Michelle O’Neill meets Prince Charles in Hillsborough

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Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill has pointed out the potential opportunities as well as the “rabbit holes” that lie ahead in the coming year; the centenary of the partition and founding of Northern Ireland.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is the leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, spoke after a meeting with Britain’s Prince Charles in Hillsborough this afternoon.

She was joined by party chairman Declan Kearney, who is a junior minister in the shared executive branch.

Speaking to RTÉ News afterward, he said: “We have to make sure that next year we have a very positive speech, that we have a conversation about the future and that we don’t let things go down a rabbit hole in terms of consequences. negatives of the partition.

“We want to get involved in the politics of this, and we think he himself has a role in that as well.”

Unionists and Nationalists may have opposing views on the importance of what happened in 1921, and the centennial has the potential to cause friction in Stormont’s power-sharing administration.

But Ms O’Neill made it clear this afternoon that she is willing to explore how she can make a positive contribution to the inevitable political debate that will ensue.

“The partition has failed all the people who live on this island,” he said.

“We raised the fact today (with Prince Charles) that there is an opportunity to have a discussion next year about what the future will be like.

“We don’t want the next year to be characterized by division and rancor.

“What we want to do is have a political conversation about whether there is something better for all of us on this island and that is what we convey to Prince Charles today.”

Michelle O’Neill meets Prince Charles at Hillsborough Castle

Kearney confirmed that Sinn Féin sees a possible role for the British royal family in some of the formal events next year.

He said today’s meeting was “very important” in efforts to develop the peace process.

“Until now, Prince Charles and his mother have played an important and positive role in helping us move forward.

“He made it clear that he is open to developing that work and we were happy to hear that,” Kearney said.

It was the late Martin McGuinness who initiated Sinn Féin’s political engagement with the British royal family when he met and shook hands with Queen Elizabeth at an event in Belfast in June 2014.

Then-party chairman Gerry Adams first met Prince Charles at an event at NUI Galway in 2015.

His successor, current Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, met Prince Charles when he visited Cork in 2018.

After two days outcast with illness, Mrs. O’Neill traveled to Hillsborough Castle for today’s engagement.

The meeting confirms the pattern of contact between Sinn Féin and the British royal family and is a tacit recognition that increased royal visits to Northern Ireland are likely to be a feature next year.

The Irish Government has already indicated its awareness of the likely rise in the level of debate in the centennial season.

The Taoiseach has established a Shared Island Unit in its department, and a senior foreign affairs diplomat, Aingeal O’Donoghue, has been tasked with overseeing its activities.



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