Shin Fein overtook the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in voting for the province’s 90-member National Assembly, winning the most seats, 27, and securing the highest share of votes for first preferences. This compares to 24 seats for the DUP and 17 for the Alliance Party.
The vote count still continues on Saturday, with 88 of the 90 seats counted, according to the Northern Ireland Electoral Service.
Sinn Fein is already in the best position to appoint a first minister for the first time. The party is against Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom and is for a united Ireland.
“Preparations for a constitutional change in Ireland must begin now,” Sinn Fein President Mary Lou MacDonald told CNN on Friday night as the results began to emerge. “We have to be alive for the fact that change is underway.
“My absolute determination is for this change to be completely peaceful,” she added.
A clause in the 1998 peace agreements signed with the British and Irish governments after decades of deadly conflict, known as The Troubles, found that a referendum on Irish reunification could be held if a majority of voters seemed likely to support it.
That day remains a distant prospect, despite the results of Thursday’s vote. But the rise of Sinn Féin as the largest party in Northern Ireland may still call for a so-called border poll.
Sinn Féin was once closely associated with the IRA, which has been waging a bloody military campaign for three decades to end British rule and unite the island of Ireland, although the party has since positioned itself as a major left-wing political party focused on social issues in the north. south of the border.
The party ran in the British Parliament elections, but did not win any seats. Prior to that, there was a strong performance in the 2020 general elections in the Republic of Ireland.
His success in Thursday’s poll in Northern Ireland was boosted by a slide from the DUP, which has been prime minister since 2007 and briefly backed Theresa May’s Conservative government in Westminster in 2017.
CNN’s Kara Fox, Peter Taggart and Manvina Suri contributed to this report.
Add Comment