Michelle O'Neil (left), appointed as Sinn Féin's First Minister, and Mary Lou MacDonald (center), party chairman in Belfast City Hall on Friday. Photo: Liam McBurney/Pennsylvania. to secure another historic victory in Northern Ireland.
Michelle O'Neill also pressured Sir Geoffrey Donaldson's party to restore power sharing as she accused them of “punishing the public” as they participate in the “battle with the British government”.
As the votes were counted, Sinn Féin was on track to overtake the DUP as the largest party in local government in a region where Catholics with a traditional nationalist bent now outnumber Protestants with a traditional trade union movement.
However, the first the results showed that the DUP has largely succeeded in getting the unions to vote.
Sir Geoffrey urged voters to support him to strengthen their position in demanding changes to Mr. Sunak's Brexit deal.
“DUP punishes.” public '
On Friday, Ms. O'Neal said the couple must now work together to restore and launch power sharing. decision to stay away from the executive branch.
“The DUP punishes the public. The DUP is in a battle with the British government and the people here and our public services are seen as collateral damage in the middle of this battle,” she said.
“What do we need to do now? see both governments participating as guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement to make politics work again.
“They both need to be involved and they need a plan – there hasn’t been a plan so far. And today we say it must happen now.”
If his share of the vote is maintained, Sir Geoffrey is likely to claim that this proves he has a mandate to boycott Stormont by the DUP, which he will double down on demands for the prime minister to offer concessions on the Windsor Framework.
However, the UK government has said it does not intend to make any fundamental changes to the February agreement with the EU.
“The time has come to get the Assembly up and running,” Ms O'Neal said earlier Friday that it was becoming clear that people across Northern Ireland “seized the opportunity to send a clear message that the time has come start the work of the Assembly.”
The strong performance of the Nationalist Party is based on its historic victory in the Stormont elections last year, in which it first overthrew the DUP.
Sinn Féin is also pushing south of the border, where it scored an unprecedented success in the 2020 Republican general election, winning the popular vote.
Further successes in Northern Ireland will give the party momentum soon. a time when reunification has more momentum than ever before.
Bronach Anglin, who won a seat for Sinn Féin on Belfast City Council, said defeating the DUP and becoming the largest party in local government would send a signal for trade unions. who refuse to return to power-sharing.
She told The Telegraph: “People need support, they need representation. They have chosen people and they want us to help and support them in the cost of living when it comes to health care – in all areas that we know. And I'm not just talking about municipal services, but in general. They need it, we owe it to the people.
“In my personal opinion, I would guess that in the fact that our votes have increased significantly, and in the feedback about the door.”
Recent Comments