SINN Féin has topped the poll in South Antrim for the second time since power sharing was restored in 2007, and has warned the DUP they will not accept Arlene Foster as first Minister until the conclusion of the RHI inquiry.
The party’s National Chairperson Declan Kearney topped the poll with 6,891 first preference votes – the first time SF topped the poll since 2007, when Mitchell McLaughlin won the first ever republican seat in the traditionally unionist constituency.
Speaking to the Irish News after his win, Mr Kearney said upcoming negotiations on forming an Executive would only succeed if the DUP were willing to “demonstrate a commitment to power sharing and equality in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement”.
Referring to the 1998 deal, he continued: “We would need to see the implementation of all of its provisions which remain unimplemented. That will be the context for any negotiation.”
He also suggested that although it was “up to the DUP to decide its own leader”, Sinn Féin would not accept a nomination of Ms Foster as first minister before the outcome of the upcoming RHI inquiry.
“We have said it’s essential that she (Ms Foster) allows the RHI inquiry to report, so we will not be accepting her nomination as First Minister until the conclusion of that inquiry.”
Mr Kearney added: “The absence of equality and respect goes to the very crux of this crisis.”
Another returning South Antrim MLA is the UUP’s Stephen Aiken. Despite his party faltering elsewhere and losing big names such as Danny Kennedy, the former naval submarine commander shored up the UUP’s support in a constituency that has historically been kind to them.
Mr Aiken was elected on the fifth count.
Speaking after his election, he paid a warm tribute to outgoing UUP leader Mike Nesbitt, who he hailed as “visionary”. However, the former naval submarine commander predicted “difficult times” ahead in terms of negotiations.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he added.
As the afternoon rolled into evening, former Alliance leader David Ford clinched his seat on the seventh round.
He told the Irish News: “If we hold eight seats in a 90 seat Assembly, that’s significantly better than having eight in an Assembly with 108 seats. This could be our best election since 1998.”
With just two seats remaining, and three DUP candidates left, eyes turned on which of the trio would face elimination, and answers arrived shortly before 10pm.
It was Trevor Clarke who lost out, with Paul Girvan and Pam Cameron retaining their Stormont positions, despite not making the quota.
The losers in South Antrim included the NI Conservative party’s Mark Logan, Green candidate Eleanor Bailey, and People Before Profit’s Ivanka Antova, all of whom were eliminated by the completion of the third round.
Former UUP MLA Adrian Cochrane-Watson failed to regain the seat he took when party colleague Danny Kinahan was elected to Westminster in 2014, while the SDLP’s Roisin Lynch was knocked out by the sixth count stage.
