Michelle O’Neill was appointed as the leader of Northern Ireland’s Sinn Feinn party. O’Neil became the first nationalist leader to hold this post. In a statement on her social media account, O’Neill stated that today is a historic day and that she is ‘determined to work in unity’.
Michelle O’Neill was today appointed leader of Northern Ireland’s Sinn Feinn party, AFP reports. O’Neil is the first nationalist leader to hold this post.
O’Neill said on his social media account, “Today is a historic day for the future. This decision is about working together to benefit workers and families and creating new opportunities to ensure our children and grandchildren can achieve their dreams and goals. I am committed to leading positive change for all and working together to move our society forward in a spirit of respect, cooperation and equality.”
“Remember, partition itself, the foundation of this state, was based on creating an entrenched and permanent unionist (pro-British) majority,” former Sinn Fein party president Mary Lou McDonald said this week. That day is gone,” she said, adding that with O’Neill in Belfast and potentially a Sinn Fein-led government in Dublin at the next election, this could lead to “a new constitutional dispensation that ends partition”.
O’Neill, 47, faces the immediate challenge of addressing budget constraints in the short term and the collapse of public services in Northern Ireland, which has led to widespread industrial disputes.
O’Neill, who pledged on Monday to be “everyone’s first minister”, called the reconvening of parliament a “day of optimism” and called for a concerted effort to solve problems.
This is an historic day.
It is about the future.
It is about working together to deliver for workers and families, and creating new and exciting opportunities that ensure our children and grandchildren can achieve their dreams and ambitions in life.
As a First Minister for…
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) February 3, 2024
