Michelle O’Neill will be attending the coronation of Britain’s King Charles “as a subject”, Aontú has said. 

As First Minister-elect, Ms O’Neill has received an invitation to the service along with 2,000 other people from across the United Kingdom and the world. 

The Sinn Féin Vice President said she was still an Irish republican but would attend out of respect for those in the North with a British identity for whom the event is a “hugely important occasion”. 

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the coronation was a waste of money when so many in Northern Ireland live in poverty and the wrong way to build bridges between the two communities. 

“Absolutely reconciliation is really, really important - but we don’t have to dress up in each other’s political clothes to reconcile,” he told The Hard Shoulder. 

“Reconciliation isn’t where two sides become a mix of something in the middle wearing kind of each other’s political attributes; reconciliation means we have a plural society, where there are plural loyalties; I can be fully an Irish republican and somebody else can be fully a unionist - and we can get on really well together. 

“We can be friends and we can work together on projects that are important to ourselves… So, I think there’s a mistake there.” 

Deputy Tóibín described reconciliation as a “two way street” and said the British need to make more of an effort. 

“King Charles was the head of the Parachute Regiment which murdered many people in the North of Ireland,” he said. 

“He’s never apologised ever for that.” 

Rehearsals in London, England ahead of the coronation of King Charles III. Picture via @RoyalFamily on Twitter

Deputy Tóibín added Ms O’Neill’s attendance at the service risked offending those who have suffered at the hands of the British Armed Forces during the Troubles. 

“I do think that many people - especially people who’ve lost loved ones, North and South, at the hands of the British - will have problems with the fact that King Charles is being coronated and the fact that Michelle O’Neill is in attendance - as a subject of King Charles as well.” 

The British coronation is the first in 70 years and will be broadcast live on RTÉ. 

Sinn Féin has been approached for comment.

Main image: Britain's King Charles meets Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down in September 2022.