‘History was made’ when Cork born Michelle O’Neill appointed as First Minister of Northern Ireland

“History was made” when Fermoy-born Michelle O’Neill became First Minister of Northern Ireland last week.

The Sinn Féin leader, who was born Michelle Doris in Fermoy in 1977, was formally appointed to the role at Stormont on Saturday, becoming the first Irish nationalist to lead the government of Northern Ireland.

Though Ms O’Neill was born in Cork, she was raised in Clonoe in County Tyrone. Her father, Brendan Doris, was a former IRA prisoner and became a Sinn Féin councillor in Dungannon.

In 2005, she won a seat in Dungannon after her father stepped down as a councillor and two years later she was chosen to run for Stormont, where she would later serve as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development and Minister for Health.

Following the stepping down of Martin McGuinness in the wake of the Cash for Ash scandal in 2017, Ms O’Neill became leader of Sinn Féin and served as Deputy First Minister when the DUP’s Arlene Foster and Paul Givan occupied the office of First Minister.

In 2022, she led Sinn Féin to victory in the Assembly elections, entitling her to the role of First Minister.

However, following the elections, the DUP’s boycott of power-sharing institutions saw Stormont collapse until last week, when a deal was struck between the UK government and the DUP, which saw the latter end its two-year boycott.

This led to Ms O’Neill, 47, becoming First Minister.

Joe O’Brien, a Sinn Féin candidate for Fermoy in the upcoming Local Elections, told The Corkman that it was a “fantastic occasion” to see someone from the Catholic tradition who was born in Fermoy assume the role.

“I actually went over to Fermoy by myself on that day just to stand on the bridge in Fermoy where that great patriot was Thomas Kent was, a local man as well,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The fact that Michelle was actually born in Fermoy, I just felt that I needed to mark the occasion.

“It was a tremendous occasion.

“History was made and we witnessed it.”

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