Mary Lou McDonald strides into a conference hall in a chic Belfast hotel to present her party’s candidates for Thursday’s Northern Ireland elections. The Sinn Féin president takes to the podium, puts on her glasses and gives a dazzling smile.
Expertly hitting her key messages — that a vote for the nationalist party is essential for real change, effective government and tackling the cost-of-living crisis — she proceeds to dispatch a question about whether her drive to reunite the north and south of the island after a century of partition would distract from the pressing economic issues.