Sinn Fein set for historic win in Northern Ireland election

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein was widely expected to become the largest group in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time, giving it the right to the post of first minister in Belfast, as vote-counting in this week’s election resumed Saturday. A victory by Sinn Fein would mark a significant milestone for a party that has been closely linked to the Irish Republican Army. This paramilitary group used bombs, bullets, and other violence to free Northern Ireland from British rule. Voting in this week’s
election was resuming on Saturday. A victory would bring Sinn Fein closer to their ultimate goal of a united Ireland. The party has kept unification under wraps in a campaign that was dominated by other immediate concerns, such as the rising cost of living.

With about 51 of 90 seats counted so far, results showed that Sinn Fein has 18 seats, while the Democratic Unionist Party, which has been the largest in the Northern Ireland Assembly for two decades, have 14.

The centrist Alliance Party, which doesn’t identify as either nationalist or unionist, has seen support surge and is set to be the other big winner of the elections. It has 10 seats so far.

Unionist parties have led the government since Northern Ireland was formed as a Protestant-majority state in 1921.

While a win by Sinn Fein would be a historic shift in support for unionist parties it is not clear what will happen next.

Under a mandatory power-sharing system created by the 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, the jobs of first minister and deputy first minister are split between the biggest unionist party and the largest nationalist one.

Both positions must be filled in order for a government, but the Democratic Unionist Party suggested that it might not serve as a Sinn Fein first Minister.

The DUP also stated that it would not join a new government until there are significant changes to the post-Brexit border arrangements known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. This protocol is opposed by many unionists. The post-Brexit rules imposed customs and borders checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland via the U.K. This arrangement was made to maintain an open border between Northern Ireland (EU member Ireland) and the rest of the U.K., which is a key pillar in the peace process.

But the arrangement angered unionists who claim that the new checks have created an obstacle between Northern Ireland and the rest U.K., which undermines their British identity. In February, Paul Givan, the DUP’s first minister, resigned after tensions from Brexit triggered a new political crisis in Northern Ireland.

Polling expert John Curtice from the University of Strathclyde said that the Northern Ireland results were a result of Brexit.

” The divisions within the community about whether the Northern Ireland Protocol can be amended satisfactorily, or whether it should be scrapped have caused the unionist vote to fragment,” Curtice wrote on the BBC website.

Persuading the DUP to join a new government will pose a headache for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he added.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said the party wanted to work “in partnership with others.”

“That is the only way we will achieve much, much more for people here, whether in terms of the cost-of-living crisis or trying to fix our health service,” she said.

She stated that there would not be any constitutional changes in relation to Irish unification until the voters decide. Mary Lou McDonald, leader of

Party, indicated Friday that any unity referendum could be planned within the next five-years.

The full results of the election which used a system of proportional representative were expected to be announced later in the weekend.

Next week, the new legislators will meet to form an executive. If no new legislators can be formed within six month, the administration will fall. This will trigger a new election and further uncertainty.