Michelle O'Neill becomes first Sinn Fein leader to lay Battle of the Somme wreath
Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill has said her laying a wreath to those killed at the Somme demonstrates that she intends to be a "first minister for all".
However, she refused to be drawn on why she was not attending the formal commemorative event and had chose to lay a wreath two hours before it was due to begin.
"I don't think we should get distracted from the fact that this is quite significant, the fact that I have laid a wreath this morning, along with our mayor Tina Black," she said.
"I'm doing so to be respectful, I'm doing so to actually try to reach out the hand of friendship to actually show political leadership. And I think that will not be lost in the wider public."
She added: "I hope that sends out a strong message that I do genuinely want to lead for everybody in this society."
Ms O'Neill became the first member of a Sinn Fein leadership team to lay a wreath in Belfast to mark the anniversary of the First World War battle.
She was accompanied by Sinn Fein's Belfast Lord Mayor Tina Black as she laid the laurel wreath at the Cenotaph at City Hall two hours before the official commemorative event was due to take place.
"I said throughout the election campaign that I wanted to be a first minister for all and I hope that today's attendance and the laying of a wreath is actually a demonstration of someone who wants to work for all in our community," Ms O'Neill told reporters.
WATCH: Michelle O'Neill lays the wreath alongside mayor Tina Black:
"I think as political leaders, we have a responsibility to reach beyond our comfort zones and actually reach out the hand of friendship, and to try to do whatever we can in terms of leadership in terms of healing the wounds of the past.
"So, I'm very pleased to be here this morning to have laid a wreath in terms of all those lives lost," she said.
Ms O'Neill also declined to be drawn on whether Sinn Fein would consider attending official Somme commemorations in the future.
Asked whether she felt her gestures were being reciprocated by political unionism, she said: "What I'm doing today is not about reciprocation, it's actually about demonstrating respect and my leadership, and what I'm determined to do, regardless of what others decide to do."
When asked about Michelle O'Neill's attendance at the event, the DUP MP Gavin Robinson said there is "no significance in my view to a Sinn Fein member attending a segregated commemoration."
"I don't want to be churlish about it. I think it is good that she was here today but I think the time has passed that we have to segregate ourselves in commemoration.
WATCH: Gavin Robinson speaking at City Hall:
"Everyone who sacrificed at the Somme did so collectively, irrespective of the community background they had - the different regiments, the different divisions - they were in France together and they died together.
"They did that for all of us. That's what we commemorate here today and it would be nice to see some collectivity in that commemoration," Mr Robinson said.
Northern Ireland Office minister Conor Burns: "I warmly welcome the participation of Michelle O'Neill and the Lord Mayor of Belfast in today's events here in Belfast.
"The First World War was an event, an experience, a number of years in which people from across this island from both traditions died in fighting for freedom.
WATCH: Conor Burns speaking outside City Hall:
"It's right, I think, that we remember that. I understand from my late grandmother that she had cousins who were from Dublin, who died fighting for the British in the First World War.
"So, this is a shared remembrance, a shared sense of loss and a shared history on this island. I welcome that profoundly."
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