Michelle O’Neill lays wreath at Cenotaph in Belfast on Remembrance Sunday

Stormont’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has participated in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at Belfast City Hall – the first time a senior Sinn Féin figure has taken part in such an event in Northern Ireland.
Ms O’Neill, who said her attendance is a demonstration of her determination to fulfil her pledge to be a “First Minister for all”, laid a laurel wreath at the Cenotaph in Belfast.
A message on the wreath read: “As First Minister, I wish to take our society beyond old limits, to build bridges and to a shared future together.
“Today I remember all lives lost in the horror of war and conflict – past and present.”
Ms O’Neill attended the commemoration alongside DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who also laid a wreath.
Hundreds of people lined the streets outside City Hall as Armed Forces members participated in the ceremony.
In a statement, Ms O’Neill said: “I am committed to representing everyone equally. Through my words and actions, I will honour that commitment.”
In Dublin, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald attended the National Service of Remembrance at St Patrick’s Cathedral where President Michael D Higgins was to lay a wreath in remembrance of all those who have died in war.
Speaking in advance to reporters, Ms McDonald she said “everybody has the right to remember their dead”.
Referring to Ms O’Neill’s attendance at the Belfast event, the Sinn Féin leader said: “We’re Irish republicans, we believe in an end to partition, the reunification of our country, but also a party that’s been instrumental in the growth and development of the Irish peace process.”
Elsewhere, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn attended the annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration at Enniskillen, where hundreds gathered to pay their respects.
Eleven people who had gathered to pay their respects to the war dead were killed and dozens injured in the no-warning IRA bombing on November 8th 1987, minutes before the Remembrance Sunday ceremony was due to start.
A 12th victim of the Poppy Day bombing died 13 years later having never woken from a coma.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he decided not to attend the commemoration on advice from officials that it would not be attended by the senior representatives of the Executive.
Mr Harris’s absence was a rare break with the tradition of the sitting Taoiseach attending the event. The commemoration falls two days after he formally announced an election in Ireland.
The Government was represented by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, who is not seeking re-election. – Additional reporting PA