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Michelle O’Neill was appointed First Minister of Northern Ireland on Saturday afternoon. O’Neill is the vice-president of Sinn Féin, the left-wing nationalist party historically in favor of reunification between Ireland and Northern Ireland: it is the first time that one of its members has become prime minister. In the past the position had always been taken by politicians from unionist parties, therefore in favor of Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom.
In his inauguration speech O’Neill said his appointment “opens the door to the future” of the nation, but made no explicit reference to possible reunification with Ireland.
O’Neill’s nomination was widely expected: on Wednesday an agreement was reached between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), another large conservative party, which had allowed the formation of a new government to be unblocked after a political stalemate of almost two years. In May 2022 Sinn Féin won elections for the first time, but had so far failed to reach an agreement with the DUP.
The functioning of the government of Northern Ireland, which has a certain degree of autonomy from the central government of the United Kingdom, is enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 after thirty years of struggles and violent clashes between independentists and unionists Northern Ireland (the period of the so-called “Troubles”).
The agreement stipulates that the government will only function if Northern Ireland’s main parties, currently Sinn Féin and the DUP, can reach a power-sharing agreement. It provides that the prime minister and deputy prime ministers have equal powers: one must necessarily be unionist, and the other nationalist. Emma Little-Pengelly, of the DUP, has been appointed as deputy prime minister.
The government majority will be made up of Sinn Féin, DUP, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Alliance Party, while the Social Democratic and Labor Party will be in opposition.
– Read also: In Northern Ireland the “Troubles” never completely ended
The compromise reached on Wednesday between the DUP and Sinn Féin was brokered by the UK. The most important innovation concerns the reduction of some controls and bureaucratic practices on goods in circulation between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, i.e. precisely the area on which the DUP protests and its systematic boycott on reaching any agreement had so far focused . The negotiations inevitably concerned the new trade rules imposed following Brexit.
– Read also: The agreement to form the government in Northern Ireland, finally