He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue in 1996 for Fermanagh & South Tyrone and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. In 1999 he was appointed Environment Minister by the David Trimble, reportedly as a reward not only to Foster for his long service, but to Fermanagh UUP for their support of Trimble.BBC Online, bbc.co.uk; accessed 13 March 2017. However, Foster was forced to resign in 2002 with the advancement of Parkinson’s Disease. He was succeeded by Dermot Nesbitt.
