CAttolica, 47 years old, daughter and cousin of former activists, Michelle O’Neill has been appointed as the new prime minister of the autonomous government of Northern Ireland. She is the first time a member of the Sinn Fein group (the Republican Party in the past considered close to the IRA) becomes head of the executive. Michelle O’Neill should have already been prime minister in reality: the elections will in fact take place in 2022, but due to the boycott of the rival unionist party an official appointment had never yet been made.
The prime minister is popular, cool and easy-going he had already made history becoming the first female leader of Sinn Fein in 2017. At 30 she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and subsequently held many political positions: she was a member of the parliamentary education committee, vice-president of the health committee, social services and public safety. From 2011 to 2016 she was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Minister of Health.
Michelle O’Neill new prime minister of Northern Ireland: she wants to be prime minister of the whole country
Has had her first child Saoirse at 16 and she married at 18 to Paddy O’Neill, from whom she inherited the surname which she still retains today, and from whom she also hadsecond son Ryan. The couple separated in 2014. She loves Gaelic football and hurling, a sport of Celtic origin.
Even though she is a convinced republican, in a post on X (where she has 143,000 followers) on April 23rd had announced his intention to participate in the coronation of King Charles of England: «I accepted the invitation to participate in the coronation of King Charles III. We live in a time of great change. It is time to respect our different and equally legitimate aspirations and to focus on the opportunities that the next decade will offer us.”
Northern Irish Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill. EPA/MARK MARLOW
«I’m an Irish republican. I also recognize that there are many people on our island for whom the coronation is an extremely important occasion. I pledge to be a Prime Minister for all, to represent the entire community and to promote peace and reconciliation through respectful and mature commitment.”
He wants to promote a referendum to reunify Ireland
It could be among the first decisions of his government a referendum on the reunification of Ireland within 10 years. Together with O’Neill he also took the oath the unionist deputy prime minister Emma Little Pengelly who, according to the 1998 Belfast (also known as Good Friday) agreements between Catholic republicans and Protestant unionists, must be of the opposite side.
Today the prime minister and her deputy they met the English Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Stormong Castle, in Belfastprecisely to celebrate the return to the sharing of powers between independentists and unionists.
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