DUBLIN — Sinn Fein has secured a significant victory in elections for Northern Ireland’s assembly, a historic first for a nationalist party and one that heralds a major shift in the region’s political balance.
Sinn Fein, once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, will win the largest number of seats in the assembly, known as Stormont.
“Today represents a very significant moment of change,” said Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice president and its leader in Northern Ireland. “It’s a defining moment for politics and for people.”
Sinn Fein, whose ultimate goal is a united Ireland, has won 27 seats in the election held on May 5, meaning no other party can get more, according to the BBC.
The formerly dominant Democratic Unionist Party has 24 seats, as of 7:11 p.m. in Belfast and the cross-community Alliance Party 17 with 88 of 90 seats declared.
It’s the first time a nationalist party has led results since the power-sharing government was established following the 1998 Good Friday agreement, which largely ended decades of violence between Protestants and Catholics who generally made up the ranks of the unionists and nationalists respectively.
The result deals a blow to unionism and to the U.K. Conservative government. The DUP has campaigned strongly against the Northern Irish Protocol, the part of the Brexit agreement dealing with the region and something that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government wants to get re-written.
Sinn Fein will now get to choose the region’s first minister. While the positions of first and deputy first minister are equal, the symbolic difference of a nationalist holding the post would be huge.
A dominant Sinn Fein will also likely encourage those who want to see Northern Ireland unite with the Republic of Ireland, a European Union member.
Northern Ireland’s assembly is elected using a system of proportional representation known as Single Transferable Vote. Voters can select from five candidates in order of preference. Seats are then awarded in proportion to the number of votes cast, with voters’ lower ranking preferences also taken into account.
Focus will soon turn to the forming of the Executive. Under the power-sharing arrangement, the positions of first minister and deputy first minister depend on both being in place. However, the DUP has said it won’t participate if the protocol remains.
New legislation means that the assembly can continue to function for six months without an executive, though it cannot sign off on key decisions such as budgets.
