Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill takes up her post as First Minister in Stormont, the first Nationalist member to hold the top political post in Northern Ireland’s Parliament.
From the first Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921 to the last in 1972, when direct rule was established, every prime minister was an Ulster Unionist.
That changed in 2022 when Sinn Féin won the most seats at an assembly election – the first time a nationalist party had done so.
In her first speech as First Minister, she promised, “To all of you who are British and unionist – your national identity, culture and traditions are important to me.”
