BELFAST – Mrs Michelle O’Neill on Feb 3 became the first nationalist leader of Northern Ireland’s government, after lawmakers restored its devolved assembly after a two-year hiatus, paving the way for a power-sharing government led for the first time by a pro-Irish unity nationalist.

The Sinn Fein politician’s nomination as first minister was confirmed at a special sitting of the devolved legislature, which also saw 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 at the Stormont assembly 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 reflects not only 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 an historic day. It is about the future,” Mrs O’Neill said on X, formerly Twitter, hours ahead of her swearing-in. “As a First Minister for All, I am determined to lead positive change for everyone, and to work together with others to progress our society in a spirit of respect, cooperation, and equality.”

Earlier this week, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald recalled that the 1921 partition was “on the basis of creating an in-built and permanent unionist (pro-UK) majority” in Northern Ireland.

“That day has gone,” she said, adding that the possibility of a Sinn Fein-led government in Dublin after the next election there could drive “a new constitutional dispensation ending partition”.

In the immediate term, Mrs O’Neill faces the pressing problem of fixing budgetary constraints and crumbling public services that have sparked widespread industrial disputes in Northern Ireland.

On Jan 29, Mrs O’Neill called the restoration of the assembly “a day of optimism” and called for a joint effort to tackle the problems.

Boycott

The 47-year-old has been first minister-designate since May 2022, when Sinn Fein became the largest party at polls for the 90-seat assembly, which has responsibility for domestic policy areas when sitting.

But she has been unable to take up the role due to a boycott of the assembly by the largest pro-UK unionist party, the DUP, over post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland.

It shares the UK’s only land border with the European Union, with the Republic of Ireland to the south, but under the 1998 peace deal it needs to be kept open, without infrastructure.

London struck an agreement with Brussels over Northern Ireland – in addition to its overall Brexit trade deal. That accord proposed port checks on goods coming to Northern Ireland from mainland Great Britain – England, Scotland and Wales. 

Unionists, though, said that effectively keeping only Northern Ireland in the EU single market and Customs union risked cutting it adrift from the rest of the United Kingdom, and made a united Ireland more likely.

After two years of protracted negotiations, the DUP has returned to power-sharing, striking a deal with London this week which will ease routine checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea destined to remain in Northern Ireland.

The British government will now release a £3.3 billion (S$5.6 billion) package to bolster struggling public services in Northern Ireland, after a series of strikes in recent weeks over pay.

“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.

Formalities

Formalities on Feb 3 began with the election of a neutral Speaker, then nominations for the parties entitled to jointly lead the decision-making executive, and ministers for nine departments.

The non-aligned third-biggest party, Alliance, has said it will be willing to take the justice portfolio again, and is eligible for another ministry.

The smaller Ulster Unionists are also entitled to a ministerial position, but the fifth-largest party, the nationalist SDLP, are not and will form the opposition.

However, smaller, more hardline unionists remain bitterly opposed to Stormont’s return, arguing the “surrender deal” changes nothing.

“We will be fighting this surrender deal. We will not be surrendering our land to the EU,” pro-UK activist Mark McKendry told fellow loyalists on Feb 1, calling on them to “mobilise” in protest.

But others are backing the agreement. Former first minister and ex-DUP leader Peter Robinson said it secures “very substantial” progress on safeguarding the union, in a video message shared on Feb 3 by the party. AFP