Who is Michelle O'Neill - Northern Ireland's new leader whose life changed at 16

30 January 2024 , 12:06

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Michelle O'Neil comes from a staunchly Irish republican family (Image: PA)

When she gave birth to her daughter at the age of 16, Michelle O’Neill was determined that she would not be written off.

Now she is on the verge of making history as Northern Ireland’s first Irish republican First Minister after the DUP agreed to return to power-sharing at Stormont. Sinn Fein became the largest party in the most recent assembly elections in 2022, putting her in line for the top job.

Ms O’Neill comes from a staunchly Irish republican family in County Tyrone. Her father, Brendan Doris, was an IRA prisoner. Paul Doris, her uncle, was one of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in 1991 and her cousin Gareth Doris, an IRA man shot and wounded by the army in 1997.

The 47-year-old has previously spoken about how becoming a mother when she was 16-years-old changed her life. "Being a young mum, well it's my life experience, it made me what I am, it makes you stronger, I think,” she told Sky News. "I know what it's like to be in difficult situations. I know what it's like to struggle, I know what it's like to go to school and have a baby at home.

"At that time, you're talking 1993, society still, compared with today, was a very different place. You were neatly put in a box: single mother, unmarried mother, nearly written off. But I was determined that I wasn't going to be written off, that I was going to work hard and make a good life for her."

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Ms O’Neill joined Sinn Fein after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 at the age of 21 and became a councillor. In 2007, she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly and served as agriculture minister and then health minister. Following the death of Martin McGuinness in 2017, she became Deputy First Minister when power-sharing was restored in 2020.

She faced calls to step down in 2020 after she was accused of breaking coronavirus rules as she attended the funeral of veteran IRA commander Bobby Storey.

Ms O’Neill accepted invitations to attend both the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and the Coronation of King Charles. In a statement ahead of the Coronation, she said: “I am committed to being a First Minister for all, representing the whole community, and advancing peace and reconciliation through respectful and mature engagement.”

John Stevens