Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said her party’s success in Northern Ireland’s local government elections is a message from the people that Stormont must return.
However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has insisted his party’s vote is holding up as counting continues to fill 462 seats across 11 council areas.
At 9.30pm, Sinn Fein led the way with 71 councillors elected. The DUP was next on 59, the cross-community Alliance Party had 31, the Ulster Unionists 24, the SDLP 12, with eight others.
