Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill has insisted her attendance at the King’s coronation is “more than just a gesture”

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill has insisted her attendance at the King’s coronation is “more than just a gesture” and demonstrates her commitment to reconciliation. The party’s vice president said she was attending the ceremony because it is the “right thing to do” in terms of promoting a shared future in Northern Ireland. The republican leader and Sinn Fein’s Assembly speaker Alex Maskey have both accepted invitations to the coronation in London. The move is the latest signal of vastly improved relations between the republican movement and the Royal family since the outset of the peace process. Ms O’Neill, who attended the Queen’s funeral service in September, is in line to become Northern Ireland’s first minister if the current powersharing impasse is resolved and devolution returns in Belfast. She has repeatedly pledged to be a “first minister for all”.