HISTORIC WIN FOR SINN FEIN
Raises united Ireland prospects
SINN Fein stormed to victory yesterday to take the most seats at the Stormont Assembly – and brought the breakup of the UK a step closer.
The DUP, which won the last Northern Ireland elections in 2017 by one seat, will now play second fiddle.
The historic poll means Sinn Fein’s deputy leader Michelle O’neill will become Northern Ireland’s next First Minister.
It will be the first time a nationalist has held the role.
Ms O’neill said: “Today ushers in a new era. Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds my commitment is to make politics work.”
But a power-sharing deal remained in jeopardy after
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his unionists would not join the Stormont government until Northern Ireland’s post-brexit position with the EU was fixed.
PM Boris Johnson is desperately trying to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol, which keeps the country tied to
EU rules to ensure the border with Ireland stays open.
Although Sinn Fein kept its republican ambitions largely out of the campaign, the nationalist party – once the political arm of the IRA – is seeking a poll on a united Ireland within five years.
The party’s win gave a boost to SNP ambitions for another
Scottish independence referendum. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “There are questions being asked of the UK as a political entity.”
Under Northern Ireland’s proportional voting system, Sinn Fein took 29% of first preferences to the DUP’S 21%. The Alliance got 14%, Ulster Unionists 11% and SDLP 9%.
Local election results elsewhere were dire for Mr Johnson and not great for Keir Starmer.
The Tories lost nearly 500 seats across England, Wales and Scotland. But despite Labour’s success in London it made little progress in “Red Wall” areas.
The Lib Dems fared better with 220 new councillors.
nigel.nelson@people.co.uk