In 2020, O’Neill criticized the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionists for not supporting abortion strongly enough when there was an effort to outlaw late-term abortions for non-fatal disabilities.
“The women of this island have waited long enough for access to modern and compassionate abortion health services,” O’Neill said at the time. “Yet here we are today where, instead of supporting the provision of modern, compassionate abortion services for women, the DUP and UUP continues to hold up and deny this essential health care service to women and girls who need it.”
Sinn Féin, which has historical ties to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, officially supports the reunification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which were separated in 1921 through a peace treaty between Irish revolutionaries and the United Kingdom. The treaty ended the 1919–1921 Irish war for independence from the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland is currently part of the United Kingdom. Yet, per the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in 1998, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can reunite as one country if the majority of both countries vote in favor of such a change via referenda.
The Good Friday Agreement, which received overwhelming support in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, brought an end to “The Troubles,” which was a 30-year violent conflict between Irish republicans and Ulster loyalists. The violence stemmed from disputes over the status of Northern Ireland and allegations of discrimination against Catholics through political gerrymandering, de facto segregation from housing policies, and workplace hiring practices that prevented Catholics from working in major industries that were mostly controlled by Protestants.
Despite this historical division, O’Neill’s address mostly focused on domestic problems rather than Irish reunification.