Sinn Féin president calls for Michelle O'Neill's re-election as first minister

The Sinn Féin president has called on her party to ensure Michelle O'Neill is returned as first minister in the assembly election next May.

Speaking at its annual ard fheis (conference) in Belfast, Mary Lou McDonald said: "Let's make it happen."

Sinn Féin won the most seats in the last Stormont election, making O'Neill the first-ever nationalist first minister.

McDonald also insisted to reporters on Saturday that she will still be leader of the party after the next election in the Republic of Ireland.

It followed a report in the Sunday Times that some members are growing unhappy with her leadership.

McDonald said she felt no pressure about her role and insisted the party was united and strong and determined to "motor on".

Addressing the conference on Saturday night, she said that the union was "under pressure".

"Upcoming elections might return pro-independence first ministers in Scotland and Wales, fingers crossed," she said.

She repeated her stance that Irish unity is possible by 2030, but accused the governments in London and Dublin of ignoring their obligations to prepare for such a poll.

"Unity is the means by which we achieve the promise of our whole country," McDonald said.

"And make no mistake – we are out to fully end British government rule in Ireland."

Addressing two upcoming by-elections to the Dáil (Irish Parliament) next month, McDonald said the polls were a chance for Sinn Féin to strengthen its hand and hit governing parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

"We need to keep the pressure on, because we need to get them out," added McDonald.

On Friday night, party members at the ard fheis voted by a tight margin to support a ban on fox hunting.

There are concerns that this policy could affect the party's rural vote.

In 2021, the party faced criticism at Stormont after it voted against a bill in the assembly to ban hunting wild mammals with dogs in Northern Ireland.

That legislation is expected to be reintroduced at Stormont this month.

McDonald dismissed any suggestions that the leadership was losing its grip on the party, and said the vote on fox hunting demonstrated how members are the ones who set policy.

"I know that makes us different from other parties," she said.

On Friday, Sinn Féin vice-president and Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill told delegates that the union of the United Kingdom is "cracking at the seams", as she accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of blocking progress in the Stormont executive.

She committed to work to reform the power-sharing institutions at Stormont, and said the party will outline its proposals in the next few weeks.

Sinn Féin chose to come back to Belfast this year, for the first time since 2018, which marked Mary Lou McDonald's first ard fheis as president.

But it was questions over her political future that awaited the Sinn Féin leader as she arrived on Saturday.

While senior party figures and McDonald herself insisted there was no story, they know there are potential stumbling blocks.

Two upcoming by-elections could spell trouble if the party sees no success, and recent polls, bearing in mind the health warning attached to those, suggest a stasis in Sinn Féin support.

That said, McDonald showed she can still draw a crowd as she addressed more than 1,000 audience members from the main stage, bringing the conference to a close.

In her keynote address, she insisted it's the UK's internal borders that her party faithful should still be most concerned about, reiterating the case for Irish unity.

Sinn Féin may be focused on constitutional change, but how much longer will Mary Lou McDonald be in the frame when it comes to securing it?