Category Archives: Michelle O’Neill

Rishi Sunak visits Northern Ireland to meet new power-sharing executive

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PM hails ‘fantastic cause for optimism’ as he seeks to put his stamp on success of Stormont reconvening

Rishi Sunak has said there is “fantastic cause for optimism” after arriving in Northern Ireland to meet the leaders of a new power-sharing executive that ended two years of political deadlock.

The prime minister arrived in Belfast on Sunday evening in advance of a meeting on Monday with Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill, who has made history by becoming the first nationalist first minister at Stormont.

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‘I will be a first minister for all’: Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill marks historic moment for once unionist state

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Countdown for republicans to potential Irish unification ticks louder as new first minister pledges to ‘serve everyone equally’ at Stormont

The chamber’s ornate ceiling remained blue, red and gold, and Portland stone still held up the Stormont edifice, but the beaming Sinn Féin faces declared this was a historic moment for Irish nationalism.

Michelle O’Neill became Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister in a day of symbolism and pomp that restored devolved government and etched an epitaph on the tomb of what was once a unionist state.

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Michelle O’Neill: Sinn Féin leader from IRA family who has vowed to respect royals

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She’s pledged to be first minister ‘for all’ and her ability to navigate political tensions will shape her Stormont tenure

When Michelle O’Neill is sworn in as Northern Ireland’s first minister, it will be a moment of personal triumph steeped in irony.

As a teenage mother, she was treated as if she had the “plague”, and wept, yet went on to ascend the ranks of Sinn Féin and is now poised to make history as the first nationalist to lead Northern Ireland – a state that, in theory, she wishes to eradicate.

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With Sinn Féin in first minister post, has the republicans’ day come at last?

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Michelle O’Neill has taken the top job but Irish unity is unlikely to be ‘within touching distance’

The elevation of Michelle O’Neill as Northern Ireland’s first minister is a historic moment that breathes new life into the republican slogan “tiocfaidh ár lá” – “our day will come”.

The Sinn Féin deputy leader, a working-class republican, has taken charge of a state that was designed in 1921 to enshrine a unionist majority in perpetuity, and that the IRA vowed to destroy.

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DUP urged to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland after Sinn Féin poll triumph

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Former DUP leader calls Sinn Féin electoral gains a ‘wake up and smell the coffee moment’ for unionism

The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) is facing renewed calls to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland after a Sinn Féin electoral “tsunami” reshaped local government.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, on Sunday joined a chorus urging the DUP to end a boycott that has paralysed the executive and assembly at Stormont. “Alongside the new councils, it remains my hope to see the assembly and executive return to work,” he said.

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Sinn Féin hail ‘momentous’ result as party set to become largest in NI councils

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The party had 134 elected councillors by 5pm on Saturday, with gains achieved across the region

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill has hailed a “momentous” result as the party remains on course to become the largest in councils in Northern Ireland.

As the count stretched into Saturday evening, the republican party had 134 elected councillors by 5pm, with gains achieved across the region.

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Sinn Féin assembly victory fuels debate on future of union

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Leader Mary Lou McDonald raises issue of unification as nationalists become biggest party in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has slipped into political crisis after Sinn Féin’s triumph in the assembly election triggered calls for a referendum on a united Ireland and the Democratic Unionist party vowed to block the formation of a new power-sharing executive at Stormont.

Jubilant Sinn Féin supporters celebrated across the region on Saturday when final vote counts confirmed a historic victory that turned the former IRA mouthpiece into the biggest party, with the right to nominate the first minister.

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Sinn Féin celebrates victory but DUP warns over Northern Ireland protocol

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DUP will refuse to join new administration until UK government addresses post-Brexit trade border deal

Sinn Féin was celebrating a historic victory in the Stormont assembly election on Saturday despite warnings from the Democratic Unionist party that it would block the formation of a new power-sharing executive until the Northern Ireland protocol was changed.

As counting resumed ahead of the allocation of final seats, it was clear that Sinn Féin, with 29% first preference votes, had overtaken the DUP, which won 21.3%. It meant the all-Ireland republican party would be entitled to nominate its deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as the Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister.

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Michelle O’Neill: centre stage for Sinn Féin’s prospective first minister

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After leading party to victory in Stormont, former Dungannon mayor is set to make history

In May 1993, as the IRA edged towards the end of its armed campaign, Michelle O’Neill was beginning her own struggle. She was a 16-year-old working-class schoolgirl from Clonoe, a small village in County Tyrone, with a newborn baby.

The road ahead looked rocky. She had not finished school and perhaps never would, because that was the fate of many unmarried teenage mothers in Northern Ireland. Some teachers at her Catholic grammar school were not supportive.

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Northern Ireland’s deputy leader urges calm before loyalist parades

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Michelle O’Neill concerned about site of unionist bonfire, as tensions rise over post-Brexit trading rules

Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister has urged people to celebrate peacefully before the start of the loyalist parade season, as tensions increase over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill – who is deputy to the new first minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), in the power-sharing administration – called particularly for calm over a bonfire set up in a contentious site in north Belfast.

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Arlene Foster bows out with smiles and Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life

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Northern Ireland’s first minister says goodbye at British-Irish Council summit in County Fermanagh

Arlene Foster made her swansong as Northern Ireland’s first minister much as she began it five years ago – with smiles, good wishes and upbeat sentiments.

She bowed out on Friday on a big stage – a British-Irish Council summit – in the Lough Erne resort in her native county, Fermanagh.

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US-based Sinn Féin support group places ads for vote on Irish unification

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Adverts in New York Times, Washington Post and other US papers seek to rally Irish-American support

A US-based Sinn Féin support group has placed half-page advertisements in the New York Times, Washington Post and other US newspapers calling for a referendum on Irish unification.

Friends of Sinn Féin placed the ads on Wednesday to rally Irish-American support behind the party’s push for a referendum in Northern Ireland.

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Northern Ireland joins in rejection of Boris Johnson’s ‘stay alert’ slogan

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‘Four nations’ approach dealt further blow as Stormont announces its own, more cautious plan

Boris Johnson’s “four nations” approach to tackling the coronavirus has been dealt a fresh blow after the government of Northern Ireland joined those of Scotland and Wales in rejecting the “stay alert” slogan, and announcing its own plans for easing the lockdown.

The prime minister sought to play down the differences in approaches on Monday, stressing in the Plan to Rebuild that people should “pull together as a United Kingdom”. But Edinburgh, Cardiff and now Belfast have chosen to develop their own plans.

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Mary-Lou McDonald: violent dissident republicans should disband

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Sinn Féin president’s statement comes after senior party figures were threatened

Violent dissident republicans should disband, the leader of Sinn Féin has said. Anti-peace process renegades threatened the party’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, and veteran policing spokesman Gerry Kelly after they supported a recent recruitment campaign for new Catholic officers.

The party’s president, Mary-Lou McDonald, said they would not be deterred or intimidated by the gunmen. She added: “These people have no politics, no strategy and nothing to offer. They are at war with their community and are now threatening political representatives who serve the people.”

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Northern Ireland assembly reopens three years after collapse

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Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill stress need for unity as they take up senior roles

The Northern Ireland assembly has reopened for business three years almost to the day after it and the power-sharing executive in the region collapsed.

At an unprecedented Saturday sitting of the regional parliament, assembly members elected Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey as the chamber’s speaker, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, Arlene Foster, as first minister and Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as deputy first minister.

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