Choosing a date for that. let s go to magherafelt and listen to the declaration there. john to magherafelt and listen to the declaration there. , ., ,, declaration there. john o dowd, sinn fein. applause fein. applause jonathan - fein. applause | jonathan buckley, fein. applause jonathan buckley, democratic unionist jonathan buckley, democratic unionist party. jonathan buckley, democratic unionist party. jonathan buckley, democratic unionist party. cheering and applause diane dodds, democratic unionist party party. doug i party. - doug beattie, party. doug beattie, ulster unionist party. dou- beattie, ulster unionist party. doug beattie, ulster unionist party. and owen doug beattie, ulster unionist party. and owen tennyson, doug beattie, ulster unionist party. and owen tennyson, alliance. - doug beattie, ulster unionist party. i and owen tennyson, alliance. thank you. thank you. firstly, i would like to thank the returning officer and or the counter staff for the work
Cheering and applause. another major sign of change is the success of the party, which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance is set to move up from fifth place to third. its leaders say voters had sent a firm message. they actually want to see government that works for them. instead of being divided, instead of being fragile, constantly falling over, constantly held to ransom by one party or another, what they want to see is continuity of government and focus on delivery. but the democratic unionist party has lost a fifth of its support. a strong focus of the campaign was opposition to the brexit trade border with the rest of the uk. the dup says it will block the formation of a devolved government until checks on goods arriving in northern ireland are scrapped. but it s shed voters to a more hardline party, the traditional unionist voice, which says the dup has been too weak on the issue.
Belfast it was selected at the expense of the green party candidate clare bailey so another win for that centre ground party at the alliance party. let s discuss this a little bit more and look at what the papers are making of this this morning. i m joined now by freya mcclements, northern editor at the irish times. great to have you with us. let s start with your paper in your reaction to the election so far. in common with many of the pages here this morning the focus is about sinn fein leader mary lou mcdonald whose significance of sinn fein leader in the north election and that is because we are talking about a historic victory here and talking about a shift in leadership and government in northern ireland. sinn fein poised to be the tender is the largest party in northern ireland with the largest number of seats and this is the first time this has happened in the history of northern ireland in more than 100 years and this also means sinn fein will be entitled to take up the positi
Flash photography. applause the political ground in northern ireland is shifting. that is generating delight for new assembly members and disappointment for the party which has won the last five elections. the race for the final few seats tends to be very tight but the picture is clear. a surge in support for the cross community alliance party and a drop in votes for the democratic unionists, and sinn fein is on course to be the largest party in the northern ireland assembly. for the first time, a party which wants to take northern ireland out of the uk is expected to be its largest political force. sinn fein s vice president, michelle o neill, is in line to become first minister. no irish nationalist has ever held the post before. michelle has led from the front, so i am delighted that michelle o neill is leading sinn fein. i am delighted that michelle o neill will be the next first minister. so michelle s vision and foresight and drive has created an atmosphere in politics which mean
This is bbc news. i m rebecca jones, with the latest headlines at 3: an historic moment for nationalists in northern ireland, as sinn fein is on course to become the largest party at stormont. the democratic unionist party leaderjeffrey donaldson says his party will decide next week whether to enter a power sharing government. i met annita mcveigh in belfast for the latest news and analysis from the latest news and analysis from the counts around northern ireland. across the rest of the uk, the conservatives have lost almost 500 seats in the local elections, with labour and the liberal democrats taking control of a number of councils. cheering the snp remain the largest party in scottish councils with labour overtaking the conservatives to finish second.