Michelle O’Neill: From teenage mother to history-making first minister
From a background steeped in Irish republicanism, Michelle O’Neill has risen to the cusp of making history as Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister.
When MLAs gather at Stormont on Saturday, 47-year-old Ms O’Neill will finally be nominated to the position she became entitled to by leading Sinn Fein to victory in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Her ascent has been delayed by the DUP’s boycott of the powersharing institutions. Since the collapse of Stormont, Ms O’Neill has been the face of her party’s long campaign to have the Assembly restored, repeatedly promoted as a “first minister for all”.
When she appeared with party leader in the Great Hall of Stormont this week, after the
