Michelle O'Neill Remembrance Day plan defended as party “have consistently sought to heal divisions”

belfastlive.co.uk
·2-min read
Former Belfast Mayor Tina Black and Michelle O'Neill lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on July 1, 2022
-Credit: (Image: Liam McBurney/PA Wire)


Sinn Féin’s National Chairperson has defended Michelle O’Neil’s decision to attend Remembrance Sunday saying the party’s leaders “have consistently sought to heal divisions”.

Declan Kearney was speaking in the wake of the First Minister announcing she will become the first senior Sinn Féin figure to take part in an official Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Belfast. But the move has sparked some anger among nationalists who say they feel “deeply hurt, frustrated and angry” at the move.

In a letter published last week, more than 100 relatives of victims of the Troubles from the Republican community in County Tyrone hit out at her decision.

Read more: Michelle O'Neill to attend Remembrance Sunday ceremony at Belfast City Hall

Read more: We lost seats after DUP gave Sinn Féin an open goal, says Green Party leader

The letter to The Irish News accused the First Minister of “populism” and said Sinn Féin had “turned political somersaults into an Olympic sport”.

When she announced the news on Tuesday, the Sinn Fein vice president said her attendance was about being a “First Minister for all”, but acknowledged it was “going to be an uncomfortable thing for many republicans”.

Subsequently, Declan Kearney reiterated the position, adding that Sinn Féin leaders “have consistently sought to heal divisions through efforts to build trust and foster reconciliation”.

He added: “That has often meant stepping beyond traditional comfort zones. Serving as a First Minister for all means honouring the spirit and requirements of the office. The participation at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony, of a First Minister for all who is also an Irish Republican represents a gesture of respect for those dead from Ireland, and their loved ones, who served in British forces, during wars fought by Britain, notwithstanding our republican and anti-imperialist opposition to those colonial wars and global conflicts both historically, and more recent times.

“In attending she is also acknowledging the pain and suffering of all those who lost their lives - on all sides - in the horror of the First World War and in subsequent conflicts. War can never be romanticised or glorified. All wars are terrible. The ongoing genocide in Gaza graphically underlines that reality. International humanitarian law, diplomacy and multilateralism must be paramount. Serving as a First Minister means being a First Minister for unionists, but also for republicans, and for those from neither background.

“The dead from all traditions should be afforded the right of respectful commemoration, and that includes republican patriot dead. Political leaders must show example. All our actions today must be about laying foundations for the transition to a new constitutional settlement in Ireland based upon respect, inclusion, pluralism, and equality.”

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