Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein's Cork-born politician with aspirations for Irish unification, has been appointed as Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister, concluding a nearly two-year political deadlock. This historic appointment occurred after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) agreed to return to a power-sharing arrangement following a deal with the UK government over post-Brexit trade issues. Sinn Fein secured the majority of seats in the previous year's assembly election, but the DUP's refusal to rejoin the government had stalled the formation of a power-sharing executive. Asserting that 'our allegiances are equally legitimate', O'Neill pledged to serve all equally in this 'new dawn' post-Good Friday Agreement era. Any efforts to unify Ireland would necessitate the consent of voters in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.