Sinn Fein buoyed by vote surge in snap Assembly election counts

Michelle O’neill, leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, celebrates winning her seat in the Stormont elections. However, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt resigned after his party failed to make progress. The snap election was called after the resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin Mcguiness

Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists were on course to reinforce their grip on power at Stormont last night, with the republican party closing the gap on the unionists.

As the counting continued in the snap Northern Ireland Assembly elections, the former coalition partners looked set to consolidate their respective pre-eminent positions within nationalism and unionism.

Meanwhile, it was not a good election for the Ulster Unionists and nationalist SDLP, both of which have failed to make the inroads they predicted.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt was the first high-profile casualty of the night, quitting his role with just half the seats counted.

He said it would be the “height of hypocrisy” if he did not take “full responsibility” for his party’s results, though he said he would remain an MLA.

Sinn Fein came within touching distance of polling the most first preference votes for the first time. The DUP maintained the top spot, despite their vote share falling as Sinn Fein surged.

The DUP notched 225,413 first preferences, down 1.11 percentage points on last year, to Sinn Fein’s 224,245 – an increase of 3.89 points.

Voter turnout was up, at 64.78 per cent against 54.91 per cent seen in 2016.

The final breakdown of seats may not ultimately be as close, as results in the proportional representation contest rely on transfers from other parties, but the republicans were nevertheless buoyed by the result.

Sinn Fein’s Northern Ireland leader Michelle O’neill said: “I think it’s a brilliant day for equality, I think it’s a great day for democracy.

“The vote has increased. I think that is because people knew that action needed to be taken. They have had their say, we now need to get down to the business of fixing what’s wrong and delivering for all citizens.”

The poll was forced after Sinn Fein pulled the plug on the powersharing institutions in protest at DUP First Minister Arlene Foster’s handling of a botched green energy scheme. The campaign exposed other major policy disputes between the parties.

After being elected in her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency, Mrs Foster said: ““The cause of the election was Sinn Fein and republicanism wanting to rerun the election, they have mobilised their vote in a very effective way.”

She added: “I do hope devolution will get back up and running as quickly as possible.”

The DUP and Sinn Fein have three weeks to form a new administration.