Shortly after 6pm, Sinn Féin led the way with 47 councillors elected. Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, right, and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill, second right, with Bronach Anglin and Micheal Donnelly at Belfast City Hall (Liam McBurney/PA)The Stormont assembly has not been operational for more than a year due to the DUP’s boycott of the power-sharing institutions in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements. Speaking at Belfast City Hall, Mrs McDonald said the election results showed “a very strong showing for Sinn Féin right across the north”. “The result of that is that seats are gifted to Sinn Féin and to others when the unionist vote is split, and when that unionist vote doesn’t transfer sufficiently. Her Sinn Féin colleague, Geraldine McAteer, was the first councillor to be elected to the capital’s council in the Balmoral DEA.

Source: The Herald May 20, 2023 05:55 UTC