Well slap me silly, an Irish nationalist is actually leading Northern Ireland's government for the first time ever! I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor over here!
Michelle O'Neill, vice president of the party Sinn Fein, was just nominated as First Minister in Belfast. This is a monumental moment given Northern Ireland's extremely complex history of conflict between Irish nationalists and British unionists.
I mean, this woman comes from a family of old-school Irish republicans. And now she's sharing power with the top unionist party that spent years opposing power-sharing deals. Mind blowing!
When O'Neill gave her victory speech, she pledged "honest effort" to work with unionists but also said the days of second-class citizenship for nationalists are over. Wow, she isn't playing around!
You see, it took two years of negotiations and deal-making for Northern Ireland's government to even get back to work. Unionists had boycotted it in protest over post-Brexit trade rules. Wild mess!
But somehow, against the odds, all parties hammered out an agreement for Northern Ireland to keep access to UK markets while following some EU trade laws. Hallelujah!
And girl, when O’Neill walked into Parliament today, none other than Gerry Adams was there to witness it - a former IRA leader who helped forge the historic Good Friday peace deal in the first place. I got goosebumps!
So pour one out for Northern Ireland, because its crazy-quilt of identities and political affiliations just took a giant step forward. Who knows what might be possible now in this once bloody land of endless stalemates? As Michelle might say, "the times they are a changin'!"