SINN Fein’s Michelle O’Neill becomes the first nationalist to be sworn in as First Minister of Northern Ireland.
She said yesterday at Stormont after the DUP agreed to a return to power sharing: “Today opens the door to the future — a shared future.
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Her dad, Brendan Doris, was a jailed IRA member, while her cousin, Tony, was shot dead by the SAS in 1991.
Ms O’Neill apologised “without exception” for “all the lives lost” during the Troubles.
She said: “We must make power-sharing work because collectively, we are charged with leading and delivering for all our people, for every community.
“The days of second-class citizenship are long gone. Today confirms that they are never coming back.
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“As an Irish republican, I pledge co-operation and genuine honest effort with those colleagues who are British, of a unionist tradition and who cherish the Union.
“This is an Assembly for all — Catholic, Protestant and dissenter.”
The DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly is the new Deputy First Minister.
Taking up the post, she said she and Ms O’Neill come from “very different backgrounds”.
But Ms Little-Pengelly said she will work “tirelessly to ensure that we can deliver for all in Northern Ireland”.
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