Counting ends in the council elections across Northern Ireland - Sinn Fein win most seats, and DUP says its vote went up

The party’s vice president Michelle O'Neill hailed the "momentous" local government results. The republican party had 144 elected councillors, with gains achieved across the province.

With just a small number of seats outstanding, it means Sinn Fein has replicated its result from last year's Stormont election when it became the biggest party at Stormont. Of the 462 council seats across NI, the DUP has ended up with 122, the Alliance Party 67, the Ulster Unionists 54 and the SDLP 39, with 36 others.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson insisted that his party had polled strongly but said unionism needed to learn lessons from the election.

The combined nationalist vote was larger than the combined unionist vote, which has never happened before in a Northern Ireland wide election. Sinn Fein secured 30.9% of first preference votes, ahead of the DUP on 23.3%, 13.3% for Alliance, 10.9% for the Ulster Unionists and 8.7% for the SDLP.

The TUV got 3.9% and Aontu got 0.9%, meaning that the headline total vote was 40.5% of the vote, while for unionists it was 38.1%. This is worse for unionists in the 2022 Stormont election, when they got 42% of the vote compared to the 40% nationalist tally.

It is thought that there might be more independent unionist candidates who polled well than independent nationalist or republican ones among the 5.3% of voters who opted for other candidates, but even if so it is unclear if they would make up the shortfall.

The turnout for the election was 54%. Ten of the 11 council areas have now completed their count.

Sinn Fein has emerged as the largest party in Mid Ulster, Derry and Strabane, Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon and Newry, Mourne and Down. It will also have overall control of Fermanagh and Omagh after winning 21 out of 40 seats.

The DUP will be the largest grouping in Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim and Ards and North Down. The unionist party will also have the largest number of councillors in Antrim and Newtownabbey and Causeway Coast and Glens.

Counting is continuing in Belfast where Sinn Fein is leading the race to be the largest party. The Alliance Party has made gains and will become the third largest party in local government.

But it has been a disappointing election for the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP. Veteran PUP councillor Billy Hutchinson became the second party leader to lose his seat in Belfast, following Green Party NI leader Mal O'Hara's failure to get elected.

The votes are being counted through the single transferable vote system, with 462 seats to be filled across 11 council areas. The general pattern around voter turnout appeared to be up slightly in areas which would be regarded as predominantly nationalist/republican and down slightly in areas viewed as unionist majority.

It is the first electoral test for the parties since last year's Assembly elections and takes place against the backdrop of the Stormont stalemate, with the powersharing institutions not operating as part of a DUP protest against Windsor Framework post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Ms O'Neill described the results as "momentous". She said: "Sinn Fein went into this campaign with a positive message of wanting to make politics work for all. This election was an opportunity to send a clear signal. To support the positive leadership and a party that wants to get the Assembly up and running, deliver first class council services, support people with the cost-of-living crisis, and invest in the health service. The voters have now spoken."

Ms O'Neill said the boycott of the Stormont Assembly by the DUP "cannot go on".

She said: "The onus is now on the British and Irish Governments to get together and focus their efforts on the immediate restoration of the Executive and Assembly. We expect to see an early meeting of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference. The boycott of the Assembly cannot go on and an Executive must be formed."

Visiting the local government election count at Belfast City Hall, Sir Jeffrey said: "If you actually look at the real results rather than the spin that some commentators are trying to put on it, the DUP has increased its share of the vote from last year and we're on course to win a lot of seats across all the councils. We have made gains in a number of councils. The DUP has polled strongly in this election despite everything that's been thrown at us, despite the challenges we've faced, the DUP vote has held up well."

He put the rise in the Sinn Fein vote down to the "collapse of the SDLP".

Sir Jeffrey added: "I think if truth be told, there are lessons to be learned for unionism in its broadest sense. We need to do better. The DUP has had a good election but unionism needs to do better, we need to be winning more seats. I'm happy to sit down with my fellow unionists and examine these issues and how greater co-operation can lead a pathway towards more success for unionism in general."

UUP leader Doug Beattie said he was disappointed with the result but stressed he had no plans to resign his position.

"I made it quite clear that the party elected me and I am the party leader, and I am going absolutely nowhere. It'll be the party that decides my fate my one or the other," he said. "But I'll say this, and it's important to say this: you cannot change direction, and have it all done in the two years that I have been the party leader. It'll take at least two election cycles. We're in the middle of one election cycle, we've got Westminster next year, and that'll be important also. But it's going to take longer to turn this around, and I'm in this for the long haul, I'm going absolutely nowhere. So those people who are a little bit shaky because we've had a bad election, they can stay shaky because I'm on absolutely rock solid foundations and I'm going nowhere."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Sinn Fein had "cannibalised" the nationalist vote.

"It has been very clear when we have been speaking to people that people are really annoyed at the DUP, that they want the executive back up and running and they wanted to send a message. Sinn Fein asked them to send that message, and they sent it. They (Sinn Fein) have totally cannibalised much of the nationalist electorate.

"They were given a good hand and, to be fair, they played it very well, they ran a very good campaign and they deserve the victory they have today. Of course the DUP had as their first priority in their election literature to get back to Stormont - let's see them put their money where their mouth is."

Northern Ireland's councils are responsible for setting rates, planning and waste collection as well as leisure services and parks.