Sinn Féin to attend King Charles’ coronation in sign of changed times
The Irish republicans of Sinn Féin — who once supported Irish Republican Army attacks on British royals — announced Wednesday they will send senior representatives to the coronation of King Charles III in a sign of radically changed times.
Michelle O’Neill, the party’s deputy leader and first minister-designate for the mothballed Northern Ireland government, said she would represent Sinn Féin at the May 6 ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
O’Neill, who wants the Democratic Unionists to end their year-long boycott of power-sharing and permit her to take the helm of government in Belfast for the first time, said she was making the commitment as a way to demonstrate her respect for unionists and their British identity.
“I am committed to being a first minister for all, representing the whole community, and advancing peace and reconciliation through respectful and mature engagement,” O’Neill said in a statement. [Continue reading…]