FRESH talks aimed at restoring the power-sharing institutions are set to begin today.

BORIS Johnson could "win back the trust" of Northern Ireland's unionists by building a bridge to Scotland, DUP MP Sammy Wilson has said.

THE DUP has suffered a disaster at the polls, losing one of its MPs and facing the real prospect of a regulatory border in the Irish Sea.

As predicted, west Belfast ended the election night as it began - with a Sinn Féin MP.

SINN Féin enjoyed a comfortable win in South Down thanks to a 32 per cent vote share for Chris Hazzard, but both the incumbent MP and former seat holders the SDLP saw their overall support shrink in the face of Alliance growth.

IN some constituencies a 6,499 majority would be comfortable, but in Lagan Valley terms, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson barely squeaked home in the early hours of this morning.

Sitting DUP MP Paul Girvan held off a strong challenge from the UUP to reclaim his seat in South Antrim.

SINN Féin’s Órfhlaith Begley comfortably secured her seat in West Tyrone in the early hours of today, but the count at Omagh Leisure Centre saw the Alliance Party break new ground west of the Bann.

A DUP win was never in any doubt for Strangford - but election night also saw a major surge in the Alliance party's fortunes.

IF one was compiling a thesaurus entry for the word `certainty', they would add expressions and phrases including foregone conclusion, reality, surety and inevitable result.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said the party's negotiating team "stand ready" to enter talks aimed at restoring the devolved institutions at Stormont.