Michelle O’Neill to attend Pope’s funeral in Rome

First Minister Michelle O’Neill will travel to Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

She will join political leaders including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney at the ceremony.

O’Neill had cut short a family holiday so that plans could be made to attend the funeral.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has confirmed that she will not be attending.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra, O’Neill said she was “honoured” to be attending the funeral.

She said Pope Francis would be remembered as a man of compassion and that she would represent the Northern Ireland Executive on Saturday, adding that it was “very important” to have that representation.

“I said I’d be a first minister for all,” she told the programme. “Much like Pope Francis himself you have to lead by your actions.”

Other Stormont politicians will pay tribute to Pope Francis at the assembly next week once it returns from Easter break.

Also attending the funeral will be Irish President Michael D Higgins and Archbishop Eamon Martin, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

A number of books of condolence have been opened across Northern Ireland in the wake of the Pope’s death.

On Wednesday, Belfast Lord Mayor Mickey Murray and Father Tim Bartlett, who was one of the organisers of Pope Francis’s visit to Ireland in 2018, were among the first to sign the book at Belfast City Hall.

That building will be illuminated in yellow and white on Saturday to coincide with the day of his funeral.

In Londonderry, the public can leave a written message at the city’s Guildhall, while a condolence book is also open at the Alley Theatre in Strabane.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and Mid Ulster Council have opened online books of condolence.