Michelle O’Neill to make history as Northern Ireland’s first nationalist leader
- The appointment of a Roman Catholic pro-Irish unity first minister in a nation set up as a Protestant-majority state under British rule is hugely symbolic
- O’Neill’s father was jailed for being a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a cousin was killed by members of Britain’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) regiment
Michelle O’Neill on Saturday becomes the first nationalist leader of Northern Ireland’s government, when the assembly returns after the end of a two-year boycott by the biggest pro-UK party.
The Sinn Fein politician’s nomination will be confirmed at a special sitting of the devolved legislature, which will also see the appointment of a deputy first minister and ministers.
Under the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement that ended three decades of sectarian violence over British rule in Northern Ireland, the first minister and deputy first minister posts are equal.
But the appointment of a Roman Catholic pro-Irish unity first minister in a nation set up as a Protestant-majority state under British rule is hugely symbolic.
It not only reflects Sinn Fein’s position as Northern Ireland’s biggest party but also shifting demographics, since the island of Ireland was split into two self-governing entities in 1921.
“This is a historic day,” the incoming first minister posted on the social network X on Saturday morning.
