Northern Ireland’s parliament on Saturday (Feb 3) appointed Irish nationalist Michelle O’Neill as their very first minister in a historic shift.
O’Neill’s appointment indicates the rise of the party which has stated that its ultimate dream of a united Ireland is “within touching distance.”
She in her first address to the Northern Ireland Assembly after being appointed as the First Minister was “a massive honour”.
“The days of second-class citizenship are long gone and today confirms that they will never come back,” she said.
“We mark a moment of equality and a moment of progress – a new opportunity to work and grow together, confident in, that wherever we come from, whatever our aspirations are, we can and we must build our future together. I’m really delighted to see every MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) back in this chamber today and I welcome the fact that the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) have decided to re-enter the democratic institutions and that the outcome of last year’s assembly election is now being respected,” she added while addressing her fellow Northern Irish lawmakers.
She in her address also noted that the “historic event” was something her parents’ and grandparents’ generation had never imagined of.
“We must never forget all those who have died or been injured or their families,” she said.
“I am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict without exception,” she said, adding: “I am wholeheartedly committed to continuing in the work of reconciliation between all of our people.”
O’Neill designates a transformation to a renewed generation of Sinn Fein politicians who aren’t directly involved in the region’s decades-long bloodstained conflict between Irish nationalists aiming at a united Ireland and pro-British unionists desiring to remain in the United Kingdom.
As the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Sinn Fein was for the longest time scorned by the political structure on both sides of the border. It is now also the most popular party in the Irish Republic.
The decision came after Sinn Fein’s pro-British rival, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), concluded a two-year boycott of power-sharing government after brokering a deal with the British government to soothe post-Brexit trade conflicts.
The assembly also appointed the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly to be her deputy and filled other top ministerial posts.
“Today is a good day for Northern Ireland, a day when once again our place in the United Kingdom and its internal market is respected and protected,” DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said at Stormont.
(With inputs from agencies)
