Of course there’s an emotional, if not to say visceral, reaction to Michelle O’Neill’s attendance at Remembrance ceremonies from some people whose relatives British army or police killed or who died on hunger strike. Equally, there’s outrage from some unionists at the other end of the spectrum who can’t forget the deaths IRA bombs and bullets caused.
All that is understandable, but those reactions miss the point. We live in changed times. O’Neill’s appearance laying a laurel wreath is both an illustration and an acknowledgement of these changed times. You might say that, well, it’s the inevitable culmination of a process that’s being going on for a generation ever since Alex Maskey, Belfast’s first Sinn Féin lord mayor, laid his own wreath at the city hall 22 years ago.
Read more: Remembrance Sunday: Michelle O’Neill’s message on wreath to ‘remember all lives lost’ in war
Then there was the visit of Britain’s queen to Dublin in 2011 when she laid a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance with President McAleese and made obeisance to Ireland’s dead heroes. On the accession of Britain’s King Charles he was welcomed to St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast by the SF MP for North Belfast in whose constituency St Anne’s sits and by the SF lord mayor of the city. Michelle O’Neill and Alex Maskey expressed their condolences to the king at Hillsborough Castle and subsequently Michelle O’Neill attended his coronation.
The important point is that those events of the last two years and Sunday’s wreath laying are qualitatively different from previous symbolic acts by Sinn Féin representatives. They are different because on each of those occasions the Sinn Féin people were present in their official capacity as the leading public citizens: whether it was as the local MP, lord mayor, or at Hillsborough, as First Minister designate and Speaker of the Assembly, or finally on Sunday as First Minister.
Read more: Michelle O’Neill says criticism from republicans over Remembrance Day event is ‘difficult to hear’
These occasions have marked the emergence of northern republicans and the people they represent from the twilight existence they endured since partition. They no longer live in the shadow of unionism. They no longer play second fiddle to unionist politicians. On Sunday Michelle O’Neill was the most important public figure at the City Hall. Let that sink in. These occasions since 2022 when SF became the largest party in the north’s administration illustrate the political revolution that has occurred in the north.
They are part of the process of northern nationalists and republicans taking ownership of a north from which they have been systematically excluded for over a century. The fact that O’Neill leads the largest party in the north in councils, assembly and at Westminster entitles her to the leading role at any public event here. Sunday, when she laid a wreath with a card inscribed with her own message, “Today I remember all lives lost in the horror of war and conflict - past and present,” showed that she attended on her own terms, no longer as a subservient makeweight for a unionist politician.
Northern republicans no longer play second fiddle to unionist politicians. On Sunday Michelle O’Neill was the most important public figure at the City Hall. Let that sink in
Being at the city hall was also important to make good her promise to be First Minister for all which is vital in another respect. As unionism slides inexorably into minority status in the north and a reunification referendum looms it is essential to show unionists that their traditions and their place in the north’s society will be respected.
Until now unionists have taken and held possession of the memory of the 20th century world wars although tens of thousands of Irishmen died in the conflicts. Only one view of those wars has been presented. That’s over now. There is an alternative worldview which O’Neill presented in her inscription with her laurel wreath. From now on that view will form a part of Remembrance ceremonies here because Michelle O’Neill will be back next year and the year after. After all, she is the most important political figure in the north.
Don’t ask, what about the proconsul? He represents no-one, being sent here by a London government made up of a party which represents no-one here and doesn’t even organise or stand for election. He’s here today, gone tomorrow. His actions have no significance.
So Michelle O’Neill’s actions weren’t just symbolic in the sense of breaking new ground in republicans’ relations with British traditions. They are symbolic of the new political order in the north, the changing of the guard so to speak. People who strenuously protest just don’t get it. They are paralysed by the past. They can’t see that a new political dawn has broken.
It should also be said that the minority of unionists who objected realise exactly what’s happening – that’s why they objected – and refuse to give up possession of the north to republicans no matter how accommodating they try to be to unionist susceptibilities.
