Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill has become Northern Ireland’s First Minister, making her the first Irish nationalist to be appointed to the position.
It’s a historic milestone in a state established a century ago that ensures the dominance of pro-UK unionists.
“That such a day would ever come would have been unimaginable to my parents and grandparents’ generation,” said O’Neill, 47, in her speech, addressing the Chamber for the first time as First Minister.
“This is an historic day which represents a new dawn,” she said. “I will serve everyone equally and be a first minister for all.”
“I am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict without exception,” she added.
O’Neill now shares a joint office with her counterpart, the newly appointed Deputy First Minister, the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly, who also acknowledged that “for many today, it is a historic moment”.
On Saturday, Northern Ireland’s devolved government was restored two years to the day since it collapsed.
The DUP had boycotted the devolved government for two years over post-Brexit checks on goods going between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Power-sharing rules state that the devolved government can only operate with both unionists and nationalists involved in decision-making.
The Sinn Féin party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald made the remark earlier this week that O’Neill’s appointment put the possibility of a united Ireland “within touching distance”.
O’Neill, however, steered clear of this subject in her opening speech, saying instead: “This place we call home, this place we love, North of Ireland or Northern Ireland, where you can be British, Irish, both or none, is a changing point.”
“To all of you who are British and unionist: your national identity, culture and traditions are important to me.
“I will be both inclusive and respectful to you,” she pledged.
“Our allegiances are equally legitimate. Let’s walk this two-way street and meet one another halfway. I will be doing so with both an open hand and with heart.”
With strong family ties to the region’s troubled past, O’Neill comes from a republican family in Clonoe, Co Tyrone. Her father was an IRA prisoner during the conflict involving republican paramilitaries fighting to reunite Ireland, loyalist paramilitaries battling to remain in the UK and British security forces.
As the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Sinn Féin was historically shunned by both sides of the political establishment.
Representative of the “changing times”, it’s now the most popular party in the Irish republic. Despite Sinn Féin’s victory at the 2022 election, however, a series of opinion polls have since found the people of Northern Ireland would still vote decisively against a united Ireland if there was a referendum.