A SLOW day at the Newry, Mourne and Down count centre saw Sinn Féin hold an advantage over the SDLP as counting continued.
The two nationalist parties were evenly split at the last poll in 2014 with 14 councillors each.
Sinn Féin currently have 16 seats as counting continues.
The SDLP scored the first points in this year's contest when Gareth Sharvin became the first to be elected at Newry Leisure Centre.
He secured 1,395 first preference votes to top the poll in Downpatrick, with much applause from the SDLP contingent gathered, including former South Down MP Margaret Ritchie.
But Sinn Féin then enjoyed their own run of success in Slieve Gullion with three candidates over the line at the first count.
Council election results in full
A flurry of activity around 6pm saw Terry Hearty, Mickey Larkin and Oonagh Magennis elected as well as the SDLP’s Pete Byrne.
The first results of the day had come from the Crotlieve ward, but the excitement was short-lived after it took until the fifth count before the first councillor was elected.
Independent Jarlath Tinnelly topped the poll with 1,412 votes in the first count, but was around 400 shy of the quota.
Speaking following his eventual election, Mr Tinnelly said he believed he had received the support of the electorate as he was a “hard-working, diligent councillor looking after local issues with people on the ground”.
His election came at the same time as the elimination of Oksana McMahon, a Ukrainian-born Sinn Féin councillor and former vice-chair of the council.
Sinn Féin candidates were given a morale boost when party leader Mary Lou McDonald and MEP Martina Anderson stopped by mid-afternoon.
Ms McDonald said her party was hoping to become the largest in Newry, Mourne and Down, but recognised it was a “tight” race.
“I hope that we will be… we have run a very positive campaign,” she said.
Overall turnout in this sprawling district was 56.1 per cent, where a total of 71 candidates were chasing 41 seats across seven wards including 32 councillors hoping for re-election.
But while other areas across the north appeared to be quickly electing their new-look council yesterday, there were just 10 councillors confirmed by 8pm in Newry.
As the evening drew on, a few anxious faces could be seen as candidates awaited news of their fate over another cup of coffee.
A council worker who quit his job to run for election, he had been endorsed by outgoing independent Davy Hyland, a former Sinn Féin politician.
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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
41 seats
Change since 2014:
SF 16 (+2), SDLP 11 (-3), UUP 4 (+1), DUP 3 (-1), All 2 (-), Ind 5 (+2), Ukip 0 (-1)
Crotlieve (6 seats, Quota 1,641)
Jarlath Tinnelly (Ind)1,412
Gerry O'Hare (SF) 1,286
Mark Gibbons (Ind) 1,189
Declan McAteer (SDLP) 1,175
Karen McKevitt (SDLP) 1,116
Mickey Ruane (SF) 812
Oksana McMahon (SF) 809
Michael Carr (SDLP) 808
Jim Boylan (Ind) 788
Joshua Lowry (UUP) 712
Mary Tinnelly (Ind) 519
Lorcan McGreevy (All) 483
Wilma McCullough (DUP) 371
Elected
Jarlath Tinnelly (Ind) 5th count
Gerry O’Hare (SF) 6th count
Mark Gibbons (Ind) 9th count
Declan McAteer (SDLP) 9th count
Karen McKevitt (SDLP) 9th count
Mickey Ruane (SF) 9th count
Downpatrick (5 seats, Quota 1,232)
Gareth Sharvin (SDLP) 1,395
Cadogan Enright (Ind) 1,052
Oonagh Hanlon (SF) 1,032
Dermot Curran (SDLP) 940
Jordan Madden (SF) 833
John Trainor (SDLP) 664
Macartan Digney (Aontú) 475
Tiernan Laird (All) 375
Alex Burgess (UUP) 345
James Savage (DUP) 149
Jamie Kennedy (Green) 128
Elected
Gareth Sharvin (SDLP) 1st count
Cadogan Enright (Ind) 5th count
Dermot Curran (SDLP) 6th count
Oonagh Hanlon (SF) 7th count
John Trainor (SDLP) 7th count
Newry (6 seats, Quota 1,415)
Gavin Malone (Ind) 2,296
Liz Kimmins (SF) 1,374
Michael Savage (SDLP) 1,231
Charlie Casey (SF) 1,230
Valerie Harte (SF) 1,045
Gary John Strokes (SDLP) 878
Sarah Jane McAllister (SF) 784
Helena Young (All) 721
Ricky McGaffin (UUP) 341
Elected
Gavin Malone (Ind) 1st count
Liz Kimmins (SF) 2nd count
Michael Savage (SDLP) 2nd count
Charlie Casey (SF) 2nd count
Valerie Harte (SF) 5th count
Gary John Stokes (SDLP) 6th count
Rowallane (5 seats, Quota 1,295)
Patrick Brown (All) 1,416
Harry Harvey (DUP) 1,265
Terry Andrews (SDLP) 1,211
William Walker (DUP) 985
Robert Burgess (UUP) 842
Walter Lyons (UUP) 667
Marianne Cleary (SF) 622
Martyn Todd (Ind) 477
Emma Cairns (Green) 182
Liam Mulhern (Aontú) 99
Elected
Patrick Brown (All) 1st count
Terry Andrews (SDLP) 2nd count
Harry Harvey (DUP) 4th count
William Walker (DUP) 6th count
Robert Burgess (UUP) 6th count
Slieve Croob (5 seats, Quota 1,364)
Alan Lewis (UUP) 1,303
Cathy Mason (SF) 1,069
Roisin Howell (SF) 1,035
John Rice (SF) 884
Hugh Gallagher (SDLP) 880
Maynard Hanna (DUP) 868
Gregory Bain (All) 863
Mark Murnin (SDLP) 796
Tracy Harkin (Aontú) 481
Elected
Alan Lewis (UUP) 3rd count
Cathy Mason (SF) 5th count
Roisin Howell (SF) 5th count
Hugh Gallagher (SDLP) 6th count
Gregory Bain (All) 6th count
Slieve Gullion (7 seats, Quota 1,566)
Terry Hearty (SF) 1,876
Mickey Larkin (SF) 1,646
Pete Byrne (SDLP) 1,643
Oonagh Magennis (SF) 1,622
Roisin Mulgrew (SF) 1,362
Barra O Muiri (SF) 1,351
David Taylor (UUP) 1,287
Kate Loughran (SDLP) 1,059
Balazs Gazdag (All) 361
Linda Henry (DUP) 315
Elected
Terry Hearty (SF) 1st count
Mickey Larkin (SF) 1st count
Pete Byrne (SDLP) 1st count
Oonagh Magennis (SF) 1st count
Barra O Muiri (SF) 2nd count
David Samuel Taylor (UUP) 3rd count
Roisin Mulgrew (SF) 4th count
The Mournes (7 seats, Quota 1,514)
Glyn Hanna (DUP) 1,944
Sean Doran (SF) 1,885
Laura Devlin (SDLP) 1,572
Harold McKee (UUP) 1,455
Henry Reilly (Ind) 1,447
Willie Clarke (SF) 1,154
Leanne McEvoy (SF) 1,097
Andrew McMurray (All) 943
Brian Quinn (SDLP) 607
Elected
Glyn Hanna (DUP) 1st count
Sean Doran (SF) 1st count
Laura Devlin (SDLP) 1st count
Harold McKee (UUP) 2nd count
Henry Reilly (Ind) 2nd count
Willie Clarke (SF) 7th count
Leeanne McEvoy (SF) 7th count
