Sinn Fein hails ‘new era’ as it wins national election

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, which seeks unification with Ireland, hailed a “new era” Saturday for Northern Ireland as it captured the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time in a historic win.

With almost all votes counted from Thursday’s election, Sinn Fein secured 27 of the Assembly’s 90 seats. The Democratic

Unionist Party, which has dominated Northern Ireland’s legislature for two decades, won 24 seats. The victory means Sinn Fein is entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast for the first time since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestantmajority state in 1921.

The centrist Alliance Party, which doesn’t identify as either nationalist or unionist, saw huge surge in support and was set to become the other big winner in the vote, claiming 17 seats.

The victory is a milestone for

Sinn Fein, which has long been linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs and bullets to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of violence involving Irish republican militants, Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries and the U.K. army and police.

“Today ushers in a new era,” Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said shortly before the final results were announced. “Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work.”

O’Neill stressed that it was imperative for Northern Ireland’s politicians to come together next week to form an Executive — the devolved government of Northern Ireland. If none can be formed within six months, the administration will collapse, triggering a new election and more uncertainty.

It’s far from clear what happens next. Under a mandatory power-sharing system created by the 1998 peace agreement, the jobs of first minister and deputy first minister are split between the biggest unionist party and the largest nationalist one. Both posts must be filled for a government to function, but the Democratic Unionist Party has suggested it might not serve under a Sinn Fein first minister.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he will announce next week whether he will return to the government.