This decision almost certainly has more to do with Sinn Féin’s ambitions in the Republic. In 2017, Charles, then prince of Wales, shakes hands with Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams during a visit to the British ambassador’s residence in Glencairn, Co Dublin. Hatchets have to be buried on both sides, which has been happening over recent years, to such an extent that the then prince could joke with Gerry Adams when they met in Dublin in 2017 how they were both the same age, both born in 1948 but Adams just that little bit older. This welcome diplomacy cannot be easy for Charles either, particularly as it was the IRA who killed his beloved grand-uncle in Mullaghmore in Co Sligo in 1979. In Northern Ireland Sinn Féin supporters generally take the line that the party knows best and while the visit to Westminster Abbey may “jar” – to use Murphy’s word – with some supporters, it will be a big surprise if there is any dent in the SF vote in the council election on May 18th. On BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme on Wednesday Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy matter-of-factly said it was a “tough decision” for O’Neill and Sinn Féin but it was the “right decision”. There is absolutely no sign that any of this is causing Sinn Féin distress, water off a republican duck’s back, and this just a couple of weeks before local elections in Northern Ireland. Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said it was a “generous and welcome decision” while DUP MLA Brian Kingston described it as a “step in the right direction” but with a number of caveats attached.Īnd there has to be a meme, this one of O’Neill draped in Union Jack regalia like Ginger Spice while loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson taunted that he welcomed seeing “Sinn Féin becoming an integral part of the UK constitutional system, and giving their endorsement to the appointment of the new King who reigns over NI as a core part of our precious Union”. Many unionists dubbed her move as a “PR stunt”, but some senior figures were more positive. People Before Profit West Belfast Assembly member Gerry Carroll said the decision was “utterly shameful”. He surmised that many “grassroots republicans” would be “very annoyed” at her attendance. Dissident republicans expressed disgust while Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the party would “jettison almost anything in their quest for power”. Sinn Féin is taking some gyp for its move. While Charles may be having his flashback moment today, no doubt O’Neill and Maskey and thousands of Sinn Féiners and former IRA members will be thinking the same: how life can throw up the unexpected.
The very last thing he would have expected in 1994 was that Sinn Féin, so prominent in that hullabaloo, almost 29 years later would be represented at top level at his coronation, First Minister-in-waiting Michelle O’Neill joining the celebration and even the very veteran republican and speaker of the non-sitting Stormont Assembly Alex Maskey turning up for this very British exercise in pomp and circumstance. Police and nervous royal security types tried to keep the prince safe amid the hubbub.Ĭharles maintained his sangfroid and breezed through the frenzied occasion. There were loud jeers and taunts and protests and jostling within the confined spaces of the craft village while at the same time local dignitaries were assembled to greet the royal personage and young Irish dancers prepared to perform for him. It was chaotic and a little surreal, he may recall. For decades, “Para Commander” was a trope regularly raised by Sinn Féin against any nationalist who dared to meet Charles. The then Prince Charles was honorary commander in chief of the Parachute Regiment, the British Army regiment responsible for the Bloody Sunday 1972 slaughter, and many of the families and many more republicans didn’t want him anywhere near the Maiden City. He could be transported to Derry, to July 1994 when he visited the craft village in the city. As King Charles eyes Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill across a crowded Westminster Abbey on Saturday, he may experience one of those “isn’t life a funny peculiar business?” flashbacks.
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