Queen Elizabeth II: Sinn Féin says tributes won't alienate republicans
- Published
Mary Lou McDonald said her party's relationship with the monarchy has changed over the past 20 years.
Sinn Féin's decision to pay tribute to the Queen and meet King Charles III will "absolutely not" alienate Irish republicans, the party's leader has said.
Speaking on Virgin Media's Tonight programme, Mary Lou McDonald said she had "no truck with monarchy".
But she added that the world had "moved on a lot".
She said her party's relationship with the monarchy had changed over the past 20 years.
"This shows, and I hope this gives confidence to people on the one hand to reaffirm just how far we've come, but also to demonstrate just how far much further we can go," Ms McDonald said.
Ms McDonald said she was "more than happy" to acknowledge Queen Elizabeth II was "at times, a great champion of reconciliation".
She described her past interactions with King Charles as "cordial, warm, and very direct".
"And it is that a change? Yes, it is. Who would have thought 20 years ago, 10 years ago that that was possible," she said.
Speaking in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill said the Queen was "a courageous and gracious leader", while the party's assembly Speaker Alex Maskey said she recognised how a "small but significant gesture can make a huge difference in changing attitudes".
Ms McDonald also paid tribute to the Queen following a minute's silence in the Dáil (lower house of Irish Parliament) on Wednesday.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill met King Charles at Hillsborough on Tuesday
When the Queen visited the Republic of Ireland in 2011 - as the first UK monarch to visit the independent state - Sinn Féin opposed the visit and declined invitations to take part.
However the next year on a visit to Belfast the Queen shook hands with the Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Mr McGuinness was a former leader of the IRA, the organisation which assassinated Prince Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten in 1979.
Sinn Féin politicians have since met members of the Royal Family on several occasions.
Related topics
- Published13 September 2022
- Published10 September 2022
