, he knows his way around government, so Edwin Poots will see him as a safe pair of hands. He has effectively been on the DUP leader's shoulder throughout his political career from the minute he joined Mr Poots' office as backroom staff when he was 18, all the way to today when Mr Poots handed him his dream job as first minister.
Although just 39 years of age, Mr Givan has experience of the corridors of power. The ministerial appointments have been made against a backdrop of tension within the party over the manner in which Mrs Foster was ousted, and the direction of Mr Poots' leadership.
Mr Hanna said there was a "culture of fear" in the party and claimed he witnessed "bullying" at last month's meeting of the DUP executive, during which Mr Poots' election as leader was ratified by party members. Indeed, Foster was forced to resign just days before the official birthdate of the state on May 3.
There was further shock when the leader of the smaller UUP quit just days later — and now a third unionist leader has been forced out in as many months. Unionists feel this further separates them from the rest of the UK, while effectively remaining under EU jurisdiction aligns the region towards integration with the Republic of Ireland.
Moves towards Irish language legislation just add to their anxieties. This is the dilemma for any new unionist leader. Even if Donaldson is now crowned, what room will he now have for manoeuvre? How can anyone lead unionism when it is clearly paralysed by fear? Foster is obviously glad to be done with the role. But it is hard not to think that the sunshine was just a prelude to an uncomfortably hot summer in Northern Ireland, with the marching season about to begin.
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