Michelle O'Neill becomes the first Republican head of government in Northern Ireland. She was nominated by the Stormont Parliament in Belfast, which restarted after two years of deadlock.
The unionist Emma Little-Pengelly (committed to maintaining Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom) was chosen as Deputy Prime Minister. She is particularly appreciated by young people for her left-wing ideas, compared to unionists with conservative positions on subjects such as abortion. It has pushed Sinn Fein's historic objective, the reunification of Ireland, into the background.