Michelle O'Neill lays Somme wreath in Belfast

Michelle O'Neill said laying a wreath at Belfast City Hall's cenotaph showed she wanted to be a leader for all in Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin's vice-President Michelle O'Neill has laid a wreath in Belfast to commemorate the Battle of the Somme.

It is the first time a leader of the party has done so in Belfast.

Last year, when she was deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, she attended a Somme commemoration in Dublin.

Ms O'Neill said on Friday morning that she "wanted to be respectful" and "demonstrate that by words and deeds".

However, she declined to be drawn on why she did not attend the wider Somme commemoration event which took place on Friday.

A few hours before the ceremony, she laid a wreath at the cenotaph at Belfast City Hall along with the party's Tina Black, who is currently the lord mayor of the city.

Alex Maskey was the first Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast to lay a wreath at a Somme commemoration 20 years ago..

He also did not attend the official ceremony in 2002 but instead he laid a wreath two hours before the event began.

At that time, Mr Maskey said he wanted to lay a wreath in memory of, and in tribute to, all men who died at the Somme and during the First World War, but would not attend "the military commemoration of the Battle of the Somme".

Ms O'Neill declined to be drawn on why she did not attend the wider Somme commemoration

Speaking on Friday, Ms O'Neill said she wanted to "lead for all of society".

"I want to be respectful and send a strong message that I want to lead for everybody," she told a news conference.

A number of political representatives attended the wider commemoration on Friday.

Following the event, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Gavin Robinson said it was "good" that Ms O'Neill had laid a wreath at the cenotaph but added that "the time has passed that we need to segregate ourselves in commemoration".

"I think it's appropriate to recognise that in 1916 everyone that went over the top did so together, their sacrifice was the same," he sad.

"That sacrifice was shared right across communities in Northern Ireland and I think it would be nice to get to the point where we could share in this commemoration today, that individuals, political leaders, didn't need to segregate themselves from the commemoration that took place".

He added: "There is no significance, in my view, to a Sinn Féin member attending a segregated commemoration for the Battle of the Somme because that has been occurring for 20 years now".

Political representatives and representatives from all the main churches attended the commemoration event

'Warmly welcome'

Minister of State for Northern Ireland Conor Burns also attended the commemoration.

He said: "I warmly welcome the participation of Michelle O'Neill and the lord mayor of Belfast in today's events here in Belfast.

"The first world war was a number of years in which people from across this island, from both traditions, died in fighting for freedom and it's right that we remember that.

"This is a shared remembrance, a shared sense of loss and a shared history on this island, so I welcome that profoundly".

The deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Alliance's Michelle Kelly, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the council.

Representatives of all the main churches were also present.