The dead from all traditions should be afforded respectful commemoration

"The dead from all traditions should be afforded the right of respectful commemoration, and that includes republican patriot dead"

Upon taking up office as First Minister earlier this year, Michelle O Neill said;

“I am a republican. I will serve everyone equally and be a First Minister for all. To all of you who are British and unionist; your national identity, culture and traditions are important to me.”

The past remains deeply contested in our society; so too are forms of commemoration and remembrance.

Our peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, were built upon foundational principals of mutual respect, equality, and parity of esteem.

Sinn Féin leaders have consistently sought to heal divisions through efforts to build trust and foster reconciliation.

That has often meant steeping beyond traditional comfort zones in the interest of building a better future.

Michelle O Neill’s decision to accept the invitation from Belfast City Council to attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony this Sunday is an expression of her determination to serve everyone equally and to be a First Minister for all.

Serving as a First Minister for all means honouring the spirit and requirements of the office.

The participation of a First Minister for all, who is also an Irish republican at this remembrance event, will be to qualitatively build on previous initiatives taken by other republican leaders.

There is no doubt this decision is challenging for republicans and is difficult for families of the republican patriot dead and of those killed by state forces and agents. Their rights to express their feelings on this very sensitive issue must be fully respected. At the same time fulfilling the commitment to represent all sections of our society as a First Minister for all is central to this initiative.

It represents a gesture of respect for those dead from Ireland, and their loved ones, who served in British forces, during wars fought by Britain, notwithstanding our republican and anti-imperialist opposition to those colonial wars and global conflicts both historically, and more recent times.

In attending she is also acknowledging the pain and suffering of all those who lost their lives - on all sides - in the horror of the First World War and in subsequent conflicts. 

War can never be romanticised or glorified. All wars are terrible. The ongoing genocide in Gaza graphically underlines that reality. International humanitarian law, diplomacy and multilateralism must be paramount. 

Our republican worldview includes the importance of showing respect for the experiences, traditions and different political narratives of all sections in our society.

Our words and deeds must mirror the vision of the inclusive and respectful society, which we aspire to achieve in the future.

Serving as a First Minister for All means being a First Minister for unionists, but also for republicans, and for those from neither background.

Twenty-six years on from signing the GFA, it is time to open up the next phase of our peace process.

The initiative to be taken on Remembrance Sunday will be taken because it is the right thing to do and not with any assumption of reciprocity.

We have a collective responsibility to pursue reconciliation and healing for all with generosity, sincerity and grace.

The attendance of a republican in her role as First Minister for all will be a conscious acknowledgement of the universal importance of remembrance within the reality of different views, and experiences of our shared past.

However, this gesture must also be about the future. It seeks to cultivate a new opportunity within our peace process; to give respect and extend the hand of friendship.

The dead from all traditions should be afforded the right of respectful commemoration, and that includes republican patriot dead.

Political leaders must show example. All our actions today must be about laying foundations for the transition to a new constitutional settlement in Ireland based upon respect, inclusion, pluralism, and equality.

This is how Sinn Féin views the symbolism of republican attendance at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Belfast on Sunday.