Sinn Fein hails ‘new era’ after historic win
Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill acclaimed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as her Irish nationalist party handed a historic election defeat to pro-UK unionists who had monopolised power for decades.
Once the political wing of the paramilitary IRA, Sinn Fein won enough seats in the devolved legislature to nominate O’Neill as first minister – a century after Northern Ireland was carved out as a Protestant fiefdom under British rule. O’Neill appealed for a “healthy debate” about reunifying Ireland, but the Democratic Unionist Party stood by its refusal to form a new power-sharing government, opening up the prospect of months-long political limbo.
“Today ushers in a new era,” said O’Neill, who at 45 came of political age after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland.
“It’s a defining moment for our politics and our people,” she said. “I will provide leadership which is inclusive, which celebrates diversity, which guarantees rights and equality for those who have been excluded, discriminated against or ignored in the past.”
With 88 of 90 seats filled from last week’s proportional voting, Sinn Fein was assured of 27 seats in the Stormont assembly, ahead of the DUP on a maximum of 25 and the Alliance party on 17.
“The people have spoken, and our job is now to turn up. I expect others to turn up also,” O’Neill said. She stressed that the new government had to tackle foremost a cost-of-living crisis in the UK, ahead of the debate about Irish unity.
While Sinn Fein will get to nominate a first minister, Northern Ireland’s government can only form under the 1998 deal if the DUP agrees to take part and serve in the role of deputy first minister.
“I want a government in Northern Ireland, but it has to be one based on stable foundations,” DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said.
The DUP occupied the role of first minister in the outgoing assembly, before it collapsed the executive in protest at post-Brexit trading rules between the UK and EU.
Donaldson demanded UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliver on the Northern Ireland Protocol and urged “decisive action” to remove the Irish Sea border.