"Historic day"

Northern Ireland: Catholic head of government for the first time

Michelle O'Neill (pictured) is the first Catholic to head the Northern Irish government.(Bild: Associated Press)

After two years of political crisis, Northern Ireland has a government again - and for the first time a Catholic politician is at its head. The regional parliament in Belfast elected 47-year-old Michelle O'Neill from the Sinn Fein party as "First Minister" on Saturday.

This means that the former civil war region is now led by a politician who is striving for reunification with EU member Ireland. However, O'Neill must govern together with the largest Protestant party, the DUP, which is in favor of political union with Great Britain and will in future provide the deputy head of government with equal rights.

Michelle O'Neill (pictured) is the first Catholic to head the Northern Irish government.(Bild: Associated Press)

Commentators nevertheless spoke of a historic development, a "historic day". The previous government in Belfast collapsed two years ago to the day. Since then, the DUP had refused to participate as required in protest against special Brexit rules for Northern Ireland. It argued that the agreement reached with the EU would jeopardize the union of Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Recently, the party reached an agreement with the British central government on a document that emphasized state unity and subsequently gave up its opposition. The Good Friday Agreement, which ended the civil war in Northern Ireland in 1998, provides for a unity government between the two confessional camps.