Sinn Fein leader apologises for the death of Lord Mountbatten following Prince Philip's funeral

The leader of Sinn Fein has said she is sorry for the murder of the Lord Mountbatten by the IRA following the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Mary Lou McDonald, the President of the republican party, said the death of the Duke’s uncle in 1979 was “heartbreaking” and that it was her responsibility to “lead from the front.”

Her comments represent a significant shift from her predecessor Gerry Adams, who has refused to apologise for his previous claims that Lord Mountbatten “knew the danger” and could not “have objected to dying in what was clearly a war situation.”

Lord Mountbatten was assassinated in August 1979 while holidaying at his summer home Classiebawn Castle.

His boat was blown up by the IRA using a bomb that had been placed on the vessel. The explosion also killed his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, Lady Brabourne, the boy's grandmother, and 14-year-old Paul Maxwell a local boat boy.

Asked if she would apologise to the Prince of Wales for the death of his great-uncle, Ms McDonald told Times Radio: "The army and armed forces associated with Prince Charles carried out many, many violent actions on our island.

"I can say of course I am sorry that that happened. Of course, that is heartbreaking. My job, and I think that Prince Charles and others would absolutely appreciate this, my job is to lead from the front, now, in these times.

“I believe it is all our jobs to ensure that no other child, no other family, irrespective of who they are, suffers the same trauma and heartbreak that was all too common on all sides on this island and beyond.

“I have an absolute responsibility to ensure that no family faces that again and I am happy to reiterate that at the time and on the weekend that your Queen buried her beloved husband."

It comes six years after Mr Adams met Prince Charles at the National University of Ireland in Galway, after which he said: “Both he and we expressed our regret for what happened from 1968 onwards.

"He and his family were hurt and suffered great loss by the actions of Irish republicans. I am very conscious of this and of the sad loss of the Maxwell family, whose son Paul was killed at Mullaghmore, and I thank all involved, including Charles, for their forbearance.”

However, when asked about his previous comments about Lord Mountbatten, he added: “I stand over what I said then. I'm not one of those people that engages in revisionism. Thankfully the war is over.”

Speaking the next day, Prince Charles said the assassination had “seemed as if the foundations of all we held dear in life had been torn apart irreparably", but it made him "understand the agonies borne by so many others in these islands".

Ms McDonald’s comments are likely to be seen as part of an ongoing effort by Sinn Fein to change its public image, after the party came close to clinching power in last year’s Irish general election.

While the party secured the largest number of first preference votes, it failed to form part of the new government as the two traditional main parties - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - had ruled out forming a coalition with them.

Speaking in November last year, Ms McDonald told the New Statesman magazine: “I would hope that our image has changed. I think we’d have a real problem if we got stuck in some kind of 1970s groove, although that kind of retro thing might appeal. So of course, we’re an evolving organisation. We have grown enormously over the last number of years.”

Last May, she also revealed that Prince Charles had written to her wishing her a swift recovery after she contracted covid-19.

“If you want a measure of how much things have changed, there's one I suppose small example,” she said at the time.