Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, has stated she will not introduce water charges during her term in office. She also dismissed government claims that parties had agreed to revenue-raising measures as part of the £3.3bn deal struck before Christmas. Ms O’Neill stressed that she would attend events that cut across political and community lines, such as a Northern Ireland football game. The Sinn Féin deputy leader is the first nationalist to hold the post since it was created by the Good Friday Agreement.
In an in-depth interview with the BBC, Ms O’Neill commented on Stormont’s finances and stated her certainty about not burdening people living through a cost of living crisis with additional household bills when public services were declining. She denied that she had “signed up to revenue raising”. This follows comments from Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly who questioned asking people to pay more for poor public services. Income from locally raised taxes or charges was attached as a condition to the £3.3bn package offered by the government following the restoration of devolution at Stormont.
Ms O’Neill acknowledged that sport could unite people, including attending football matches at Windsor Park. She also said that she received a letter of congratulations from the King on taking up her post as First Minister. Furthermore, regarding IRA commemorations, Ms O’Neill said that although she plans to follow the office of First Minister, people had the right to remember their dead.
Born in 1977 and raised in Clonoe, County Tyrone, Ms O’Neill joined Sinn Féin in 1998 after the Good Friday Agreement. She began her career in politics when she won a council seat vacated by her father in 2005. Ms O’Neill joined the assembly in 2007 as a Mid Ulster assembly member. Sinn Féin nominated her for First Minister because the party won the most seats in Northern Ireland’s Assembly election in May 2022, marking a symbolic moment in Northern Ireland’s history
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