Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein made sweeping gains in Northern Ireland's local elections, repeating its success from last year's assembly elections, when it became the largest party for the first time.
With counting completed late Saturday, Sinn Fein, which seeks unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, took 144 of 462 local government seats — an increase of 39 from the last local government elections in 2019. Its main rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, captured 122 seats, while the centrist Alliance Party had 67.
