Michelle O’Neill, the first minister of Northern Ireland and the deputy leader of Sinn Féin, lay a wreath during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Belfast, reports RTE.
This is the first formal commemoration of the Royal British Legion in which a prominent Sinn Féin politician has participated.
Alongside DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, she lay a laurel wreath at Belfast City Hall’s Cenotaph.
Both political extremes in Northern Ireland have attacked the choice to participate in the event.
Some unionists and loyalists have called the action a political ploy, reports RTE.
In a joint letter published in the Irish News, over 100 members of the republican community in County Tyrone who were the relatives of Troubles casualties expressed their feelings of being “deeply hurt, frustrated.”
Ms O’Neill has said: “I want to live up to the pledge that I made to represent everybody here in society. Many people will have lost loved ones and will feel that very dearly, so I absolutely understand where anybody is coming from but for me this is about leadership in terms of my role as First Minister for all the people that live here,” reports RTE.
Two hours before a formal city council ceremony honouring the Battle of the Somme took place in July 2002, Alex Maskey became the first Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph.
Although she was not there for the formal event, Ms. O’Neill lay a laurel wreath to honour the centenary of the Somme two years ago, reports RTE.
According to official advice, Taoiseach Simon Harris will not follow the custom of attending the Remembrance Sunday event at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
When questioned about the matter by the media yesterday, Mr. Harris stated that the secretary general to the Government had informed him that it would not be suitable since no official from the Stormont Executive was travelling to Enniskillen, reports RTE.
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