Northern Secretary Lewis cools talk of border poll

THE Northern Secretary has appeared to rule out calling a border poll in the immediate aftermath of the historic Stormont election.

Sinn Féin became the largest party in the Assembly with 27 seats, ahead of the DUP on 25. There was also a surge in support for Alliance, now the third-largest party with 17 seats.

Sinn Féin can’t nominate a First Minister under current rules unless the DUP nominates a Deputy First Minister. Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald told BBC Radio yesterday she wants to a see an Ireland-wide citizens’ assembly to ‘plan for change’.

She said: ‘The one clear demand I have made consistently for the last number of years is that preparation for constitutional change needs to start.’ But Northern Secretary Brandon Lewis told the BBC the nationalist vote has not gone up, and the unionist vote remains higher.

‘We haven’t seen a growth in the nationalist vote and indeed the unionist vote is still larger and the number of seats held by unionist parties is still larger,’ he said. He also described the prospect of the first nationalist First Minister as a ‘significant moment’ for Northern Ireland.