Sinn Fein likely to claim victory

Sinn Fein appears on track to claim the top spot in elections in Northern Ireland on Thursday, marking the first time a party devoted to the unification of Ireland, north and south, would dominate in the region that remains a factious member of the United Kingdom.

Uniting Ireland is not on the ballot. Even if Sinn Fein wins the most seats in the regional assembly elections, as opinion polls suggest, it would not usher in any quick change to Northern Ireland’s status. A ‘‘United Ireland’’ – if it ever comes – would require future votes in the north and south.

But it is undeniable that a Sinn Fein victory would be a historic moment for a political movement whose founders are even today denounced by critics as former terrorists.

A win could also signal the direction of politics in the north, where demographics are slowly changing, away from a proBritish majority to one perhaps more keen to see a united Ireland.

Sinn Fein is a party historically associated with the Irish Republican Army and the decades of violence known as ‘‘the Troubles.’’ But since the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the party has committed itself to peaceful coexistence and political powersharing in Northern Ireland, where its members have governed – often in a state of shared paralysis – alongside the unionists, who represent the descendants of British settlers on the island of Ireland and who want to remain in the United Kingdom.

The first minister in the power-sharing government has until now always been a unionist, with Sinn Fein filling the deputy first minister role since 2007. Since it’s a joint office, there isn’t much practical difference between the titles. But a win this week would allow Sinn Fein to name the first minister, a historic change with big psychological implications for Northern Ireland politics.