Michelle O’Neill has said she is “very proud” to become the first nationalist First Minister of Northern Ireland.
Ms O’Neill said her role comes with “enormous responsibility” and said she wants to represent everyone in Northern Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Late Late Show, she said she has had a “very positive first two weeks” working with Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pennelly.
Ms O’Neill said she and Ms Little-Pennelly are determined to lead and work together.
She said: “We have come from two different political backgrounds, two different lived experiences, two different outlooks for where we think we should be in the future, in particular in relation to constitutional change.
“But that is alright isn’t it? It’s fine to have that different viewpoint but also working towards day-to-day things like public services, health, education, childcare.”
Ms O’Neill said she was pleased that she and Ms Little-Pennelly were able to visit childcare centres on the Shankill Road and in north Belfast earlier this week.
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“I do not think Emma or I looked at the children in north Belfast or the children on Shankill and thought for a second they were different. They are children and everything we are doing is building that better future for them,” she said.
Ms O’Neill said they are both lucky to be part of the “Good Friday Agreement generation” and can bring people together and “lead by example”.
Asked if she would still attend commemorations for the IRA, Ms O’Neill said: “We have a very tragic past, a very difficult past, where so much hurt and injury have been caused.
“Many injustices out there and I think we have to respect that everyone has a right to remember their dead and we should just be respectful of that and create that space for each other.”
However, Ms O’Neill said she will be “mindful” of her position as First Minister when accepting any invitations because she wants to represent everyone in Northern Ireland “fairly”.
She added she “regrets every loss of life” during the Troubles.
“I will work night and day to represent everyone from our society. I won’t surrender who I am but I certainly will reach out and will stretch myself continually to try to find ways to reach people who perhaps haven’t felt that they know me or that I couldn’t represent them in the past. But I will demonstrate that every day,” she said.
Ms O’Neill added: “I would never ask anyone to move on, the past is the past, it is our collective and shared past. But I certainly would ask to try to move forward and I want to help move our society and our people forward in a unified way.”
