Results Part 1

:00:00. > :00:10.We don't know what it is yet but we're here to find out.

:00:11. > :00:14.We're with you right through the day here on BBC1 bringing you each

:00:15. > :00:16.and every result as it happens in what's shaping up

:00:17. > :00:21.to ba a remarkable Assembly election battle.

:00:22. > :00:23.The outcome will determine the path of our politics

:00:24. > :00:49.Will it be deal or deadlock; devolution or direct rule?

:00:50. > :00:51.Results are already starting to come in.

:00:52. > :00:54.The story we'll be bringing you today is not only about how

:00:55. > :00:58.the parties may or may not be able to work together on the other

:00:59. > :01:01.side of the election, it's also about the impact

:01:02. > :01:05.of the reduction in the system of Assembly seats from 108 to 90.

:01:06. > :01:08.It means a day of drama for all of us, as some big names

:01:09. > :01:10.face the prospect of falling foul of that significant change.

:01:11. > :01:13.Before we head off out and about to hear from our team

:01:14. > :01:15.of reporters and correspondents across all the count centres,

:01:16. > :01:18.let's bring you the very latest news with Donna Traynor.

:01:19. > :01:25.The official turnout figure for the Assembly election is 64.78%.

:01:26. > :01:29.That's up about 10% on the election last May.

:01:30. > :01:32.The first declarations are expected this afternoon,

:01:33. > :01:34.although the final make-up of the new Assembly

:01:35. > :01:39.is unlikely to be clear until tomorrow afternoon.

:01:40. > :01:42.I am joined from the Belfast count centre at Titanic by our political

:01:43. > :01:51.A significant increase in turnout. Take us through the figures. Well,

:01:52. > :01:54.it feels as if we have turned the clock back here in Northern Ireland

:01:55. > :01:59.in terms of interest in this particular election because as you

:02:00. > :02:03.say the 64% turnout is a full 10% higher than the Assembly election

:02:04. > :02:07.ten months ago. There are striking figures across the constituencies,

:02:08. > :02:11.if we look at them. My shell O'Neill's constituency in Mid Ulster

:02:12. > :02:16.-- Michelle. 13% increase from the last time around. It was the same

:02:17. > :02:20.story in West Tyrone, 13%. And there's been similar increases as

:02:21. > :02:25.well across what we perceive to be Unionist constituencies. Strangford

:02:26. > :02:30.where there is a great interest with seven MLAs vying for five seats,

:02:31. > :02:35.there was 11% increase there in Strangford. Arlene Foster's

:02:36. > :02:39.constituency, 9% point increase there, as well. You can see across

:02:40. > :02:45.the board, across all the constituencies it looks as if voters

:02:46. > :02:49.were mobilised to vote this time. What impact that will have in the

:02:50. > :02:52.final shake down it's too early to say, but it adds that

:02:53. > :02:55.unpredictability factor that was already there with the fewer number

:02:56. > :03:01.of seats available. We are at an early stage. What are you hearing

:03:02. > :03:05.about party representation? Well, if you look across the constituency

:03:06. > :03:08.turnout, Sinn Fein, for instance, would say they're bullish about

:03:09. > :03:12.their party's performance. The crucial factor is there are 18 fewer

:03:13. > :03:16.seats to fill. For the parties it's about damage limitation. They're not

:03:17. > :03:19.going to be banking gains here, it's about managing losses and Sinn Fein

:03:20. > :03:23.say they're in a good position right now to ensure they keep their losses

:03:24. > :03:26.to a minimum. The DUP, we can see they're starting to struggle in a

:03:27. > :03:30.number of constituencies, which is to be expected, of course, the

:03:31. > :03:34.larger party is going to lose more in the final shake down. Key for

:03:35. > :03:39.them is going to stay above 30 seats, 31. If they do that they'll

:03:40. > :03:46.consider it a pretty successful election. The SDLP vote it seems is

:03:47. > :03:51.holding out but not so for the Ulster Unionists. It's very early

:03:52. > :03:55.but the indications are it looks as if the Ulster Unionist vote might be

:03:56. > :04:01.down. There is a lot at stake, not least for some high profile

:04:02. > :04:08.candidates. Yes, there is 11 sitting MLAs standing in the election who

:04:09. > :04:13.are guaranteed to lose seats. There is great drama, we know we will get

:04:14. > :04:18.that, some names to look out, Nelson McCausland is in for a fight in

:04:19. > :04:22.North Belfast to retain his seat. Emma Little-Pengelly in South

:04:23. > :04:26.Belfast is goes to face a battle because we have had the tally

:04:27. > :04:31.figures through and it looks as if her party colleague Christopher

:04:32. > :04:37.Stalford has polled ahead of her and that could be crucial. We know for

:04:38. > :04:42.Sinn Fein in East Antrim, Oliver McMullen. Jonathan Bell of course

:04:43. > :04:47.the man who was central to the whole RHI crisis, looks as if he hasn't

:04:48. > :04:51.polled very well in Strangford. He may well also lose his seat. There

:04:52. > :04:54.is certain for Philip Smith in terms of whether or not he is going to

:04:55. > :04:57.retain his seat. It looks as if there is going to be pain as we

:04:58. > :05:02.expected shared among all the parties in this election. But we are

:05:03. > :05:05.only five hours into the count, so a long way to go. The final make-up

:05:06. > :05:06.won't be known until tomorrow afternoon.

:05:07. > :05:09.Thank you. A man wanted over the murder

:05:10. > :05:11.of the prison officer David Black Damien McLaughlin, who had failed

:05:12. > :05:16.to answer to his bail in Northern Ireland,

:05:17. > :05:17.was arrested yesterday I'm joined by our Dublin

:05:18. > :05:30.correspondent Shane Harrison. Remind us about the background to

:05:31. > :05:37.this case. In November 2012 David Black, a prison officer was ambushed

:05:38. > :05:41.on his way to Maghaberry prison. He was the first prison officer to be

:05:42. > :05:49.murdered in 20 years. A few days later a group calling itself the New

:05:50. > :05:54.IRA said it was responsible. Damien McLaughlin was charged with aiding

:05:55. > :05:58.and abetting that murder. He was on remand for a period but was given

:05:59. > :06:03.bail in May 2014 and was due to stand trial last month but a court

:06:04. > :06:06.hearing in January heard that he wasn't residing at the address he

:06:07. > :06:12.was supposed to, under the terms of his bail conditions. Yesterday he

:06:13. > :06:16.was arrested in County Donegal under the terms of a European arrest

:06:17. > :06:22.warrant designed to make extradition easier in a joint Garda-PSNI

:06:23. > :06:26.operation that was intelligence-led. What was said in court about the

:06:27. > :06:30.circumstances surrounding his arrest? Well, a detective Garda

:06:31. > :06:34.sergeant gave evidence that they did not know when they were arresting

:06:35. > :06:38.him whether he was armed or not so he was handcuffed, he was dragged

:06:39. > :06:44.from the car, he had his jumper pulled over him and he was

:06:45. > :06:48.cable-tied. The same sergeant said that he was a flight risk and a

:06:49. > :06:52.terrorist on the run. He was remanded in custody until March 20th

:06:53. > :06:53.but he can apply for bail on March 13th.

:06:54. > :06:56.. Significant quantities of human

:06:57. > :06:58.remains have been discovered at the site of a former

:06:59. > :07:02.mother-and-baby home in Tuam, County Galway.

:07:03. > :07:05.Test excavations are being carried out by

:07:06. > :07:10.a Commission of Investigation. It was set up following allegations

:07:11. > :07:13.about the deaths of 800 babies It's believed the remains that have

:07:14. > :07:18.been found range from those of unborn foetuses to infants aged

:07:19. > :07:25.two to three years. A judge has ruled that the Northern

:07:26. > :07:28.Ireland Executive has failed in its legal duty to adopt

:07:29. > :07:30.an Irish language strategy. The group Conradh na Gaeilge had

:07:31. > :07:33.challenged the Executive saying that a pledge made in the 2006

:07:34. > :07:38.St Andrew's Agreement and plans laid out last March should have

:07:39. > :07:51.been adopted by now. This was a significant victory for

:07:52. > :07:56.supporters of the Irish language. Today the judge ruled that the

:07:57. > :07:59.Executive was in breach of a requirement imposed a decade ago.

:08:00. > :08:05.The judge said the Executive had failed to adopt a strategy setting

:08:06. > :08:08.out how it proposes to enhance and protect the Irish language in

:08:09. > :08:10.Northern Ireland. He said it cannot have been the intention of

:08:11. > :08:16.parliament that after nearly ten years from the coming into force of

:08:17. > :08:20.the act in 2007 that this obligation should remain unfulfilled. He said

:08:21. > :08:30.the required outcome is an adoption of the plans laid out. The Irish

:08:31. > :08:35.language group which challenged the Executive Conradh Na Gaeilge said it

:08:36. > :08:40.is historic. This obligation falls on somebody, it was on the Executive

:08:41. > :08:43.primarily. Whether we go to direct rule or have a joint kind of

:08:44. > :08:47.agreement between direct rule and the Assembly but the judge has

:08:48. > :08:51.demanded of the parties that are responsible here they must bring

:08:52. > :08:56.forward this Executive. As per their legal obligation. A a barrister

:08:57. > :09:00.representing the Executive counted there had been inertia on the issue

:09:01. > :09:05.and rejected any suggestion of a sham process. The judge says the

:09:06. > :09:08.Executive remains the key body which has been at the centre of delivery

:09:09. > :09:10.of Government in Northern Ireland and it can in the simply avoid doing

:09:11. > :09:15.what the law requires. The biggest gas supplier

:09:16. > :09:17.in Northern Ireland has Customers of SSE Airtricity

:09:18. > :09:23.will see their bills go up by just over 7.5% from the end

:09:24. > :09:26.of this month. Our economics and business editor

:09:27. > :09:36.John Campbell is in the newsroom. This is all about the price of

:09:37. > :09:39.energy on the global markets. For the past four or five years we have

:09:40. > :09:42.been living through a period where energy prices have been flat or

:09:43. > :09:46.falling. That's been reflected in people's bills. But over the last

:09:47. > :09:50.year or so prices have been rising. I was checking this morning one of

:09:51. > :09:54.those global indexes for gas prices and it shows they've risen more than

:09:55. > :09:58.70% in the last year. For that reason SSE said they've had to

:09:59. > :10:04.react. They're putting prices up by over 7. 5%. That will add about ?36

:10:05. > :10:08.a year to the typical household energy bill bringing the total bill

:10:09. > :10:11.to around ?500 a year. They're emphasising that really this was

:10:12. > :10:15.done because of the rising global prices and it's the first increase

:10:16. > :10:17.they've had in four years but it is another sign as we look at the

:10:18. > :10:21.general economy that inflation is returning. The prices of goods and

:10:22. > :10:23.services are heading up and that's likely to be a trend that will

:10:24. > :10:27.continue throughout this year. A High Court judge has ruled

:10:28. > :10:30.that the PSNI lacks the necessary independence to oversee further

:10:31. > :10:34.investigations into an alleged army killing in West Belfast

:10:35. > :10:38.nearly 45 years ago. Jean Smyth was shot as she sat in

:10:39. > :10:42.a car on the Glen Road in June 1972. Lawyers acting for the family

:10:43. > :10:46.of Jean Smyth had claimed that documents uncovered

:10:47. > :10:49.at the National Archives in London pointed towards undercover

:10:50. > :10:52.soldiers from the army's Military Reaction Force

:10:53. > :10:57.carrying out the shooting. Today a judge ruled that a proposed

:10:58. > :11:00.investigation by the PSNI's Legacy Investigations Branch

:11:01. > :11:11.would breach human Absolutely delighted. At least Jean

:11:12. > :11:18.has some justice now. The family is just delighted. In respect of Jean's

:11:19. > :11:26.family, we would say now that there are steps that have to be taken by

:11:27. > :11:30.the PSNI to recluse themselves of any further involvement in the case

:11:31. > :11:33.and steps need to be taken in terms of who is going - a decision about

:11:34. > :11:36.who's going to investigate this murder.

:11:37. > :11:42.Geoff Maskell has a weather forecast for us.

:11:43. > :11:50.It is a wet day in a run of wet days at the Met Office has issued a

:11:51. > :11:56.severe weather warning for rain coming into force from six o'clock

:11:57. > :12:01.and it is not because it is terribly heavy, it will just go on for a long

:12:02. > :12:05.time. This is the picture this afternoon, grey clouds, a very dull

:12:06. > :12:09.end to the working week. Temperatures between six and 7

:12:10. > :12:13.degrees at best but a pretty miserable day. Through this even

:12:14. > :12:18.England overnight, the rain is driven by low pressure sitting in

:12:19. > :12:22.the Irish Sea, that will work northwards but the rain stays with

:12:23. > :12:27.us overnight. Not as cold tonight as last night because of the cloud

:12:28. > :12:33.cover but the weekend has a soggy start, the rain with us through the

:12:34. > :12:37.morning. As that tracks north, we should see brighter and drier spells

:12:38. > :12:44.in the East but we then open the door to the next area on Monday and

:12:45. > :12:49.on Tuesday another low-pressure front bringing more rain. Sunday is

:12:50. > :12:54.looking like the best of the next few days, still rain in the forecast

:12:55. > :12:59.but between those showers, at least there will be brighter weather so a

:13:00. > :13:02.chance to get outside on Sunday and on Monday, starting reasonably dry,

:13:03. > :13:06.but not long before the rain threatens from the West. It is a

:13:07. > :13:13.pretty soggy outlook for the next few days. That's it, back to Mark

:13:14. > :13:17.Carruthers. Ten months ago, no one

:13:18. > :13:20.could have predicted this. Last year's election came

:13:21. > :13:21.after a political agreement But this election comes

:13:22. > :13:26.after political disagreement, a fracture so big at Stormont,

:13:27. > :13:29.in fact, that no one is quite sure Our reporters are live at every

:13:30. > :13:35.count centre across Northern Ireland and as the day unfolds they'll be

:13:36. > :13:38.bringing us all the developments as they happen and we'll hear

:13:39. > :13:41.from them in a moment. And pulling together the results,

:13:42. > :13:45.analysis and interviews with me is Tara Mills,

:13:46. > :13:48.who's at the biggest count at the Titanic

:13:49. > :14:00.Exhibition Centre in There was drama in how the election

:14:01. > :14:04.was called and the campaign and the outcome will be on a knife edge for

:14:05. > :14:08.many because the deal last time around was to cut the number of MLAs

:14:09. > :14:11.in every constituency from six to only five.

:14:12. > :14:14.That means some big names could have a very sudden retirement

:14:15. > :14:18.We'll be down on the floor of the count centre to grab those

:14:19. > :14:22.Our commentators will also be on hand with their take

:14:23. > :14:24.and our resident election cartoonist Brian John Spencer returns with his

:14:25. > :14:37.We have our panel here, of course, some may be quite glad they're

:14:38. > :14:40.in the studio rather than waiting to hear their fate

:14:41. > :14:44.There's so much to discuss, not only the strengths of the parties,

:14:45. > :14:47.It's all about the numbers game, though, and keeping a close eye

:14:48. > :14:53.as they come in is our political editor Mark Devenport.

:14:54. > :14:55.This election is also about turnout and transfers.

:14:56. > :14:58.As you have no doubt already heard, there's been quite an increase

:14:59. > :15:05.Nicholas Whyte is our elections expert.

:15:06. > :15:14.What do you make of this rise? Very interesting, turning out

:15:15. > :15:21.consistently across the country, most in East Belfast, most in

:15:22. > :15:25.Ulster. -- least in East Belfast. The one thing that is certain is if

:15:26. > :15:29.there are more votes, it will take longer to kind. -- kind.

:15:30. > :15:32.And transfers, they've always been a part of elections to the Assembly

:15:33. > :15:34.but what about Mike Nesbitt's decision to give his

:15:35. > :15:38.How many voters followed his lead to give a second

:15:39. > :15:43.We'll examine each stage of the vote in every constituency.

:15:44. > :15:50.This is what it is all about, seats in the chamber and here is a

:15:51. > :15:56.reminder of how things looked at the last election when 108 MLAs were

:15:57. > :16:00.elected. This is smaller with only 90 seats up for grabs and some

:16:01. > :16:07.politicians are going to be very disappointed. Who will fill these

:16:08. > :16:11.empty benches? Any party, if they get more than 30 seats, and will

:16:12. > :16:13.watch closely as the new chamber takes place. -- takes shape.

:16:14. > :16:16.So, let's get down to the individual constituencies.

:16:17. > :16:19.There are 18 of them and Strangford is normally one

:16:20. > :16:23.We'll be hearing a lot from our political correspondent

:16:24. > :16:26.Stephen Walker today, I imagine.

:16:27. > :16:36.There is a lot of big beasts going for those five seats. We have seven

:16:37. > :16:42.sitting MLAs and just five seats, they cannot all win? No, obviously

:16:43. > :16:49.seven trying to get in with only five seats and DUP are looking the

:16:50. > :16:53.happiest because it looks like Michelle McIlveen and Simon Hamilton

:16:54. > :16:56.will get in and Mike Nesbitt for the Ulster Unionists and Paul Wells of

:16:57. > :17:02.the Alliance, it is a battle for the fifth seed, between Philip Smith and

:17:03. > :17:07.Peter Weir, with Peter Weir in the ascendancy and Jonathan Bell has not

:17:08. > :17:10.done enough, so the DUP look happiest in Strangford and in terms

:17:11. > :17:16.of North Down, we have had some results. Alan Chambers has been

:17:17. > :17:21.collected, Stephen Farry and Alex Easton elected. Three from those

:17:22. > :17:25.five, no great surprises from North Down but the big story will be in

:17:26. > :17:33.Strangford and we know can go to Keiron Tourish. The big story at the

:17:34. > :17:39.foil arena is the turnout. Turnout here is 10% and East Londonderry up

:17:40. > :17:45.by 12% so that is quite significant. How can that play out in the

:17:46. > :17:48.election? The big news is that the outgoing Deputy First Minister

:17:49. > :17:53.Martin McGuinness is not standing due to ill-health but he will hope

:17:54. > :17:57.that his two party colleagues retain those seats for Sinn Fein and the

:17:58. > :18:02.SDLP leader Colum Eastwood will be fairly confident they can retain

:18:03. > :18:06.their two seats and the most impressive -- and present unionist

:18:07. > :18:10.showing has been Gary Middleton for the DUP and he will be hopeful of

:18:11. > :18:15.keeping his seat. Where does that leave Eamonn McCann? It just goes to

:18:16. > :18:20.prove that the last seat here in Foyle will be a very big scramble

:18:21. > :18:26.for the last seat. And people in the Eamonn McCann camp are worried. It

:18:27. > :18:32.is early days. In East Londonderry, again, all to play for, three DUP

:18:33. > :18:37.MLA 's have those seats, one each for the SDLP and Sinn Fein and the

:18:38. > :18:41.outgoing Justice Minister Claire Sugden will hope to get re-elected

:18:42. > :18:47.and finish the job. We will have to watch those final two seats in those

:18:48. > :18:55.constituencies. Over two David Maxwell in Titanic. Welcome to the

:18:56. > :19:01.Titanic Exhibition Centre, only one announcement, cheering in West

:19:02. > :19:06.Belfast or the election of order he flown. I knew candidate, she

:19:07. > :19:10.replaced Jennifer McCann. Sinn Fein say that they took more first

:19:11. > :19:15.preference votes for all four candidates than People Before

:19:16. > :19:21.Profit's Gerry Campbell, who topped the poll last time, he is confident

:19:22. > :19:26.and time will tell. Alex Attwood of the SDLP is very vulnerable in that

:19:27. > :19:32.constituency. Interesting stories, South Belfast is just behind me. We

:19:33. > :19:36.thought that would be a run-off between the DUP's Christopher

:19:37. > :19:40.Stalford and Clare Bailey from the Green Party but a lot of people are

:19:41. > :19:47.saying that Emma Little-Pengelly is vulnerable. And Belfast East, strong

:19:48. > :19:53.DUP constituency. It is thought that one of those seats will go, senior

:19:54. > :19:58.sources indicate that it could be Robin Newton. And looking to North

:19:59. > :20:05.Belfast, everything to play for here. Nichola Mallon and Caral Ni

:20:06. > :20:11.Chuillin vulnerable but very interestingly, we think that Nelson

:20:12. > :20:16.McCausland could also be vulnerable. Time will tell, it took 11 stages

:20:17. > :20:23.for the final result last time so we could be here for a very long time

:20:24. > :20:29.indeed. Julian Fowler is in Omagh. In the west the turnout was highest

:20:30. > :20:34.once again, Fermanagh and South go in at 73% and West Tyrone at 70%,

:20:35. > :20:44.the DUP leader Arlene Foster recently arrived and is hoping to

:20:45. > :20:46.retain her strong personal vote. She topped the poll in Fermanagh-South

:20:47. > :20:52.Tyrone last time around and that was enough to get Maurice Morrow across

:20:53. > :20:58.the line. With two DUP candidates. Both DUP and Sinn Fein say they have

:20:59. > :21:03.been polling strongly in East constituency, Sinn Fein hoping to

:21:04. > :21:07.win three seats in each and that could be bad news for the Ulster

:21:08. > :21:14.Unionists, they are the most nervous party here. They could lose both

:21:15. > :21:20.seats in Fermanagh South Tyrone held by Rosemary Barton and the seat in

:21:21. > :21:24.West Tyrone also. An interesting point about the increased turnout,

:21:25. > :21:29.the quotas are also up, the amount of votes needed for the candidates

:21:30. > :21:33.to get over the line, by around 2000 in each constituency which means

:21:34. > :21:40.transfers will come into play. In West Tyrone there are 18 candidates

:21:41. > :21:43.standing and last year we took until Saturday before we got the first

:21:44. > :21:53.result so it looks like another long kind is on the cards in Omagh. Thank

:21:54. > :22:00.you. Welcome to what we refer to as the big table in the studio. And let

:22:01. > :22:06.me introduce the guests. The first set of guests throughout this

:22:07. > :22:10.marathon date of broadcasting is Tom Elliott, the former Ulster Unionist

:22:11. > :22:14.Party leader and MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Jeffrey

:22:15. > :22:17.Donaldson, DUP MP for Lagan Valley, Stephen grimacing, former director

:22:18. > :22:21.of Communications for the Executive and in a previous life was Political

:22:22. > :22:30.Editor here in BBC Northern Ireland. We have had many conversations! And

:22:31. > :22:34.we also have Catriona Ruane, who did not stand again for election but was

:22:35. > :22:39.the Sinn Fein MLA for South Down. Welcome. You have been looking at

:22:40. > :22:41.their tablets and films and checking out the results and talking to

:22:42. > :22:48.friends and colleagues on the ground. Jeffrey Donaldson, picking

:22:49. > :22:54.up on what we heard from some of my colleagues, these are straws in the

:22:55. > :22:59.wind. I make no bones. Maybe Nelson McCausland is not doing as well as

:23:00. > :23:04.some people thought? Emma Little-Pengelly, perhaps in a bit of

:23:05. > :23:12.trouble in South Belfast. What is your general reading of where we are

:23:13. > :23:18.at this stage? Firstly, we must recall the number of seats are

:23:19. > :23:23.reducing so with the DUP holding three seats in a constituency, it

:23:24. > :23:29.becomes a mountain to climb to hold three seats and inevitably there are

:23:30. > :23:33.casualties. South Belfast, we took for the first time two seats last

:23:34. > :23:37.year so it was always going to be difficult to hold those with the

:23:38. > :23:45.reduction and overall the voters holding well. I think it is going to

:23:46. > :23:49.be tight between the DUP and Sinn Fein as to who emerges as the

:23:50. > :23:52.largest party, no doubt Sinn Fein are polling well in the

:23:53. > :23:56.constituencies where they are strong and the DUP vote is holding up in

:23:57. > :24:06.constituencies where we are strong and that is borne out by the early

:24:07. > :24:10.declarations. Jim Wells, standing in South Down, says that he believes

:24:11. > :24:15.the DUP will end up under the magic number of 30 and this will not

:24:16. > :24:24.surprise you, that is the fault of the media? Do you agree? The media

:24:25. > :24:27.do not vote. We do have a vote. We have been listening carefully to

:24:28. > :24:31.what people have been saying on the doorsteps and there is no doubt

:24:32. > :24:37.there is a lot of anger and the one thing I will say very clearly that

:24:38. > :24:43.has come across to me is the body is voting for the collapse of Stormont,

:24:44. > :24:45.everybody I spoke to, whatever their political persuasion, they want

:24:46. > :24:50.Stormont up and running quickly, they realise there are big decisions

:24:51. > :24:55.coming to be taken, not least in relation to Brexit, the economy and

:24:56. > :25:04.dealing with the legacy of the troubled past. They want the parties

:25:05. > :25:08.back, sorting these issues out. Whatever the political integration

:25:09. > :25:13.of the results, I have no doubt that what people are voting for is for

:25:14. > :25:19.Stormont to work. Catriona Ruane, at this stage, just a couple of

:25:20. > :25:26.results. Or he Flynn in West Belfast. -- or a Flynn. And with

:25:27. > :25:34.three candidates, second, third and fourth. And you have more Gilles in

:25:35. > :25:46.South Belfast. I don't have the raw numbers. -- Mairtin O'Muilleoir. He

:25:47. > :25:50.is past the quarter, just over 7000. Perhaps not quite the weight you are

:25:51. > :25:58.expected to be? This is obviously a good election for Sinn Fein. You can

:25:59. > :26:04.say that already? I was doing the South Down tally earlier on today

:26:05. > :26:08.and I can see there has been an increased turnout and I can see from

:26:09. > :26:13.particular constituencies that we are doing well and the interesting

:26:14. > :26:18.thing is Lord of the women are doing very well. Topping the poll, as we

:26:19. > :26:21.know, is not what Sinn Fein is about, it is vote management and

:26:22. > :26:25.every party is not looking at topping the poll, it is managing the

:26:26. > :26:32.vote. Mairtin O'Muilleoir must be happy he topped the poll? You manage

:26:33. > :26:37.that vote very well in West Belfast? The key thing is managing the vote.

:26:38. > :26:44.Can I just say, as we sit here, all of us, one of our colleagues, PJ

:26:45. > :26:52.Bradley, is being buried this morning and we all want to give our

:26:53. > :26:56.condolences to the family. It has been a difficult time for Sinead

:26:57. > :26:59.Bradley, who has been a candidate and colour, and I want to say that

:27:00. > :27:02.and I am sure everybody else will join me.

:27:03. > :27:09.I am sure people would echo those sentiments it is a difficult time

:27:10. > :27:12.for Sinead Bradley. You will know her well. She must have mixed

:27:13. > :27:16.emotions today hoping she will be returned into the seat that was her

:27:17. > :27:21.father's seat in the past. And she's had to lay him to rest this morning.

:27:22. > :27:25.Yesterday she went to vote in the polling station. But getting back to

:27:26. > :27:29.the results. I think we will have a good election today. I think it's

:27:30. > :27:34.because of hard work, it's because of focussing on what needs to be

:27:35. > :27:39.done. Tom Elliott, I suspect you are going to have to take a slightly

:27:40. > :27:43.different tack. We were hearing from Enda Mc Clafferty again. It's early

:27:44. > :27:48.to be definitive about this but it looks like it might be the day your

:27:49. > :27:53.party leader Mike Nesbitt and Steve akin the other day on BBC Radio

:27:54. > :27:56.Ulster was predicting would be a red letter day for the Ulster Unionist

:27:57. > :27:59.party, you would be the main unionist party and would have more

:28:00. > :28:04.seats than Sinn Fein. Can you say at this stage that isn't going to

:28:05. > :28:08.happen? Well, obviously the mist is still there, Mark in almost all the

:28:09. > :28:12.areas we have early results in, as you highlighted. But yes, it's

:28:13. > :28:17.unlikely we are going to be the largest party. That's quite clear.

:28:18. > :28:20.But obviously during an election campaign you battle for every vote

:28:21. > :28:26.you can get. It's unfortunate we had to have this election at this time.

:28:27. > :28:31.I think it has been a diversion from the situation. I have no idea why

:28:32. > :28:35.Sinn Fein actually put it to the test at this time simply because at

:28:36. > :28:40.an early stage in December they didn't appear to want to pressurise

:28:41. > :28:44.the matter at now. All of a sudden, whether it was from pressure from

:28:45. > :28:47.their own back bench people or whether they had done private

:28:48. > :28:55.polling, I have no idea, but they obviously pushed a button to have

:28:56. > :29:00.the election. OK. We want to hear from our reporters out on the

:29:01. > :29:08.ground. Two interesting counts happening, Mid Ulster and North

:29:09. > :29:15.Antrim. Our reporter is at the In Ballymena for us. What can you tell

:29:16. > :29:20.us? Yes, they're trying to announce the quota here. This is Mid Ulster,

:29:21. > :29:27.it's a strong republican nationalist area. The vote was a huge jump of

:29:28. > :29:33.14% this time. Sinn Fein's leader in storm, Michelle O'Neill, is based

:29:34. > :29:40.here and she arrived here to great applause from supporters. It

:29:41. > :29:45.stretches from Maghera. In May all four nationalists in this

:29:46. > :29:51.Three Sinn Fein, one sdlapd, one DUP, and one U. P. Now Sinn Fein say

:29:52. > :29:56.they're managing their vote very well so they hope to get those three

:29:57. > :30:00.Sinn Fein candidates back again. Patsy McGloen seems to be in a

:30:01. > :30:04.strong position. That leaves a problem between the two unionists,

:30:05. > :30:09.the one DUP and one UUP. We are hearing that the DUP's Keith

:30:10. > :30:18.Buchanan looks in a strong position so that could leave the UUP Sandra

:30:19. > :30:24.Overend in a vulnerable position. North Antrim, which is a mirror

:30:25. > :30:30.image of Mid Ulster, because it is a strong DUP stronghold. Three DUP,

:30:31. > :30:39.one UUP, one TUV. One Sinn Fein here. 10% rise in the turnout here.

:30:40. > :30:42.It's a Paisley heartland. Ian Paisley skaup junior has

:30:43. > :30:56.Last time it elected all five unionists including the TUV leader

:30:57. > :31:02.Jim Allister. Jim Allister looks pretty strong. He has decided to run

:31:03. > :31:15.with his colleague this time Timothy Gaston. It may have reduced his vote

:31:16. > :31:20.this time. One Sinn Fein seat was drafted in after Daithi McKay. He

:31:21. > :31:26.still has a strong vote here in the North Antrim constituency. Over now

:31:27. > :31:32.to Lisburn. Two counts taking place here in

:31:33. > :31:35.Lisburn. One predominantly unionist Lagan valley, the other nationalist

:31:36. > :31:39.South Down. The indications are it will be the same story in respect of

:31:40. > :31:43.the losers in each constituency, all the pointers being it will be the

:31:44. > :31:48.Ulster Unionists who will lose the 6th seat in each of those

:31:49. > :31:54.constituencies. First to Lagan valley, the DUP are confident of

:31:55. > :32:02.returning three MLAs with Paul Givan, as last time, likely to top

:32:03. > :32:06.the poll here. Robbie Butler of the Ulster Unionists looks like he is

:32:07. > :32:11.polling better than Jenny Palmer, it could be her that loses the 6th seat

:32:12. > :32:17.with alliance taking the other seat. In South Down, it looks like two

:32:18. > :32:21.Sinn Fein, two SDLPed and Jim Wells of the DUP, again the Ulster

:32:22. > :32:27.Unionists tipped to lose a seat there. Harald McKee could be out the

:32:28. > :32:30.door rather quickly. We are about 30 minutes away from official first

:32:31. > :32:34.preference vote declarations here but that is the mood music coming

:32:35. > :32:42.out of Lisburn. Over to my colleague now in Banbridge.

:32:43. > :32:46.Well, two constituencies counted here, Upper Bann and Newry and

:32:47. > :32:52.Armagh. The turnout figures are both well up. Upper Bann at 62%. Up 8%

:32:53. > :32:57.points. Newry and Armagh 69%, up 10%. The quotas will be roughly

:32:58. > :33:02.around the 9,000 mark. Give or take a couple of hundred votes. Last time

:33:03. > :33:07.this was two DUP, two UUP and two Sinn Fein. If the DUP can hold both

:33:08. > :33:11.of their seats and they seem confident they can, then it looks

:33:12. > :33:15.like one of those Ulster Unionist seats will very much be in jeopardy.

:33:16. > :33:21.On the nationalist side a lot of interest here on whether or not

:33:22. > :33:25.Dolores Kelly can take back a seat she lost to Sinn Fein by 168 votes.

:33:26. > :33:29.There had been vote management issues for Sinn Fein in this

:33:30. > :33:32.constituency, John O Dowd polling stronger in areas where Sinn Fein

:33:33. > :33:39.would have preferred to see his running mate coming through. In

:33:40. > :33:43.Newry and Armagh, it was three Sinn Fein last time. People may think

:33:44. > :33:46.Sinn Fein holding three, given the reconfiguration of the seats, might

:33:47. > :33:52.be a big ask. But it seems to be on. They seem to be confident. If that

:33:53. > :33:57.happens, it looks like Danny Kennedy could be in big trouble here

:33:58. > :34:02.potentially because looking at the other unionist candidate of the DUP,

:34:03. > :34:13.he is all thumbs up and big smiles, he seems to think that he over now

:34:14. > :34:23.to Ita. Turnout in South and East Antrim up

:34:24. > :34:29.around 10 Persian too. -- The question this time around is can the

:34:30. > :34:38.DUP hold on to three? The first count is in. David Hild was elected

:34:39. > :34:42.after the first count last year. The Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs is doing

:34:43. > :34:48.very well. The alliance Stuart Dickson is hoping that his name is

:34:49. > :34:54.on his seat again. It could be two DUP and one UUP battling out for two

:34:55. > :35:00.seats here. Sinn Fein's Oliver McMullin may well be vulnerable.

:35:01. > :35:05.Over to South Antrim and all six winners in the 2016 elections are

:35:06. > :35:11.standing again. It could be said can the DUP hold on to three? The first

:35:12. > :35:19.count is in here again. But no one past the quota. It looks like Paul

:35:20. > :35:23.Girvam and Trevor Clarke will be battling for those seats. Sinn

:35:24. > :35:27.Fein's Declan Kearney lacks like he will be the republican

:35:28. > :35:32.representative in this constituency. The Ulster Unionist receive aKen has

:35:33. > :35:36.his eye on a seat, as well. And the former justice Minister David Ford

:35:37. > :35:40.has done very well this time around on first preferences. That's it for

:35:41. > :35:44.South and East Antrim, back to the studio.

:35:45. > :35:48.Thank you very much. Let's hear more from my panel here. I want to bring

:35:49. > :35:53.in Stephen, former political editor for BBC Northern Ireland. A word

:35:54. > :35:59.about turnout, first of all. I wonder what you make of that. 65%,

:36:00. > :36:04.it was 55%, ten months ago, last May. That's a 10% point increase,

:36:05. > :36:10.although in raw percentage terms it's an increase of a whopping 18%,

:36:11. > :36:16.18% more people came out to vote now than voted last May. It's a very

:36:17. > :36:19.significant figure. We have some sense of what's happening on the

:36:20. > :36:24.ground in some constituencies, but what's your reading of what might be

:36:25. > :36:28.about to unfold today and tomorrow? The question is where do those

:36:29. > :36:34.people come from and have they been scared out or have they been

:36:35. > :36:39.aggravated out? If you think of it, the early hints we are getting and

:36:40. > :36:44.it's early stages is that Sinn Fein's vote has come up, so there is

:36:45. > :36:49.an aggravation factor Sinn Fein have tapped into. Also we are hearing

:36:50. > :36:52.that while the Ulster Unionists will struggle here, the Alliance Party

:36:53. > :36:57.have polled strongly. David Ford there doing very well. He was not in

:36:58. > :37:03.that position a year ago at the early stages. So, it's a question,

:37:04. > :37:07.the dynamics of this election, RHI, respect, all that sort of stuff, is

:37:08. > :37:13.coming out now in the vote, I suspect. That engagement, if you

:37:14. > :37:18.look at what happened with the viewing figures for the debates,

:37:19. > :37:22.they were hugely up, there is some sense of engagement. An appetite for

:37:23. > :37:27.it? An interesting in politics, whether it is because in terms of

:37:28. > :37:30.the DUP were very much putting out the bogeyman of Gerry Adams, but by

:37:31. > :37:34.the same token Sinn Fein were saying this is about giving us equality and

:37:35. > :37:44.respect and we need to move on with that agenda. We have some winners of

:37:45. > :37:50.course already at this early stage. Elisha McCallion has got in on the

:37:51. > :37:56.first count. Does that surprise you? Well, Elisha is very popular. A

:37:57. > :38:00.former mayor. Mayor of Derry. Also I think, I mean, right across the

:38:01. > :38:04.north of Ireland, indeed across the island of Ireland, huge support and

:38:05. > :38:10.sympathy for mar begin McGuinness. -- Martin. Emwere just saying he had

:38:11. > :38:15.given so much, such a states person. I just think a lot of people, you

:38:16. > :38:20.were saying about aggravation, what I got on the doors and I was at

:38:21. > :38:24.thousands of them, just the lack of respect for things, it's not even

:38:25. > :38:27.just the Irish language, the way it was talked about. The lack of

:38:28. > :38:34.respect for in many cases rights for people. The lack of respect for the

:38:35. > :38:41.LGBT community, that lack of respect was an issue that came up time and

:38:42. > :38:44.again on the doors. The other thing I think, there is a reignition of

:38:45. > :38:49.people interested in politics. I think it's because we have more

:38:50. > :38:55.diversity in politics. We have women leaders, it's not male, pale and

:38:56. > :39:00.grey like the past. We have women of all ages. It's really exciting time

:39:01. > :39:04.in politics. You mentioned that a number of women had been successful.

:39:05. > :39:10.A number of Sinn Fein women candidates, in particular. We were

:39:11. > :39:16.talking about Elisha McCallion. I am glad to say she can join us now from

:39:17. > :39:20.the count in Derry. Can you hear us? Congratulations. No, she can't hear

:39:21. > :39:27.us. Looks like she's having a conversation with one of our team

:39:28. > :39:31.there. OK. We will leave that. When we manage to establish contact we

:39:32. > :39:36.will hear from her. She's obviously almost ready to talk to us but not

:39:37. > :39:40.quite ready. A quick thought from Tom Elliott

:39:41. > :39:43.maybe. We often think during election campaigns it is nationalism

:39:44. > :39:47.versus unionism. When you break it down it can be a battle within

:39:48. > :39:50.nationalism and within unionism, isn't that right? There are

:39:51. > :39:55.different elections happening at the one time. There are and it's the

:39:56. > :39:57.same all over, it's been the same forever and a day in Northern

:39:58. > :40:00.Ireland, it's not going to change quickly. There is a battle within

:40:01. > :40:03.unionism and a battle within nationalism but then you have the

:40:04. > :40:08.broader battle and constitutional issue that we always had,

:40:09. > :40:11.constitutional battle between unionism and nationalism. But, maybe

:40:12. > :40:15.slowly we are moving away from that because we have our own Assembly,

:40:16. > :40:19.because we have our own Executive people are more focussed on

:40:20. > :40:23.day-to-day issues now. Health, education and it is interesting one

:40:24. > :40:26.of the biggest aspects that we got around the doors was health. Major

:40:27. > :40:30.health issues, long waiting lists, but it doesn't seem to have

:40:31. > :40:40.resonated into the votes. There is a gap there. OK. We will come back to

:40:41. > :40:46.pick up on that. I think Elisha can now hear us. Congratulations. Thank

:40:47. > :40:52.you very much, Mark. I am looking at the figures, you topped the poll.

:40:53. > :40:57.9205 first preferences, how much of that was down to former mayor of

:40:58. > :41:03.Derry, very well known in your own right and some people are saying the

:41:04. > :41:08.fact that you are taking over where Martin McGuinness left off? Well, I

:41:09. > :41:12.think the politics of the day was the winner and very clearly what we

:41:13. > :41:15.heard on the door of the entire campaign is that people understood

:41:16. > :41:21.our politics and accepted it and appreciated it. Whilst there may be

:41:22. > :41:25.an element of individualism, I think on the whole the party and its

:41:26. > :41:28.stance and stand up against corruption and integrity and indeed

:41:29. > :41:33.the stand that Martin McGuinness took in January has fed us well.

:41:34. > :41:37.When you look at the numbers does it look like you will hold your two

:41:38. > :41:43.seats, the SDLP will hold two, and the DUP will get one, so the loser

:41:44. > :41:48.would be Eamoning man, is that how you read it. ?

:41:49. > :41:56.It is hard to say, it is fair to say that it is likely that ourselves and

:41:57. > :42:01.the SDLP will have two seats and for the final set, but remains to be

:42:02. > :42:05.seen and I would not want to call Matt. We're fairly confident that

:42:06. > :42:13.Raymond McCartney and myself will be elected shortly. You broke your arm?

:42:14. > :42:17.What were you doing? I was running after my children and I have been

:42:18. > :42:23.running around on the campaign for five days with a broken arm

:42:24. > :42:28.unbeknownst to myself. Make sure you don't leave that count centre

:42:29. > :42:34.without Eamonn McCann signing it! We will talk to you later. Thank you

:42:35. > :42:38.for that. We can crunch the numbers, they are coming in and we need some

:42:39. > :42:46.number crunching. Analysis from Mark Devenport. This increased turnout,

:42:47. > :42:49.there is a mixture of factors that might have built into this but

:42:50. > :42:55.clearly one of those was the Renewable Heat Incentive saga and if

:42:56. > :43:00.we look at one constituency where there are many personalities

:43:01. > :43:03.involved and that, it has to be Strangford, where Jonathan Bell, the

:43:04. > :43:07.former DUP minister who gave that remarkable interview on the BBC, was

:43:08. > :43:12.standing and the place were Simon Hamilton while standing and the

:43:13. > :43:18.Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt. Let us look at the figures in

:43:19. > :43:24.Strangford. It always was a DUP stronghold and they remain at the

:43:25. > :43:31.top with nearly 40% but we can look at what has happened on the change.

:43:32. > :43:36.What do you make of that? The DUP vote is down and the Alliance vote

:43:37. > :43:41.is up, this is what we have seen in all of the declared constituencies,

:43:42. > :43:46.the DUP have taken a small head over recent issues but not as big as some

:43:47. > :43:51.thought and a vote for independence -- independence is down. And in

:43:52. > :43:56.terms of personalities. Simon Hamilton topping the poll,

:43:57. > :44:00.previously he was not a great vote getter for the DUP but whether they

:44:01. > :44:04.have changed territorially or something has happened, he was

:44:05. > :44:13.associated with the recent develops -- developments in relation to RHI.

:44:14. > :44:17.Not all news is bad news. His increased public profile has helped

:44:18. > :44:22.and interesting we have three DUP in the top five with only five being

:44:23. > :44:27.elected and in sixth place, perennial runner-up Joe Boyle, SDLP

:44:28. > :44:30.runners-up in every Assembly election in Strangford since 98 and

:44:31. > :44:38.this will be no exception. Is it fair to say that four of these are

:44:39. > :44:42.certain, Michelle Michael Flynn, Kellie Armstrong and Mike Nesbitt

:44:43. > :44:50.and the fifth place, can we call that? Nobody can catch Phil -- Peter

:44:51. > :44:59.Weir? The loss of Philip Smith? He would need to make 1000 votes and I

:45:00. > :45:03.do not see that happening. West Belfast, we have an early

:45:04. > :45:11.declaration of Orlaithi Flynn, the new MLA, elected. This has been a

:45:12. > :45:15.case where Sinn Fein has energised the vote, people dressed up in

:45:16. > :45:18.crocodile uniforms going to the polls and Arlene Foster has been a

:45:19. > :45:27.good recruiting sergeant in these areas for Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein

:45:28. > :45:30.nearly 62% and what has happened... People Before Profit did very well

:45:31. > :45:38.last time around in this constituency. Any thoughts on that?

:45:39. > :45:42.Massive increase for Sinn Fein, the vote is up across the board, in all

:45:43. > :45:50.seven constituencies we have seen, as with the Alliance. People Before

:45:51. > :45:54.Profit, supporters said they would get a second MLA in West Belfast?

:45:55. > :46:00.They would need a lot more votes. And the personalities... They have

:46:01. > :46:07.managed to balance the vote, Sinn Fein. Will they get all four? More

:46:08. > :46:09.likely than not and the alternative would be if enough transfers go to

:46:10. > :46:18.Alex Attwood from the smaller parties to pull ahead of the DUP. I

:46:19. > :46:23.cannot see it, DUP runners up every election except for 2003 with Diane

:46:24. > :46:28.Dodds. Gerry Carroll hit with the fact he has a running mate and the

:46:29. > :46:36.People Before Profit vote dropped, can he hold onto the fifth seed?

:46:37. > :46:43.Solid performance, nearly 6000, it would be surprising if they did not

:46:44. > :46:48.pick up the extra 700. Alex Attwood, beaten by the DUP, this is a

:46:49. > :46:53.constituency where in the 1990s the SDLP held the Westminster seat, the

:46:54. > :46:58.entire seed? It shows how the map has changed and next-door the Ulster

:46:59. > :47:03.Unionists eliminated, they held that seat until even more recently. Over

:47:04. > :47:11.to Tara Mills in the Titanic counting centre. Welcome back to the

:47:12. > :47:14.Exhibition Centre, the Belfast counts are taking place and I have

:47:15. > :47:19.Mairtin O'Muilleoir, Alice Morris from the Irish news and Professor

:47:20. > :47:27.John Tong, who has written a book on the DUP. 2000 votes, adding to your

:47:28. > :47:31.performance from last year? I think this an astounding performance by

:47:32. > :47:36.the electorate because they are ahead of the politicians and when it

:47:37. > :47:40.comes to issues of equality in South Belfast, crucially important and

:47:41. > :47:46.issues of respect for all people, diversity, but also against Brexit,

:47:47. > :47:51.ordinary people voted against Brexit and I can see the vote that I got as

:47:52. > :47:56.a republican vote, it was for equality and liberty and the DUP

:47:57. > :48:01.were about arrogance and this respect and scandals and we have an

:48:02. > :48:06.opportunity to have a true fresh start and that is a mandate I will

:48:07. > :48:11.bring with me in the days ahead. The election result is not about those

:48:12. > :48:18.things, it is about Arlene Foster and comments about crocodiles? The

:48:19. > :48:25.DUP have helped you? I was at the holy Rosary polling station and a

:48:26. > :48:31.lady said, I was married here and my brother had to emigrate to London

:48:32. > :48:34.because he is gay. Some of the Roma have been exploited terribly by

:48:35. > :48:42.landlords in the holy lands, working in my part, not treated fairly. And

:48:43. > :48:48.an Irish language school in the heart of South Belfast, a pupil's

:48:49. > :48:52.mother said that he not be a first-class citizen like everyone

:48:53. > :48:58.else? Without this rioting at the back of the bus? Let us have

:48:59. > :49:01.integrity in the institutions and proper equality in institutions. We

:49:02. > :49:29.have a declaration from Banbridge. This is the deputy returning officer

:49:30. > :49:34.in Banbridge leisure centre, we will hear something about Upper Bann or

:49:35. > :49:42.Newry and Armagh. Both of which should be interesting. Conor

:49:43. > :49:47.Macauley is there. We will hear from him in due course. We will get some

:49:48. > :49:58.numbers. We will stay with this and hear them. Upper Bann was the last

:49:59. > :50:03.constituency to make its final declaration in May. Lots of people

:50:04. > :50:09.saying that Doug Beattie from the Ulster Unionist Party looks

:50:10. > :50:15.vulnerable there and Newry and Armagh, all six outgoing MLAs...

:50:16. > :50:30.They are standing again. Let us listen.

:50:31. > :50:36.Each stage announcement will include the outcome of the stage and the

:50:37. > :50:42.details of the next stage. The declaration of the result will take

:50:43. > :50:47.place after five candidates have been deemed carded. There will be

:50:48. > :50:52.speeches until after the declaration. This is the outcome of

:50:53. > :50:57.the first stage of the Newry and Armagh constituency. The total

:50:58. > :51:06.number of ballot papers counted was 55,000 625. There were 707 rejected

:51:07. > :51:17.papers. The number of ballot papers was 54,000 918. The quota is 9154.

:51:18. > :51:23.The number of first preference votes given for each candidate was as

:51:24. > :51:35.follows... Cathal Boylan, Sinn Fein, 9197. Jackie Coade, Alliance Party,

:51:36. > :51:48.1418. Emmet Crossan, independent social thought, 704. Megan Fearon,

:51:49. > :52:01.Sinn Fein, 8881. William Urban, DUP, 9760. Danny Kennedy, Ulster Unionist

:52:02. > :52:18.Party, 7256. Justin McNulty, SDLP, 8983. Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein, 8454.

:52:19. > :52:22.Rowan Tunnicliffe, Green Party, 265. William Irwin and Cathal Boylan have

:52:23. > :52:25.reached the quota and are deemed elected, the next stage will involve

:52:26. > :52:30.the transfer of their surplus votes in accordance with the preferences

:52:31. > :52:33.shown. If the total surplus of the candidates deemed elected was

:52:34. > :52:36.transferred to the three candidates with the lowest votes, it will not

:52:37. > :52:40.change the order of the remaining candidates. The next age is to

:52:41. > :52:45.therefore be the exclusion of the three candidates with the lowest

:52:46. > :52:49.votes. Rowan Tunnicliffe... Confirmation that Cathal Boylan Sinn

:52:50. > :52:58.Fein and William Irwin from the DUP have been elected, deemed elected in

:52:59. > :53:01.Newry and Armagh. And the last of the bunch, Megan Fearon, Danny

:53:02. > :53:05.Kennedy, Justin McNulty and Conor Murphy, that'll be interesting

:53:06. > :53:13.tussle for the three remaining seats. Back to Tara Mills at the

:53:14. > :53:18.Titanic Exhibition Centre. We can go back to Mairtin O'Muilleoir, were

:53:19. > :53:23.interrupted briefly. When it comes to the future, what are you going

:53:24. > :53:31.into? What can you guarantee for the Sinn Fein electorate?

:53:32. > :53:35.Congratulations to this long, wonderful result, being returned on

:53:36. > :53:40.the first count. -- to Naomi Long. In East Belfast! Secondly, great to

:53:41. > :53:46.talk about the future because the talk in government with the former

:53:47. > :53:50.partners has always been about the past and dragging us back. On the

:53:51. > :53:57.doorsteps, people talk about the future. People insisted that they

:53:58. > :54:01.wanted to be represented by people who work for a progressive Belfast

:54:02. > :54:07.and a united Belfast and that is a mandate we bring with us. You are

:54:08. > :54:14.congratulating Naomi Long. Alison, while things shaping up? An amazing

:54:15. > :54:20.collection for Sinn Fein, they have got their vote out, the increased

:54:21. > :54:24.vote has benefited them. In nationalist strongholds, West

:54:25. > :54:28.Belfast is looking like four Sinn Fein and People Before Profit. That

:54:29. > :54:32.is being played out across the North. The story will also be East

:54:33. > :54:39.Belfast and Naomi Long and the Alliance Party's massive success

:54:40. > :54:43.because with the DUP, they look to be punished by the unionist

:54:44. > :54:47.electorate for RHI and other scandals, those votes are not

:54:48. > :54:53.transferring to other unionist parties, the UUP, we're going

:54:54. > :54:58.towards moderate parties. That happened in Stratford with Kellie

:54:59. > :55:02.Armstrong being 500 votes ahead. That'll be very interesting,

:55:03. > :55:06.especially in East Belfast, that is such a unionist stronghold, with

:55:07. > :55:11.votes going towards Lyons, that will trouble DUP greatly in that area. We

:55:12. > :55:16.have seen that this was the election they said nobody wanted, people were

:55:17. > :55:22.meant to be tired having gone to the polls 7.5 months ago but we wonder

:55:23. > :55:25.if anybody is listening and you can see the electorate are very engaged

:55:26. > :55:31.and they have made their voice heard. When we come to analyse this

:55:32. > :55:34.in the days to come, we will have a feeling of how people feel and what

:55:35. > :55:38.their opinions where given the recent political scandals with

:55:39. > :55:42.greater numbers to analyse. Early days in terms of the DUP picture but

:55:43. > :55:48.you see this move with Alliance coming through, what do you think

:55:49. > :55:54.will be the postmortem the DUP will have? The Alliance Party are having

:55:55. > :55:59.a good election, they are putting on votes as a consequence of the

:56:00. > :56:04.increased turnout, and this is only anecdotally, amongst younger people,

:56:05. > :56:08.they are least likely to adopt unionist or nationalised labels so

:56:09. > :56:15.the Alliance Party is a natural. The DUP are taking a hit but it does not

:56:16. > :56:19.quite seem to be huge at this stage, remember of the high watermark of

:56:20. > :56:26.the DUP last time in 2016 and 2011, that would never be repeated, even

:56:27. > :56:30.with RHI. The DUP got 86% of their candidates elected in 2016 and it

:56:31. > :56:36.would always take a head today and the problem is on the side of the

:56:37. > :56:39.UUP, the Ulster Unionists, they are not in significantly stronger

:56:40. > :56:45.position to make the advances they should be making at the expense of

:56:46. > :56:50.the DUP and that is where the real story and potentially -- story

:56:51. > :56:56.potentially lies. Ulster Unionists is littered with people who

:56:57. > :57:00.advocated compromise, Trimble, Mike Nesbitt, it was laudable in some

:57:01. > :57:06.ways what Mike Nesbitt did, urging cross community transfers. Has that

:57:07. > :57:10.gone against the UUP? Or generally Mike Nesbitt?

:57:11. > :57:15.If you look at the level of cross-community transfers from

:57:16. > :57:21.unionist parties it's low, less than 2% of U. P voters last time went to

:57:22. > :57:25.the SDLP. So it was in many ways it was a laudable call but it was full

:57:26. > :57:29.of political risk and I think that's why the DUP will probably, their

:57:30. > :57:32.vote will probably hold up by default because of the weaknesses of

:57:33. > :57:36.the Ulster Unionist party. In terms of the big parties then, it's

:57:37. > :57:39.probably likely it will still be Sinn Fein and the DUP, so what hope

:57:40. > :57:44.is there that there will be agreement? Well, there is always

:57:45. > :57:51.hope and I take great hope from the remarkable result I have received in

:57:52. > :57:55.South Belfast, my colleague Orlaithi Flynn has been returned and I hope

:57:56. > :57:59.the Tories are listening and the DUP, because this election really is

:58:00. > :58:04.about implementing previous agreements, previous Solemn

:58:05. > :58:09.agreements, Maze, Long Kesh and the DUP went back on their word, Irish

:58:10. > :58:12.language act, the Tories went back on their word and blocking equal

:58:13. > :58:16.rights for Irish speakers and dealing with the past. So, we

:58:17. > :58:20.actually have a difficult period ahead but it's about implementing

:58:21. > :58:23.previous agreements and I am hopeful because the ordinary people have

:58:24. > :58:30.spoken just as they spoke against Brexit and I hope the Tories turn

:58:31. > :58:34.away from the lunancy of Brexit. They voted against it again today we

:58:35. > :58:37.should hope the DUP is listening in terms of disrespect and arrogance

:58:38. > :58:40.and their wish to drag us back to the past about I hope the Tories are

:58:41. > :58:45.listening too because they've a part to play in making sure we make

:58:46. > :58:50.progress. Alison, is it a wasted vote for alliance in a sense that if

:58:51. > :58:54.they're not within the Executive then what real change can they make

:58:55. > :59:00.to some of the issues that Martin is talking about? I don't think so, it

:59:01. > :59:03.gives out a clear message, the DUP are likely to be returned as the

:59:04. > :59:07.largest party, they're going to have to reflect on the election and the

:59:08. > :59:11.hit they've taken to the Alliance Party and maybe reflect especially

:59:12. > :59:13.on some social issues where they've used petition of concern to block

:59:14. > :59:17.progress on things like same-sex marriage. I don't think that the

:59:18. > :59:21.Tory Government will be listening, I think Theresa May has other things

:59:22. > :59:24.on her mind with regards to Brexit. I think they'll be keen for the

:59:25. > :59:28.parties to get some resolution in the next few weeks, I don't think

:59:29. > :59:31.there is appetite for direct rule from Westminster. They've enough on

:59:32. > :59:34.their plate, the last thing weigh want to do is take over control of

:59:35. > :59:39.Northern Ireland. At the same time, we have seen a reduced number, we

:59:40. > :59:43.will see a reduced number of DUP MLAs returned, that doesn't mean

:59:44. > :59:45.there is massive change in the demographic of the coalition

:59:46. > :59:48.Government. Let's face it, it's going to be a Sinn Fein and DUP

:59:49. > :59:55.coalition. Before we leave it there, did you vote any unionist down your

:59:56. > :00:01.ticket? No, I didn't... Have you ever, I wonder about that? I told

:00:02. > :00:05.Stephen Nolan maybe if I live to be 105. At this stage I was really in

:00:06. > :00:10.favour of progressive candidates and those against Brexit, those who were

:00:11. > :00:13.for Irish uniteny and that's back on the agenda as part of my vote in

:00:14. > :00:18.South Belfast, as well. Thank you. Back to you, Mark.

:00:19. > :00:22.OK. Let me bring you up to speed with who has been returned at this

:00:23. > :00:29.stage. We have had a little bit of a rush there. Naomi Long is returned

:00:30. > :00:39.on the first count in East Belfast with over 7500. Elisha McCallion.

:00:40. > :00:46.Michelle O'Neill in Mid Ulster topped the poll there. Also home

:00:47. > :00:51.Keith bu Khan nan of the DUP with 9,000. William Irwin of the DUP

:00:52. > :00:59.returned on the first count in their constituencies. And Danny Kennedy,

:01:00. > :01:03.that's - Danny Kennedy is in trouble in Newry and Armagh. Mairtin

:01:04. > :01:08.O'Muilleoir topped the poll in South Belfast. Orlaithi Flynn in West

:01:09. > :01:12.Belfast, both Father Sinn Fein. Let's look at North Down. Alain

:01:13. > :01:16.chambers and Steven Farry, deputy leader of the Alliance Party

:01:17. > :01:20.returned in North Down on the first count and Steven Farry joins me now

:01:21. > :01:27.from the count centre. Congratulations. Are you relieved?

:01:28. > :01:31.Well, thanks, Mark. Certainly I am pleased in a personal capacity and

:01:32. > :01:37.also pleased for the party in that it does seem we are set to hold all

:01:38. > :01:41.eight of our current outgoing MLAs. And our votes will be up across

:01:42. > :01:44.Northern Ireland as a whole. At the same time, I am certainly

:01:45. > :01:48.apprehensive about the future. We are in extremely uncertain times.

:01:49. > :01:52.People have come out and are more energised about our politics but

:01:53. > :01:57.that happens in the context where we don't have a functioning Assembly or

:01:58. > :02:02.Executive and there are challenges ranging from a budget through to how

:02:03. > :02:07.we manage the implications on Brexit we have to get to grips with over

:02:08. > :02:11.the weeks. Any sign of growth for alliance, it's difficult in a

:02:12. > :02:15.shrinking Assembly but you are confident you will hold eight seats,

:02:16. > :02:22.do you see anywhere you might seek a 9th or 10th? In the context of a a

:02:23. > :02:28.shrinking Assembly holding all eight is a gain in terms of the

:02:29. > :02:32.proportionate seats we have, so Alliance is on the March. On the one

:02:33. > :02:35.hand you are seeing the centre ground with Alliance at the heart of

:02:36. > :02:38.that exerting itself, particularly in the greater Belfast area and

:02:39. > :02:42.across the other constituencies too. At the same time, we still have a

:02:43. > :02:48.pollerised electorate with the DUP and Sinn Fein set to be returned as

:02:49. > :02:51.the two largest parties. Outside of the current eight we are seeing

:02:52. > :02:55.strong performances, for example, in West Belfast, one of our best

:02:56. > :02:59.results for several years and that's a good sign as a fact of we are

:03:00. > :03:04.being taken as a much more serious player across Northern Ireland. I

:03:05. > :03:08.hear also in South Down we are outpolling the Ulster Unionist party

:03:09. > :03:14.and no one saw that one coming. Congratulations again, thank you. No

:03:15. > :03:21.doubt we will speak to you again. Let's come back to the panel.

:03:22. > :03:24.Stephen, just to pick up, contradictory trends he talked about

:03:25. > :03:30.and Alliance looks as if it will hold firm in the middle ground but

:03:31. > :03:35.opposite ends of the political spectrum appear to be doing well.

:03:36. > :03:40.Yes, differentential turnout, west and east of the Bann, which has

:03:41. > :03:46.always been the case here, it requires more nationalists to get a

:03:47. > :03:50.seat in the Assembly than it does in the east of the province where

:03:51. > :03:54.unionists are in the majority. So, it is, I think it's going to take us

:03:55. > :03:59.quite a while. The broad sweep is there. But it's going to take a

:04:00. > :04:05.while before we can establish exactly what has happened here. Are

:04:06. > :04:09.you concerned that Danny Kennedy could be in difficulty in his count?

:04:10. > :04:13.Clearly Danny has been a long-term representative there and hopefully

:04:14. > :04:19.will be returned again. It's going to be hard for him, he is in 6th

:04:20. > :04:24.place fighting for five seats. It is hard to see where he will pick

:04:25. > :04:26.transfers up from. Given those figures clearly it is difficult. I

:04:27. > :04:30.am still confident there are a number of transfers still to come

:04:31. > :04:36.and I think from memory the Alliance Party had a number of transfers to

:04:37. > :04:42.come there. Look, it is unfortunate, as Stephen indicated, there seems to

:04:43. > :04:45.be a pollerisation that's certainly increased the vote in Northern

:04:46. > :04:49.Ireland and many people were predicting last week that the vote

:04:50. > :04:53.would decrease in Northern Ireland. But against all the odds and the

:04:54. > :04:57.same as in many other cases this last 12 months, you know, the

:04:58. > :05:01.predictions have been wrong and the vote has increased and there is that

:05:02. > :05:06.pollerisation. Thank you. I will come back to the rest of you.

:05:07. > :05:10.Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein's leader in Stormont, has joined us now from

:05:11. > :05:15.Ballymena. First of all, congratulations to

:05:16. > :05:21.you. You topped the poll with 10258 first preferences. No huge surprise.

:05:22. > :05:25.I think you are the first person to be returned with a vote over 10,000

:05:26. > :05:28.first preferences, is that right? I am not sure. I have been here all

:05:29. > :05:32.morning, but obviously I am delighted to receive the vote which

:05:33. > :05:38.I have. I am also delighted that the people of Mid Ulster put their faith

:05:39. > :05:42.in Sinn Fein. 26207 people send their best wishes to Martin

:05:43. > :05:46.McGuinness today in the vote they've returned. We are date our other two

:05:47. > :05:49.candidates will be returned. We fought a positive campaign. The

:05:50. > :05:53.public have responded well. Here in Mid Ulster we have seen a 14%

:05:54. > :05:57.increase which is significant given that the average across the North

:05:58. > :06:01.has been a 10% increase. I think that sends a strong signal that the

:06:02. > :06:04.campaign we fought, people were motivated to vote because they

:06:05. > :06:07.understood the message, they understood the need for this

:06:08. > :06:10.election. It's a good day for Sinn Fein in Mid Ulster and obviously a

:06:11. > :06:16.good day across the board, some other counts are coming in. It is

:06:17. > :06:20.hard to read at this stage, we were just hearing from Stephen Farry and

:06:21. > :06:24.one of our guests in the studio saying there are contradictory

:06:25. > :06:28.trends and appears to be pollerisation, Alliance seems to be

:06:29. > :06:33.doing well in the middle ground. The DUP is also performing well in, so

:06:34. > :06:37.far as we know at this stage, you clearly have had some successes. So,

:06:38. > :06:41.one end of the spectrum, the other end and the middle ground all seem

:06:42. > :06:45.to be claiming some degree of success at this stage. I think it is

:06:46. > :06:48.a very interesting election. We have always said it would be a watershed

:06:49. > :06:53.election and it is early days so it's hard to predict the full

:06:54. > :06:57.outcome at the end of tomorrow. For me it's about now making sure the -

:06:58. > :07:00.when the votes are counted that my team's organised and will be over

:07:01. > :07:04.the weekend that we are ready to deal with the issues that need to be

:07:05. > :07:07.dealt with. There clearly are problems and I think particularly

:07:08. > :07:13.here in Mid Ulster and I can speak for the electoral who returned us

:07:14. > :07:16.and we are very grateful, I said it throughout the election campaign,

:07:17. > :07:20.when Sinn Fein wins, we win for all. We have a job to do to restore

:07:21. > :07:23.integrity and respect in the institutions, that's what I am up

:07:24. > :07:26.for and our team will be up for, we have a job ahead in the next three

:07:27. > :07:31.weeks. Sinn Fein will be at Stormont on Monday, we will be dealing with

:07:32. > :07:34.all the issues and we need to get down to trying to restore the lack

:07:35. > :07:38.of public confidence there has been in the institutions and trying to

:07:39. > :07:41.get to the bottom of all those serious issues, we don't need a new

:07:42. > :07:45.negotiation, we don't need a new agreement. We need implementation of

:07:46. > :07:49.what's been outstanding. Just to be clear, what does this mandate, if it

:07:50. > :07:54.ends up being as strong a mandate as you are suggesting it could be, what

:07:55. > :07:57.does that mandate give you you the right to demand, what will you do

:07:58. > :08:01.with it next week and the week after? It's not about demands, it's

:08:02. > :08:03.about people's rights, it's about the public having faith in the

:08:04. > :08:07.institutions and those people that govern. It's about making sure that

:08:08. > :08:10.we deliver for all citizens on the basis of equality and respect.

:08:11. > :08:13.That's what my mandate will do, that's what the Sinn Fein mandate

:08:14. > :08:16.will do, we will fight for the rights of all citizens, not just

:08:17. > :08:20.those people that elect Sinn Fein but those people in society. We need

:08:21. > :08:23.to have a society based on rights that people feel valued and

:08:24. > :08:26.respected and that's what we will go into the negotiation to secure for

:08:27. > :08:31.all those people that have come out in their numbers to vote in this

:08:32. > :08:33.election. Whenever you and I had a conversation on The View before the

:08:34. > :08:39.election you were clear about this and you said, I can't be any

:08:40. > :08:43.clearer, you will not go back into an Executive if Arlene Foster is the

:08:44. > :08:47.nominee of the DUP. You will not work with her on this side of a

:08:48. > :08:51.public inquiry into RHI. If you go back with a strong hand the DUP also

:08:52. > :08:56.has a strong enough hand and it says we are backing Arlene Foster to

:08:57. > :09:00.continue as our leader, and nominating her we are stuck. We are

:09:01. > :09:04.on a hook or have you thought of a way now on this side of the election

:09:05. > :09:08.that you can share with us to get us off that hook? Well, obviously I

:09:09. > :09:12.have said and it remains my position that we couldn't go into Government

:09:13. > :09:14.with Arlene foser in the position of first or Deputy First Minister

:09:15. > :09:16.whilst there is a cloud hanging over her, that remains the position. If

:09:17. > :09:20.people are serious about making the institutions work, if people are

:09:21. > :09:23.serious about power sharing, genuine power sharing, if people are serious

:09:24. > :09:28.about equality and respect, then whilst we might have a difficult

:09:29. > :09:31.period ahead in the next few weeks nothing that is unachievable if

:09:32. > :09:35.people come with the right attitude. It does not mean an Executive cannot

:09:36. > :09:39.be formed. You know Arlene Foster would say there is no cloud over

:09:40. > :09:44.her, she was a Minister, she did nothing wrong. She acted on the

:09:45. > :09:50.instructions or advice of her civil servants and the RHI public inquiry

:09:51. > :09:54.will get to grips with what did and did not happen. Some of the claims

:09:55. > :09:59.she says don't stack up. It's up to the DUP to decide what they do in

:10:00. > :10:06.terms of their personnel. It's not up to Sinn Fein. It's not up to you.

:10:07. > :10:09.I have always said it's not for me to dictate who leads the DUP. I am

:10:10. > :10:13.only interested in Government and institution that is deliver for all

:10:14. > :10:16.citizens. We can't be one-sided, we need to make sure we show

:10:17. > :10:21.leadership. The office of first and Deputy First Minister needs to do

:10:22. > :10:23.more, they need to step outside their comfort zone and through to

:10:24. > :10:27.the principles of power sharing and make sure the Executive works on the

:10:28. > :10:30.basis of equality. That's what our team are interested in. While we

:10:31. > :10:34.have a difficult period ahead we can achieve a way forward if people come

:10:35. > :10:37.at it with the right attitude, that's what Sinn Fein will do and

:10:38. > :10:41.that's what I will lead my negotiating team in to do. We are

:10:42. > :10:46.look to look at pictures of Gerry Kelly who topped the poll in North

:10:47. > :10:50.Belfast. I haven't the data for North Belfast at this stage. Maybe

:10:51. > :10:59.it's just... No, hasn't come in at the moment. He has been successful

:11:00. > :11:01.as far as your party is concerned. Also Elisha McCallion and Orlaithi

:11:02. > :11:05.Flynn, Mairtin O'Muilleoir, so a good day at the office from Sinn

:11:06. > :11:08.Fein's point of view. Yes, it has and it's great to see those

:11:09. > :11:12.candidates, first-class people who will work for all our citizens. We

:11:13. > :11:14.have said throughout this campaign a very positive message, we want to

:11:15. > :11:17.deliver for all citizens on the basis of equality and respect.

:11:18. > :11:19.That's what all those people have received a mandate for. I am

:11:20. > :11:23.delighted and proud of our team. I look forward to the rest of the

:11:24. > :11:24.results coming in it throughout day and tomorrow.

:11:25. > :11:39.Thank you very much. We can hear from Simon Hamilton, the

:11:40. > :11:45.DUP, successful DUP candidate in Strangford, topping the poll.

:11:46. > :11:55.Congratulations. Thank you. Was that a relief? Strangford was trailed as

:11:56. > :12:01.the real impossible constituency to call because unique, you had seven

:12:02. > :12:08.outgoing MLAs looking for only five seats. I am pleased with my personal

:12:09. > :12:14.result but this is a good result for the party in Strangford, our hard

:12:15. > :12:18.work through the years has been awarded once again by the electorate

:12:19. > :12:23.and the vote has held up and myself and Michelle McIlveen have very high

:12:24. > :12:27.first preference totals and I am glad that Peter Weir is polling

:12:28. > :12:33.exceptionally well and we will wait for the later stages but we are

:12:34. > :12:37.hopeful of holding onto three seats. Doesn't look like Philip Smith will

:12:38. > :12:45.lose out at Jonathan Bell is pretty much already out? That is pretty

:12:46. > :12:50.clear. Philip Smith is trailing by around 1100 votes so we will have to

:12:51. > :12:59.go through some stages but we will be hopeful that Peter -- Philip will

:13:00. > :13:03.join us. You have known Jonathan Bell for a very long time,

:13:04. > :13:09.constituency and party colleague and Executive colour, he has been

:13:10. > :13:13.suspended from the DUP, and he is still technically a member. Do you

:13:14. > :13:22.shed any tears at the end of his political career? You will remember

:13:23. > :13:29.before Christmas he predicted the end of his career and we will see

:13:30. > :13:33.whether the result today is the end, I am disappointed with what Jonathan

:13:34. > :13:36.did before Christmas, he took that decision for his own reasons and he

:13:37. > :13:41.has put himself forward to the electorate in Strangford who have

:13:42. > :13:45.not endorsed him in the way he thought. I am glad the people in

:13:46. > :13:52.Strangford held faith with the DUP and have held up the vote and were

:13:53. > :13:58.on course to hold onto three seats. Where have you been for the past six

:13:59. > :14:01.weeks? You have been remarkably low-profile for a man who was put

:14:02. > :14:07.forward at every opportunity by the DUP as a front-line spokesperson. I

:14:08. > :14:12.have not seen you in weeks, since before Christmas. I don't think you

:14:13. > :14:17.are vote in the Strangford constituency, I have been here

:14:18. > :14:21.working hard and that has paid off in the election, working hard to not

:14:22. > :14:25.just hold onto my own seat but also to help and ensure we get three

:14:26. > :14:30.seats in this constituency and that is hopefully but we will do. How do

:14:31. > :14:35.you read the overall picture in all seriousness? The contradictory

:14:36. > :14:40.nature of the figures at this early stage, what do you think is

:14:41. > :14:48.happening? More people voted this time than ten months ago. I think it

:14:49. > :14:52.is very encouraging that there was an increased turnout, Strangford,

:14:53. > :14:56.along with North Down, traditionally has had a very low turnout and it is

:14:57. > :15:00.good to see more people participating in the democratic

:15:01. > :15:04.process and the selection has engaged people and the issues have

:15:05. > :15:09.been important and I have had a consistent message around the doors,

:15:10. > :15:14.particularly yesterday, was people coming through the gates and they

:15:15. > :15:18.want the institutions at Stormont to be up and running, the Executive to

:15:19. > :15:22.be formed and the Assembly working on their behalf on the issues that

:15:23. > :15:26.matter to them in health and education and jobs and we have work

:15:27. > :15:31.to do over the next couple of weeks to ensure that this desire which was

:15:32. > :15:35.uniform across the board over the election campaign is something that

:15:36. > :15:38.we can deliver on. We get the Executive running again and the

:15:39. > :15:42.Assembly working and we have an Executive delivering for people and

:15:43. > :15:48.we continue the good work that was taking place with the new Executive

:15:49. > :15:54.until December. Congratulations again, we will maybe talk again.

:15:55. > :16:02.Simon Hamilton, thank you. We can go back to Tara Mills in Titanic. Naomi

:16:03. > :16:08.Long is here. An increased turnout has helped you. It seems so. We had

:16:09. > :16:13.a very good election, particularly in East Belfast, and a credible

:16:14. > :16:18.election for us. We have polled based on what we have seen with the

:16:19. > :16:23.best ever election result in East Belfast and beyond that, Stephen

:16:24. > :16:27.Farry polling very strongly with the vote up in North Down and the same

:16:28. > :16:30.with Kellie Armstrong, who was second in the poll, beating the

:16:31. > :16:38.Ulster Unionist leader into third place. This has been a good day for

:16:39. > :16:41.Alliance, and in constituencies where we traditionally have been

:16:42. > :16:46.week we have seen the effort we have put into building the vote paying

:16:47. > :16:49.off. In terms of the vote share. Very positive and I hope this

:16:50. > :16:55.translates into something positive when it comes to what starts night,

:16:56. > :17:00.getting devolution be established. So many interesting facets to that.

:17:01. > :17:07.In terms of the vote, who has come out, why has your vote increased?

:17:08. > :17:11.People who wanted to punish the DUP, instead of voting for the UUP have

:17:12. > :17:16.voted for Alliance? We did not set out to be the protest vote, we were

:17:17. > :17:20.clear that we wanted to offer a positive alternative and that is

:17:21. > :17:24.what we did. We talked about what we would do differently and how we can

:17:25. > :17:28.try to re-establish the Assembly on a sustainable footing that can

:17:29. > :17:33.deliver for people and people responded and connected with that.

:17:34. > :17:38.Rather than simply voting in protest or out of anger, they wanted to hear

:17:39. > :17:40.the alternative because was a degree of despair when we ended up at the

:17:41. > :17:46.election so quickly after the last one and people felt we had given up

:17:47. > :17:51.and people said that the high turnout could be good news for some

:17:52. > :17:55.of the established parties. We have found that lots of people turning

:17:56. > :17:58.out had never voted before or have not voted for a very long time but

:17:59. > :18:01.they were motivated because they were frustrated over what has

:18:02. > :18:05.happened over the last eight months and that has benefited Alliance.

:18:06. > :18:11.What guarantees can you give those people who are putting their faith

:18:12. > :18:16.in you? What position can you have? This time, not going into

:18:17. > :18:22.opposition, we will take one of those ministerial seats? We were

:18:23. > :18:25.very clear. Whether we would be government or opposition and this is

:18:26. > :18:29.about the quality of government and if there are other parties willing

:18:30. > :18:32.to work with us and if there is an opportunity to be in government, but

:18:33. > :18:37.if that government is open and accountable and delivering for the

:18:38. > :18:41.people and dealing with issues like division in society and other

:18:42. > :18:46.priorities, that we talked about in this election, we want to be part of

:18:47. > :18:51.making that work. If other parties do not want to do with those issues,

:18:52. > :18:55.we will go into opposition and hold them to account. We need to sit down

:18:56. > :19:00.with other parties at the end of this and start to talk about what

:19:01. > :19:03.we're going to do next week because we have a challenge. People want

:19:04. > :19:09.devolution restored. They want to see the Assembly working. With the

:19:10. > :19:16.obstacles that are in the way around Sinn Fein and the DUP, do you think

:19:17. > :19:20.direct rule is inevitable? I do not, it would be disastrous for Northern

:19:21. > :19:25.Ireland, a major step backwards. People were elected today to do the

:19:26. > :19:30.job, to deliver government, they have the responsibility and other

:19:31. > :19:34.roadblocks in the way, people need to remove them, to do what they have

:19:35. > :19:38.been tasked with, to get around the table and get devolution restored

:19:39. > :19:42.and start delivering for the people who voted. I am grateful to the

:19:43. > :19:46.people who came out yesterday, particularly last night in some of

:19:47. > :19:49.the worst weather of this campaign, and they were queueing up outside

:19:50. > :19:55.polling stations to give us a mandate, a mandate to govern. It is

:19:56. > :20:00.our responsibility to do that job and that goes double for those with

:20:01. > :20:05.larger mandates than ours. John Tong, do you think direct rule is

:20:06. > :20:09.inevitable? More probable than not, I cannot see any deal between the

:20:10. > :20:14.DUP and Sinn Fein, Michelle O'Neill could not have been clearer, she

:20:15. > :20:19.will not work with Arlene Foster, whether Sinn Fein is the largest

:20:20. > :20:23.party, they will not accept Arlene Foster as Deputy First Minister or

:20:24. > :20:30.as First Minister. There was no wriggle room. The DUP are likely to

:20:31. > :20:34.put anybody else in? That would be Sinn Fein choosing a leader of the

:20:35. > :20:37.DUP and it is possible they can temporarily put somebody else

:20:38. > :20:42.forward but this campaign has been about the DUP arguing that the

:20:43. > :20:46.sequencing was wrong, let us have the enquiry into RHI and if the

:20:47. > :20:52.enquiry is damning of Arlene Foster, there is case for her to go. I do

:20:53. > :21:00.not see any ground for movement on that. What you are looking at

:21:01. > :21:04.potentially is an Assembly sitting but basically scrutinising the

:21:05. > :21:09.decisions of James Brokenshire. 90 people will be places but in effect

:21:10. > :21:14.James Brokenshire has been elected because he will be the person making

:21:15. > :21:19.key decisions for the next nine months. I am also concerned that the

:21:20. > :21:23.enquiry, people assume that will clear the air, I would not expect

:21:24. > :21:31.the parties to cherry pick the findings down the line so we might

:21:32. > :21:35.have this hiatus after that. Sorry to be gloomy but this is not the

:21:36. > :21:41.road back to full blown devolution. In 2003 I was here electing to a

:21:42. > :21:50.government that did not actually exist. Naomi Long has shown that

:21:51. > :21:53.East Belfast is always seen as this loyalist citadel but that has not

:21:54. > :21:58.been the case for a very long time. Two Westminster elections with only

:21:59. > :22:02.a minority of people voting for the DUP and you are seeing today the

:22:03. > :22:08.Alliance Party performing strongly so the nature of that constituency

:22:09. > :22:11.is changing but the narrative today will be Alliance doing very well but

:22:12. > :22:16.the major narrative is the onward march of Sinn Fein. Glutton for

:22:17. > :22:24.punishment! Always coming back! Back to the studio. As John Tong said, we

:22:25. > :22:28.may not be electing an Assembly but just negotiators in the talks but

:22:29. > :22:31.nevertheless it is important to see what the strengths of the parties

:22:32. > :22:38.will be because that will determine what the bargaining power is. We are

:22:39. > :22:44.looking at a couple of swing constituencies, first of all, South

:22:45. > :22:49.Belfast. Many moons ago was an Ulster Unionist stronghold, hard to

:22:50. > :22:53.imagine that right now! The DUP topping the poll in South Belfast,

:22:54. > :22:58.closely followed by the SDLP but I very even spread. What has happened

:22:59. > :23:08.to the share? Just above the quarter. I was fast, there. We shot

:23:09. > :23:16.past Mairtin O'Muilleoir. One of the reasons he got elected so quickly

:23:17. > :23:20.was Sinn Fein added 3.5%. We're still waiting for any constituency

:23:21. > :23:23.where Sinn Fein or Alliance have a drop in their vote share. Mairtin

:23:24. > :23:29.O'Muilleoir at the top in South Belfast. Lots of talk about Emma

:23:30. > :23:35.Little-Pengelly. Possibly not making it. She is in fifth place. Why are

:23:36. > :23:43.people thinking she might not be the fifth MLA? Going back one step,

:23:44. > :23:49.there might be only one DUP MLA because Clare Bailey of the Green

:23:50. > :23:53.Party, less than 200 votes behind. She has a lot of potential votes

:23:54. > :23:57.that will come to her before they go to the DUP. Hoovering up from

:23:58. > :24:05.Alliance and People Before Profit. Does Emma Little-Pengelly stay

:24:06. > :24:13.behind Christopher Stalford? One of them is more transfer toxic and

:24:14. > :24:17.which one is more friendly? The last seat could be between both DUP

:24:18. > :24:25.councillors. Sinn Fein, SDLP, Alliance Party, pretty much home.

:24:26. > :24:32.Which DUP candidate comes through? And the Green Party might have a

:24:33. > :24:36.seat. And in Foyle. Elisha McCallion, elected on the first

:24:37. > :24:42.card. Impressive given that Martin McGuinness was not in the fray. We

:24:43. > :24:49.can see that Sinn Fein maintain dominance over the SDLP. The first

:24:50. > :24:54.time they have beaten the SDLP. Despite the fact that the SDLP have

:24:55. > :25:04.a party leader and the Minister and this is the change. Enormous rise in

:25:05. > :25:12.the Sinn Fein vote? Here we go. This is that swing. More than 3% from the

:25:13. > :25:19.SDLP to Sinn Fein. Pretty drastic and Sinn Fein is out polling the

:25:20. > :25:24.SDLP in South Down, that was the other remaining stronghold. Elisha

:25:25. > :25:28.McCallion is already there. Raymond McCartney will come through and both

:25:29. > :25:34.SDLP candidates but what about the fifth set? It is likely that Gary

:25:35. > :25:39.Middleton will keep that for the DUP, there are enough unionist votes

:25:40. > :25:44.in the Ulster Unionists and the Conservatives that I think will

:25:45. > :25:48.prove sufficient. That means Eamonn McCann, after decades of getting

:25:49. > :25:55.elected, trying to get elected, this could be a very truncated medical

:25:56. > :25:59.career? He has had a very early -- long career outside of the Assembly,

:26:00. > :26:07.it is too early to say goodbye to him! Eamonn McCann is not the driver

:26:08. > :26:14.and he won't have to wait for all of those lifts and trains and buses to

:26:15. > :26:19.take him back to Derry! Thank you. I want to speak to Paul Givan of the

:26:20. > :26:23.DUP, topping the poll in Lagan Valley. And he joins us. From the

:26:24. > :26:35.count centre. Congratulations, well done. 8035

:26:36. > :26:38.first preference votes, are you a relieved man this mid-afternoon?

:26:39. > :26:42.Well, obviously, I am personally delighted with the vote that I

:26:43. > :26:46.received, to get over 8,000 votes is obviously an endorsement from my own

:26:47. > :26:49.constituency. I am more interested in obviously the final tally when it

:26:50. > :26:52.comes to the end of the day as to how many seats the party gets and I

:26:53. > :26:56.will be watching as the count proceeds. We are clearly getting two

:26:57. > :27:00.seats comfortably in Lagan Valley, the last seat here will go down to

:27:01. > :27:04.the wire. It's between us, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP. There

:27:05. > :27:07.has been an increased turnout amongst the nationalist voting base

:27:08. > :27:11.here in the constituency and that's going to make for an interesting and

:27:12. > :27:21.possibly protracted number of stages here in Lisburn. If you lose one of

:27:22. > :27:27.your three seats it would be Brenda Hale on the face of it. Pat Catney

:27:28. > :27:33.is a bit behind but it depends, as it will in many constituencies, it

:27:34. > :27:38.will come down to the transfers and who could Hoover them up? It will.

:27:39. > :27:43.It is Brenda, Jenny and Pat I think will be the last three candidates

:27:44. > :27:46.vying for that last seat. There is a Sinn Fein vote there, obviously to

:27:47. > :27:50.transfer to Pat Catney and that's going to increase his first

:27:51. > :27:57.preference tally. So, this one we will have to wait and see. They're

:27:58. > :28:01.redistributing my surplus, there is a TUV vote, we expect to benefit

:28:02. > :28:04.through those stages and other independents, I would anticipate

:28:05. > :28:07.some parties will benefit from. That's obviously the way the PR

:28:08. > :28:11.system works, it's too close to call here in Lagan Valley. We fought a

:28:12. > :28:14.tough campaign. We increased our vote in the last election. Other

:28:15. > :28:17.parties were able to increase the turnout in their areas, as well.

:28:18. > :28:21.That's obviously now made that last seat something that I think everyone

:28:22. > :28:24.will be watching closely. Obviously we fought a hard campaign over the

:28:25. > :28:28.last four weeks. There are a range of issues that were brought up.

:28:29. > :28:32.Undoubtedly, people consolidated here around the DUP, they recognised

:28:33. > :28:37.that we were the party that they wanted to vote for. We need to have

:28:38. > :28:41.a strong party and today it's very clear we will be easily the largest

:28:42. > :28:45.unionist party in Northern Ireland and obviously the challenge now

:28:46. > :28:48.rests with us to find a way through the difficulties that exist at

:28:49. > :28:51.Stormont, people need to respect our mandate and we need to respect the

:28:52. > :28:53.mandate other parties are going to be receiving in this election.

:28:54. > :28:58.Ultimately, I do believe that we have to find a solution, that's what

:28:59. > :29:02.the people expect us to do. Good to talk to you,

:29:03. > :29:06.congratulations, thank you very much indeed for having a word with us.

:29:07. > :29:10.Paul Givan has been successful there. Topped the poll with over

:29:11. > :29:15.8,000 first preference votes. We have refreshed our panel. Good to

:29:16. > :29:20.see some new faces. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is staying with us, we

:29:21. > :29:35.have been joined by the Sinn Fein MEP Martin in a Anderson. Professor

:29:36. > :29:40.Rick Wilford. No stranger to our output and also Newton Emerson.

:29:41. > :29:43.Martin in a, first of all, you clearly within Sinn Fein have had

:29:44. > :29:51.some strong performances, you have had a few poll toppers, we were

:29:52. > :29:54.talking to your party leader here, Michelle O'Neill, and she was saying

:29:55. > :29:58.she was pleased with how things are going but there is a long way to go.

:29:59. > :30:02.Without doubt there is a long way to go. When you consider Elisha

:30:03. > :30:07.McCallion has topped the poll in Derry, first time out, a magnificent

:30:08. > :30:12.performance. Not just for Elisha but all of the candidates that were

:30:13. > :30:17.involved across the north, but her and Raymond, our vote is up, 16300

:30:18. > :30:23.in the Foyle constituency, that's the highest vote I think that Sinn

:30:24. > :30:27.Fein has ever received since we went out, Mitchell McLawing cane came

:30:28. > :30:40.close to that at one time or another. Here is good news, in South

:30:41. > :30:53.Down, 10256 first preferences for Sinead and Chris Hazard 8827. I know

:30:54. > :31:00.that Catriona Ruane was pleased, she was her election agent. She has been

:31:01. > :31:05.fantastic, Sinead. We have - there is a trend and a pattern across the

:31:06. > :31:09.north where young republican women are topping the poll and I think

:31:10. > :31:13.that's something we have seen as a trend the last time around, as well.

:31:14. > :31:17.We had a leader in Michelle O'Neill that has led from the front. People

:31:18. > :31:22.have said about this election and what it was all about. The election

:31:23. > :31:27.was about equality and respect and integrity at the heart of the

:31:28. > :31:31.political institutions. And that message resonated across, not just

:31:32. > :31:35.the city of Derry, but across the north. It is also to be fair, it's

:31:36. > :31:41.also the case that a lot of unionists have come out. The centre

:31:42. > :31:45.ground has held up well, the DUP has had good successes so far. We have

:31:46. > :31:49.spoken to some of the successful candidates. They were presumably

:31:50. > :31:52.voting for different reasons for a different agenda, for a different

:31:53. > :31:57.manifesto than Sinn Fein. You can't say the election was just about Sinn

:31:58. > :32:00.Fein's agenda. Jeffrey has a different agenda. Of course. I think

:32:01. > :32:07.that's going to be the story of the election. Martin McGuinness left a

:32:08. > :32:12.sick hospital bed to go up to the Assembly to say to Arlene Foster, to

:32:13. > :32:19.try to get her to try to instill a bit of humanity into that lady. And

:32:20. > :32:24.when you consider that Martin McGuinness faced down arrogance and

:32:25. > :32:30.disrespect, I can tell you across the North that was felt in a lot of

:32:31. > :32:33.republican nationalist homes. Jeffrey, I will give you an

:32:34. > :32:40.opportunity to respond. Presumably you would see things very

:32:41. > :32:44.differently. I do. And I think a lot of people, Martina, out there, will

:32:45. > :32:52.just think a little about what you have just said about humanity and

:32:53. > :32:58.Sinn Fein lecturing anyone on humanity when your leader stood and

:32:59. > :33:02.exonerated and eulogised members of the IRA who did a lot of... And you

:33:03. > :33:07.were a member of the UDR, you are not the person to be sitting there

:33:08. > :33:10.lecturing me about the whataboutery about the IRA. With all due respect

:33:11. > :33:15.to you... I didn't interrupt you. You are not the person to be

:33:16. > :33:19.lecturing republicans about the role of the UDR and the conflict. Hang

:33:20. > :33:24.on, let Jeffrey make his point. Respect means you let the other

:33:25. > :33:28.person speak. It means freedom of speech. I listened to you and didn't

:33:29. > :33:32.interrupt. Show this unionist a little bit of respect. I know it's

:33:33. > :33:37.really difficult for Sinn Fein to show any unionist respect. That's

:33:38. > :33:41.not true. You can't even use the term Northern Ireland, the very

:33:42. > :33:44.country you want to aspire to govern. You don't respect the

:33:45. > :33:47.country you are supposed to be governing. This does not augur well

:33:48. > :33:51.for partnership Government on the other side of the election. Let's be

:33:52. > :33:57.honest. Sometimes, Mark, you have to cut across the can't of Sinn Fein.

:33:58. > :34:00.Let's deal with the results. Martina is sitting here and it's almost as

:34:01. > :34:05.if everybody out there agrees with the Sinn Fein agenda. I have to

:34:06. > :34:10.challenge that. The DUP vote has held up well, despite the difficult

:34:11. > :34:14.circumstances that we are in, in the Foyle constituency the DUP vote is

:34:15. > :34:18.up. We have had some incredible results, in mid always, for example,

:34:19. > :34:24.our candidate there got over 2,000 more votes in this election. So, you

:34:25. > :34:28.know, Martina with the greatest of respect, I think Sinn Fein need to

:34:29. > :34:32.understand that there are still many people out there who do not accept

:34:33. > :34:36.the kind of agenda that you are talking about, Irish unity, Mairtin

:34:37. > :34:40.O'Muilleoir talked about, in South Belfast, the DUP beat you, the DUP

:34:41. > :34:44.is the largest party in South Belfast. People who voted for the

:34:45. > :34:47.DUP were not voting for Irish unity, they want a stable Northern Ireland,

:34:48. > :34:51.they want a Northern Ireland that works. They don't want, with

:34:52. > :34:54.respect, Martina, people setting preconditions, they voted, they

:34:55. > :34:58.voted for people to go back into Government. They voted for people to

:34:59. > :35:01.make Northern Ireland work. They want to see that happening. Remember

:35:02. > :35:05.that in the next three weeks, the DUP stands ready to go into

:35:06. > :35:12.Government. We will not be setting preconditions. So do we. We stand

:35:13. > :35:14.ready. We will not be going back to the status quo, that's something to

:35:15. > :35:19.be very mindful and clear about as we go forward. We need to treat each

:35:20. > :35:26.other and our constituencies with respect. And that means the DUP

:35:27. > :35:30.reaching out to the nationalist community, the Irish language

:35:31. > :35:34.speakers, Irish culture, changing names on boats, lifting Irish

:35:35. > :35:40.bursaries, the things that the DUP has done to Irish language speakers

:35:41. > :35:43.and our culture, that needs to stop. On this side of the election, the

:35:44. > :35:47.campaign is now over. We have fought the campaign. People have voted. We

:35:48. > :35:50.are now assessing what those votes mean. Somehow or other we have to

:35:51. > :35:54.put the pieces back together. Of course. And it's a question of

:35:55. > :35:57.whether the will is there on the part of the DUP and Sinn Fein, if

:35:58. > :36:01.they are returned as the two big he is parties t looks like they're

:36:02. > :36:07.going to be, is the will there to put the pieces back together?

:36:08. > :36:13.Absolutely, the will is there. Based on a political institution that's

:36:14. > :36:17.based on equality, it's based on respect and based on integrity. I

:36:18. > :36:22.need to pause there. The political will is definitely there from Sinn

:36:23. > :36:28.Fein. I will come back, we have breaking news in West Belfast.

:36:29. > :36:30.Let's hear from David Maxwell. Yes, welcome back to the Titanic

:36:31. > :36:35.Exhibition Centre. We have just heard in the last few minutes that

:36:36. > :36:42.Alex Attwood has been eliminated in West Belfast. That's a huge day for

:36:43. > :36:46.the SDLP, the SDLP represented in West Belfast for decades. That is

:36:47. > :36:49.now it appears at an end. We haven't seen Alex Attwood here in the hall

:36:50. > :36:54.today. We are trying to find members of the SDLP to get some reaction

:36:55. > :37:00.from them on it. But that appears to be it. We have it there. There it is

:37:01. > :37:05.in black and white, Alex Attwood, he got 4,000 total votes. But now

:37:06. > :37:08.excluded. We expect in that constituency that Sinn Fein will

:37:09. > :37:12.return all four of the candidates they put up, they spread their vote

:37:13. > :37:16.very evenly. Gerry Carroll is confident that he will take a seat

:37:17. > :37:20.there, as well. A remarkable day and remarkable news here.

:37:21. > :37:24.Thank you very much. We did predict there would be big name casualties

:37:25. > :37:29.in there, and there is a big name, Alex Attwood, definitely out, not in

:37:30. > :37:37.the next Assembly. It looks like there are interesting things

:37:38. > :37:43.happening in Newry and Armagh. Danny Kennedy is having a tough

:37:44. > :37:51.fight on his hands to hang on. Yeah, it's a torrid time for him at the

:37:52. > :38:02.moment. We have had two elected, William Irwin and Cathal Boylan also

:38:03. > :38:06.elected. A quota of 9154. Conor Murphy and Megan Fearon are close to

:38:07. > :38:12.the quota. Justin McNulty is just shy of it. They were doing a line-up

:38:13. > :38:14.and cheer in the media room, he said he wasn't celebrating prematurely

:38:15. > :38:19.but it looked like it to me. That means is that clearly it looks like

:38:20. > :38:28.Danny Kennedy is very much in the drop zone at the moment. He is on

:38:29. > :38:35.7256 first preferences, the foet at that is 9154. He would have to catch

:38:36. > :38:39.Connor Murphy, but he is around about 1200 votes ahead. It's quite

:38:40. > :38:44.hard to see where the transfers might be for Danny Kennedy at this

:38:45. > :38:50.moment in time now, we are dividing up - redistributing the votes of

:38:51. > :38:56.three candidates who have been excluded, the Green candidate, and

:38:57. > :38:59.the Alliance candidate, again as I said talking to people they can't

:39:00. > :39:05.see a way back for Danny Kennedy at this particular time.

:39:06. > :39:10.Thank you very much. That's interesting, if Danny Kennedy

:39:11. > :39:14.goes out, he is a former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists

:39:15. > :39:18.party, at Stormont. He is a former Minister in the Executive, he would

:39:19. > :39:23.be another big name casualty. We will hear from Rick and Newton and

:39:24. > :39:26.also Jeffrey and Martina again shortly and get their thoughts on

:39:27. > :39:29.what's been happening. Let's look at some results so far from Mark

:39:30. > :39:32.Simpson. Sglp

:39:33. > :39:37.What we have done is squeezed the 18 constituencies together. Made them

:39:38. > :39:42.all the same size. And made up kind of our own virtual map.

:39:43. > :39:44.We can see from some of the colours spread around most of the

:39:45. > :39:48.constituencies have at least some of the seats filled.

:39:49. > :39:54.They're marked on the floor. Red is the DUP. Let's take a closer

:39:55. > :39:58.look and look at North Down. As you can see, three seats filled there so

:39:59. > :40:11.far. We can take a closer look and see who the three new MLAs are.

:40:12. > :40:15.No big surprises there. Let's look elsewhere on our virtual map. Let's

:40:16. > :40:21.look at Mid Ulster. Of course that's Michelle O'Neill's constituency.

:40:22. > :40:25.Is she back in? Yes, we heard from her earlier, back along with the

:40:26. > :40:29.DUP's Keith Buchanan, Sinn Fein and the DUP together. We haven't seen

:40:30. > :40:32.that often in recent weeks but we saw it in the studio a short time

:40:33. > :40:38.ago. Let's move on, let's have a quick

:40:39. > :40:44.look elsewhere. Let's look maybe at Newry and Armagh. There it is.

:40:45. > :40:49.Finding my bearings! Two seats filled so far. One for the DUP and

:40:50. > :40:54.one for Sinn Fein. That's really been the pattern so far. The DUP and

:40:55. > :41:00.Sinn Fein neck-and-neck, more or less, across the 18 constituencies.

:41:01. > :41:03.But it's early days. As the day unfolds, you heard Jeffrey Donaldson

:41:04. > :41:06.say that, they're hoping that the DUP are hoping that more of this map

:41:07. > :41:10.will turn red. That's the situation so far.

:41:11. > :41:17.The new political map is starting to take shape.

:41:18. > :41:22.And it is absolutely fascinating, I can confirm that Michaella Boyle and

:41:23. > :41:31.Eric McElduff have been elected in West Tyrone. Colum Eastwood, the

:41:32. > :41:37.SDLP leader, joins us from his constituency in Derry. You did not

:41:38. > :41:42.top the poll but you came in a couple of thousand first preference

:41:43. > :41:47.votes behind Elisha McCallion, you will hang onto that seat. Any idea

:41:48. > :41:54.how soon that announcement will be made? We're not sure, we're going

:41:55. > :41:59.through a number of counts, we have increased our vote in this

:42:00. > :42:02.constituency and are very happy, two elected, Sinn Fein have had a

:42:03. > :42:08.fantastic result and across the North. Coming in ahead of us but the

:42:09. > :42:15.SDLP vote has held up and is going up and were very content. Confident

:42:16. > :42:20.that Mark H Durkan will be successful? Two Sinn Fein and SDLP

:42:21. > :42:24.and the fifth seed going to Gary Middleton, that would be the end of

:42:25. > :42:30.Eamonn McCann? That is most likely but I would not count out Eamonn

:42:31. > :42:37.McCann, there are a lot of transfers yet but Gary Middleton is the

:42:38. > :42:42.favourite. As far as the SDLP is concerned, the headline bad news is

:42:43. > :42:48.Alex Attwood, the very high-profile member of the party, first elected

:42:49. > :42:57.to the Assembly in 1998, has been eliminated? Were very sorry about

:42:58. > :43:01.that, Alex was in a very uphill battle and he has given his life to

:43:02. > :43:04.Ireland and the party and the peace process and was so involved in

:43:05. > :43:09.bringing about many important changes that we have seen in the

:43:10. > :43:15.country and we can be very proud of him and we will miss him very much

:43:16. > :43:20.in the Assembly team. He understood himself he was in a battle with

:43:21. > :43:25.proceeds going down to only five and the obvious Sinn Fein surge and the

:43:26. > :43:30.polarised nature of this election but Alex has been a true and good

:43:31. > :43:33.servant to the people of this country for many years and the SDLP

:43:34. > :43:40.in terms of the Assembly team will miss him. I wonder what he will do?

:43:41. > :43:45.It is very tough somebody to find the door closed on a pretty

:43:46. > :43:51.successful career. He was the minister in the Executive and a

:43:52. > :43:58.significant backroom tactician. What does the future hold for somebody

:43:59. > :44:02.like him? It has just happened, he will have time to think about what

:44:03. > :44:07.he will do next and Alex was a fantastic minister and very

:44:08. > :44:11.important to us in the Assembly team, I relied very heavily on him

:44:12. > :44:16.and if you think back to the years of service he gave through very

:44:17. > :44:19.difficult times in that tough constituency, and he also was at the

:44:20. > :44:24.forefront of turning around the policing structures in the north to

:44:25. > :44:27.make it easier for people from my community to join the police or

:44:28. > :44:33.easier for us to see change in the policing service and he has done so

:44:34. > :44:37.many things to be proud of in his record of delivery for people across

:44:38. > :44:42.this country and he should be very proud of himself. If you are looking

:44:43. > :44:47.for shafts of light, not many for the SDLP at the moment, Joe Boyle in

:44:48. > :44:51.Strangford is still in the mix for that fifth seat? The best

:44:52. > :44:57.performance by a national list there. He was almost there last May,

:44:58. > :45:00.there has never been a nationalist member returned in that

:45:01. > :45:10.constituency. He might just be able to sneak in? Yes, go has had a poor

:45:11. > :45:16.-- a fantastic performance, and all of our candidates across the North

:45:17. > :45:20.have been putting up our votes and I have been in this game too long to

:45:21. > :45:25.make any predictions, we are in the hunt for a lot of those fifth seats.

:45:26. > :45:31.The public have voted, but let the counters do their job and we will

:45:32. > :45:37.not make any predictions! I have got that wrong before. Many of our

:45:38. > :45:42.people are in the hunt for those seats and it is clear this has been

:45:43. > :45:46.utterly polarising election and nationalists have been so angry and

:45:47. > :45:52.they have come out in big numbers and Sinn Fein have the beneficiary.

:45:53. > :45:56.Thank you for giving us your time. We will talk to you when you are

:45:57. > :46:05.returned later on in the day. Thank you. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood at

:46:06. > :46:13.the Foyle College. We can hear from Newton Emerson and Professor Rick

:46:14. > :46:21.Wilford. -- Foyle count. The mixed message across the board, the Ulster

:46:22. > :46:25.Unionists for the SDLP are squeezed, the Allianz seem pretty happy, you

:46:26. > :46:31.would wonder how all of those things are possible at the same time? --

:46:32. > :46:38.the Alliance Party. The combined nationalist vote over the last cycle

:46:39. > :46:44.has fallen and this time it has uplifted considerably and Sinn Fein

:46:45. > :46:47.by the net beneficiary. You might argue this is an indication of the

:46:48. > :46:52.decision to trigger the election by Martin McGuinness but you could

:46:53. > :46:57.argue that was because the Sinn Fein leadership were pretty slow

:46:58. > :47:03.learners, it took them a number of months to gauge the antipathy felt

:47:04. > :47:08.within heartland areas in terms of their general distaste with the way

:47:09. > :47:13.in which the last ten months had gone prior to this election. It

:47:14. > :47:17.looks to me like Sinn Fein proportionately, their vote is

:47:18. > :47:22.increased in terms of the relative number of seats they will win. The

:47:23. > :47:27.DUP have gone down a little and the bad news is for the Ulster Unionists

:47:28. > :47:33.and the SDLP, I am not sure they will reach double figures. That is

:47:34. > :47:37.bad news for Mike Nesbitt and Danny Kennedy, unsuccessful in Newry and

:47:38. > :47:42.Armagh, there is no obvious successor to Mike Nesbitt because he

:47:43. > :47:46.cannot survive that count of hit he might get from the voters. The

:47:47. > :47:51.Alliance vote has held up because they are much more transfer friendly

:47:52. > :47:59.compared to other parties. Mike Nesbitt, that strategy of voting for

:48:00. > :48:05.me has not worked. That has not chimed with the voters. The DUP

:48:06. > :48:10.played that old trick, if you don't want a Sinn Fein First Minister, you

:48:11. > :48:16.must back the DUP and it has worked again. They are safe in terms of

:48:17. > :48:22.getting beyond the 30 mark. I think they will sneak over that line.

:48:23. > :48:28.Just. Sinn Fein will be very close on their tail and not very far

:48:29. > :48:33.behind the 28 seats they had in me. It is obvious but in our model of

:48:34. > :48:35.devolution there is only room for three parties- unionist,

:48:36. > :48:39.nationalists and other and if devolution is going to come back

:48:40. > :48:43.under this model, which is dubious in the short term, the long-term

:48:44. > :48:50.lesson is that going into opposition was toxic for the UUP and the SDLP,

:48:51. > :48:56.they are about to be crushed out of existence and that three party era

:48:57. > :49:02.has arrived. West Tyrone, Thomas Buchanan of the DUP topping the poll

:49:03. > :49:05.with over 9000 first preferences and Michaella Boyle and Barry McElduff

:49:06. > :49:13.aren't Sinn Fein in second and third. That personifies this, these

:49:14. > :49:16.big beasts, Sinn Fein and the DUP, slugging thing site in West Tyrone

:49:17. > :49:19.and they are at the top of the leaderboard. The story of the

:49:20. > :49:23.election and the anger that Colum Eastwood referred to at Martina

:49:24. > :49:28.Anderson talked about in the nationalist community is what this

:49:29. > :49:34.mandate for Fein means? To go back into Stormont reject Stormont? This

:49:35. > :49:37.was a campaign fought on anger at Stormont politics. What is the Sinn

:49:38. > :49:45.Fein message to take from the voters? Stay away or go storming

:49:46. > :49:50.back in? I have not done countless doors and have spoken to thousands

:49:51. > :49:55.of people over the past number of weeks through talking to people on

:49:56. > :50:00.the phone and at the doorstep and there is a genuine hunger and thirst

:50:01. > :50:06.for a political institution that is based on equality and respect and

:50:07. > :50:12.integrity. Is that Stormont? That is Stormont. You think Sinn Fein voters

:50:13. > :50:17.want Stormont to work? Based on the principles of the Good Friday

:50:18. > :50:21.Agreement. Based on what people voted for. For instance, you cannot

:50:22. > :50:26.ignore this, in the middle of this election we had this tsunami of

:50:27. > :50:32.Brexit coming down the line and there was debate within

:50:33. > :50:37.republicanism about consent but as stated in the Good Friday Agreement,

:50:38. > :50:43.an international agreement, it was lodged at the United Nations, which

:50:44. > :50:46.Jeffrey left his party over, it stated that the constitutional

:50:47. > :50:50.position of the North would not change without the consent of the

:50:51. > :50:56.people. Not exactly, that Northern Ireland would cease to become of the

:50:57. > :51:00.UK and become part of Ireland. There is no legal breach of the agreement

:51:01. > :51:08.and if there is any political bridge, that is a political issue.

:51:09. > :51:15.It does not have to be... I sat on the constitutional committee in

:51:16. > :51:22.Brussels and we commissioned legal advice and searched... I read that

:51:23. > :51:27.advice. Not in relation to the Human Rights Act, entrance of this advice,

:51:28. > :51:33.the committee report states clearly that Brexit will require an

:51:34. > :51:38.alteration to the Good Friday Agreement. There are to be no

:51:39. > :51:46.alterations to the agreement without the consent of the people. In this

:51:47. > :51:51.60 page report, one unreferenced line mentions that as an aside. It

:51:52. > :51:58.is more than one mentioned, there is a paragraph. Here is the issue. We

:51:59. > :52:02.are where we are and there are elements of that which you do not

:52:03. > :52:05.like and we have to move forward and the Supreme Court has made its

:52:06. > :52:10.ruling in London and whether people like this or not, Brexit is

:52:11. > :52:13.happening. There might be flexibility on precisely what that

:52:14. > :52:18.means but nobody is realistically suggesting that this will not

:52:19. > :52:25.happen? There is a lot of goodwill in Europe for the case we have made

:52:26. > :52:28.for designated special status, there are 25 overseas territories in

:52:29. > :52:31.Europe who don't have the starters were looking for because that is

:52:32. > :52:39.something additional but there is political will and I have met with

:52:40. > :52:42.the negotiator, I am one of those negotiators in the parliament on

:52:43. > :52:46.Brexit, we have met with commissioners and talked to parties

:52:47. > :52:51.whose government is around the council table and we have talked to

:52:52. > :52:56.hundreds of MEPs and they are all willing to assist us. In not

:52:57. > :53:01.wrecking the peace process and having a hard border in the middle

:53:02. > :53:08.of Ireland. Don't make problems when do not exist. Where does that leave

:53:09. > :53:13.the DUP? I have not met anybody talking about the need for a hard

:53:14. > :53:18.border. If Martina is going to get what she is aiming for, some count

:53:19. > :53:23.of special arrangement, she is going to have to get the agreement of the

:53:24. > :53:29.DUP for that. And we don't have any government here, we don't have a

:53:30. > :53:34.chance of achieving any of the things that Martina is talking

:53:35. > :53:39.about. Because the decision will be made by James Brokenshire and his

:53:40. > :53:44.team? Exactly right, we have three weeks from this election, it looks

:53:45. > :53:46.like the DUP and Sinn Fein as the largest parties, the people voted

:53:47. > :53:52.for us to get back into government and the challenge is... This is why

:53:53. > :53:57.I think it is incredibly counter-productive for Sinn Fein to

:53:58. > :54:01.be talking about preconditions and red lines, the people have voted,

:54:02. > :54:08.they want a government formed and they wanted formed right now. Is the

:54:09. > :54:13.flexibility going to be there on the part of the DUP over the next few

:54:14. > :54:18.weeks to make this happen? Clearly you will have a mandate but

:54:19. > :54:21.Martina's party will also have a real, fresh mandate for people who

:54:22. > :54:26.took the time to vote in considerable numbers? And we respect

:54:27. > :54:32.that mandate and we ask that Sinn Fein respect the DUP mandate. What

:54:33. > :54:37.people voted for with the DUP is something different to people who

:54:38. > :54:42.voted for Sinn Fein and we have to agree a programme for government and

:54:43. > :54:46.get the budget agreed and move forward. I am saying that we can

:54:47. > :54:49.only do that with the government, we have three weeks to form a

:54:50. > :54:55.government and the DUP is ready to do that. We are not setting

:54:56. > :55:00.preconditions or any red lines, get the government running and deal with

:55:01. > :55:04.these issues, including how we handle the question of Brexit. I

:55:05. > :55:07.want to let people know that Carla Lockhart topped the poll in Upper

:55:08. > :55:14.Bann. We have some pictures of her at the count centre. Professionally,

:55:15. > :55:20.you spend a lot of time looking at this. How do you square that circle?

:55:21. > :55:25.It seems that there is not a lot of common ground between Martina and

:55:26. > :55:31.Jeffrey on this subject? Big picture politics but this will influence

:55:32. > :55:35.what happens in the coming months? And on Brexit, squaring the circle

:55:36. > :55:39.will be difficult. The default position is that Sinn Fein will rely

:55:40. > :55:44.on primarily the Irish government and other friendly voices in the EU

:55:45. > :55:51.and Jeffrey Donaldson must be prepared to rely on the proxy of

:55:52. > :55:54.James Brokenshire to conduct Brexit negotiations for us. Jeffrey says

:55:55. > :56:00.there is no red line but there is one. You will not let Sinn Fein

:56:01. > :56:04.determine who will be First Minister if the DUP emerges as the single

:56:05. > :56:09.largest party. Sinn Fein say it cannot be Arlene Foster until a

:56:10. > :56:14.report exonerates her and that could take another year. In the interim,

:56:15. > :56:18.the risk is that on Brexit in particular and closer to home, the

:56:19. > :56:25.absence of any budget or a programme for government, we will have to rely

:56:26. > :56:29.on others to act on our behalf. In a part of the UK which is deeply

:56:30. > :56:36.divided over the issue of Brexit. I cannot see at the moment, given the

:56:37. > :56:39.clear antipathy is between Sinn Fein and the DUP that we will see any

:56:40. > :56:46.Executive in the next few weeks. What might happen is it might be

:56:47. > :56:54.like the wake of the 2003 election with the transition Assembly, bodies

:56:55. > :56:57.being given work to do to prepare for government and agree a

:56:58. > :57:05.programme, I can see the Assembly sitting but I cannot see at the

:57:06. > :57:10.moment there being any Executive. Plus OFMDFM. That comes back to the

:57:11. > :57:17.point that Newton Emerson made, what is Sinn Fein going to do? Where do

:57:18. > :57:24.they think the most political leverage they can exercise is, this

:57:25. > :57:31.is an existential issue, Brexit, and on this island. Where are they going

:57:32. > :57:36.to have any agreed plan from where our own Executive is about the

:57:37. > :57:40.Brexit position is going to be? We must rely on proxy.

:57:41. > :57:46.We can continue that conversation in due course. I want to give you all

:57:47. > :57:51.an update on numbers. I mentioned that car la Lockhart topped the poll

:57:52. > :57:58.in Upper Bann. Doug Beattie outpolled Joanne Dobson, that's not

:57:59. > :58:04.what happened last May. The raw figures, Doug Beattie 5467. Joanne

:58:05. > :58:11.Dobson 5132. Then Dolores Kelly. It's interesting down there. People

:58:12. > :58:19.thought based on last May Doug Beattie could be in trouble. Fill

:58:20. > :58:27.Lib Mc Guigan of Sinn Fein is not elected yet but probably will be

:58:28. > :58:33.soon. We have got... Deputy leader of Sinn Fein arriving at the Belfast

:58:34. > :58:38.count centre. There she is. Being embraced by party workers. There is

:58:39. > :58:45.Pat Sheehan. Alex Maskey, who else, Gerry Kelly there, as well. Fra

:58:46. > :58:51.McCann. Getting a warm welcome. A short time ago in Belfast at the

:58:52. > :58:56.Titanic Exhibition Centre our reporter spoke to people before -

:58:57. > :59:01.spoke to People Before Profit Gerry Carroll and asked if Sinn Fein had

:59:02. > :59:08.taken the wind out of their sails. As the campaign went on it didn't

:59:09. > :59:10.really feel - it felt more like the last stand, the establishment

:59:11. > :59:18.parties in West Belfast threw a hell of a lot of resources against People

:59:19. > :59:21.Before Profit and they misrepresented our critique and

:59:22. > :59:24.tried to put us in a box with the DUP, which is ironic because they

:59:25. > :59:30.were in power with the DUP for ten years. I think also there is an

:59:31. > :59:35.element of people thinking the best way to stand against Arlene Foster

:59:36. > :59:38.and her arrogance and her refusal to support equal marriage, there was an

:59:39. > :59:43.idea that people thought initially the best way was to vote Sinn Fein.

:59:44. > :59:53.But the question for Sinn Fein now is are they going to go into a

:59:54. > :59:57.Government without... Were they trying to steal your... They were

:59:58. > :00:01.talking about equality, our politics is red, our material is red, there

:00:02. > :00:05.was an element of that. It's worth saying that Sinn Fein in terms of

:00:06. > :00:09.RHI had their hands all over it. They were very late in the day to

:00:10. > :00:14.have any action and to call action and to do something concrete about

:00:15. > :00:19.RHI. I felt pressure on parties like People Before Profit in West Belfast

:00:20. > :00:24.and Derry. To what extent did your stand on Brexit have an impact? I

:00:25. > :00:29.think it had an impact because like I said it was all over West Belfast,

:00:30. > :00:31.there was posters put up misrepresenting People Before

:00:32. > :00:36.Profit's left-wing socialist critique of the EU, there were

:00:37. > :00:39.posters put up saying hard border wraut to you by People Before

:00:40. > :00:45.Profit, it's worth saying nobody is calling for a hard border.

:00:46. > :00:49.That was Gerry Carroll talking to our reporter David Maxwell at the

:00:50. > :00:54.Titanic Exhibition Centre. He didn't do as well this time as last May.

:00:55. > :00:59.Although he should, it looks like he should keep his seat. Let's hear

:01:00. > :01:04.more from the panel. Martina, Rick was putting forward a question to

:01:05. > :01:07.you, which is what precisely does Sinn Fein do next? You have raised

:01:08. > :01:11.your concerns, raised the issues, Jeffrey has talked about them, as

:01:12. > :01:14.well, we heard from Newton and from Rick. But what happens next? When

:01:15. > :01:20.you are faced with a possibility of either making Stormont work again or

:01:21. > :01:25.direct rule, which do you go for? Well, it's obviously about making

:01:26. > :01:31.Stormont work, based on the principles of equality, respect and

:01:32. > :01:34.integrity. I don't know what Jeffrey finds offensive about any of those

:01:35. > :01:38.words. I would actually conclude, dare I speak for the DUP voters, I

:01:39. > :01:43.wouldn't attempt to do that, we actually do respect the fact that

:01:44. > :01:49.you have got a mandate, but I do believe that for the few unionists

:01:50. > :01:57.that I have spoken to, I have heard comments made to me personally and

:01:58. > :02:01.on programmes that people found Arlene Foster's arrogance as

:02:02. > :02:06.offensive in that community as it was deeply offensive in my own. With

:02:07. > :02:09.respect, republicans don't have a monopoly on respect. Absolutely. And

:02:10. > :02:14.equality and integrity. Those are words. God bless us, we want...

:02:15. > :02:17.Sure, we want everyone, we would love everyone to use them, if

:02:18. > :02:20.everyone would use them and we would all start to apply them. It's

:02:21. > :02:25.practising them that counts. Exactly. The Good Friday Agreement

:02:26. > :02:29.promised 20 years ago a bill of rights for people in your community

:02:30. > :02:33.that would be able to have rights in addition to the European convention

:02:34. > :02:38.of human rights. What's offensive about that, Jeffrey? That's about

:02:39. > :02:42.your constituency and my constituency and all of the people

:02:43. > :02:49.benefitting regardless of what political party they vote for or

:02:50. > :02:52.what tradition they come from. Is that not an oversimplification of

:02:53. > :02:55.it? It's not. There is no such things for rights for one

:02:56. > :03:01.constituency. Of course it is. I am not going to repeat and get into the

:03:02. > :03:05.whataboutery, I could go on all day about Sinn Fein's lack of respect

:03:06. > :03:11.for Northern Ireland's identity, for the British identity of the unionist

:03:12. > :03:20.community. You know, but let's look ahead. Our colleagues here have made

:03:21. > :03:23.some very I think important points. The greatest issue here is where is

:03:24. > :03:26.Northern Ireland going in the wake of Brexit, in the wake of all of the

:03:27. > :03:29.big things that are happening out in the world? Northern Ireland is not

:03:30. > :03:34.immune from what's happening in the wider world. We need a Government to

:03:35. > :03:37.sort that out. Do you want to work together, can Sinn Fein and the DUP

:03:38. > :03:40.work together on a common goal of avoiding direct rule? I suppose

:03:41. > :03:44.that's the question people would like an answer to. It's a question

:03:45. > :03:50.we want an answer to. Let me be clear, I can only speak for the DUP.

:03:51. > :03:54.You are part of this conversation. I am going to speak... Absolutely, I

:03:55. > :03:59.am going to speak for the DUP. We want this to work. We are up for it.

:04:00. > :04:02.We stand ready. We will be at the door of Stormont on Monday ready

:04:03. > :04:06.within the next three weeks to form a Government. We will not be setting

:04:07. > :04:10.preconditions. We want to get, because we believe that you have to

:04:11. > :04:13.be in the Government to take the decisions to enable Northern Ireland

:04:14. > :04:17.to move forward. Now the question for Sinn Fein is will they be there,

:04:18. > :04:23.are they ready to be in Government? Are they prepared to take that step?

:04:24. > :04:26.OK. Newton, quick thought? The red line on the First Minister does

:04:27. > :04:30.appear to be the only red line Sinn Fein has drawn, does appear to be a

:04:31. > :04:34.stalling motion for at least six months to a year, presumably to see

:04:35. > :04:38.how Brexit works out, it appears so obvious that Gerry Adams is kicking

:04:39. > :04:43.the ball up in the air to see where it lands. I agree, I think we will

:04:44. > :04:48.get an Assembly all right, we won't get an Executive. If Brokenshire

:04:49. > :04:56.takes over what kind of direct rule are we going to get? Is it going to

:04:57. > :05:02.be a hard Brexit approach or not? What would it take to lever Sinn

:05:03. > :05:06.Fein into an Executive if the DUP then insist as they - would be

:05:07. > :05:10.appropriate for them to do, to insist that Arlene Foster is their

:05:11. > :05:12.nominee for First Minister. We will give people time to think about

:05:13. > :05:16.that. We will leave that question hanging in the air and come back and

:05:17. > :05:22.hear what people think about it. I want to go back to Tara. We have

:05:23. > :05:29.been on air, I thought it was three hours, it's a couple of hours on

:05:30. > :05:35.air. We have a few results. . How would sum up the mood where you are

:05:36. > :05:40.at the Titanic Exhibition Centre? Lots of issues to discuss. Mary Lou

:05:41. > :05:46.McDonald just arrived to a rapturous welcome as you saw earlier on. Let's

:05:47. > :05:52.talk about some stories now with Chris Donnelly, political

:05:53. > :05:54.commentator and Michael Mc Gipsey. You would be best known as health

:05:55. > :05:58.Minister. What's the story today, can you give a sense of what numbers

:05:59. > :06:04.you think it's going to be, do you think around ten? I think it's very

:06:05. > :06:08.hard to tell. We have a long way to go. It's fair to say we haven't done

:06:09. > :06:13.as well as we had hoped and there would be a measure of disappointment

:06:14. > :06:17.in the number. I think probably ten is on the low side. Ten to 12, but

:06:18. > :06:21.it's not the breakthrough we were hoping for. I have to be honest and

:06:22. > :06:27.admit that. What do you think that is down to? Well, I think we got

:06:28. > :06:35.caught between the two big parties. It's like a tribal vote. A tribal

:06:36. > :06:38.class. Sinn Fein galvanised their vote and at the same time the DUP to

:06:39. > :06:42.an extent got their vote out, as well. There is very little room left

:06:43. > :06:47.for manoeuvre for ourselves and the SDLP. Was it down to Mike's comments

:06:48. > :06:50.about transferring to the SDLP? I think there is a lot more to it than

:06:51. > :06:53.that. Certainly if you want to win elections and do well you have to

:06:54. > :06:58.have a clear message, you have to sell that message with sincerity and

:06:59. > :07:02.you must not make mistakes. I think we would look at that and in terms

:07:03. > :07:07.of our organisation and in terms of the way we go forward perhaps there

:07:08. > :07:12.are lessons to be learned. I think it's early days yet. There will be a

:07:13. > :07:16.few surprises left in this count before it's all over. If it is

:07:17. > :07:20.around ten or 11 do you think Mike's leadership is in question? I think

:07:21. > :07:26.the fact is we are a Democratic Party. We have an election for

:07:27. > :07:30.leader every year. Our AGM is at the end of March so you will not have

:07:31. > :07:36.long to wait to get the answer to that question. You have to say who

:07:37. > :07:41.else is standing in the wings looking to carry the gauntlet, carry

:07:42. > :07:47.the torch? I would have thought that - I would be surprised if we saw a

:07:48. > :07:53.challenge to Mike's leadership at the current moment and time. When

:07:54. > :07:57.you are looking at our performance at council and at Westminster, we

:07:58. > :08:02.have a very big membership, it hasn't worked on this occasion,

:08:03. > :08:05.perhaps the way we wanted it to. We will look at that and we will look

:08:06. > :08:09.at how we could have done things better. Really in this election this

:08:10. > :08:13.was the time you should have been able to capitalise on the anger that

:08:14. > :08:16.people feet about RHI. They should have been switching to the Ulster

:08:17. > :08:24.Unionist party, but in some cases it looks as if they were switching to

:08:25. > :08:27.the Alliance Party. I think that's certainly in Belfast, that appears

:08:28. > :08:33.to be the case. At the same time we have done well in North Down and in

:08:34. > :08:38.East Belfast. It looks like it was a swing to Alliance Party in

:08:39. > :08:43.Strangford. In Strangford, they have one MLA. In Strangford, so it's by

:08:44. > :08:47.no means the breakthrough, they already had an MLA. Although the

:08:48. > :08:51.vote increased and she outpolled Mike Nesbitt who topped the poll

:08:52. > :08:55.last time. That's true, but it didn't affect the seats. We have to

:08:56. > :09:00.wait and look at how we do overall. We will be looking carefully at all

:09:01. > :09:05.of those seats, and those constituencies where the DUP hold

:09:06. > :09:09.three seats and how well those three seats or DUP constituencies will

:09:10. > :09:14.survive and we will look at it again, coming from 108 to 90 is

:09:15. > :09:19.always difficult, the quota going up to over 7,000, it's difficult for

:09:20. > :09:24.us. We will analyse it better once we get the full result. Chris, a

:09:25. > :09:27.quick word on the nationalist story. Obviously, big gains for Sinn Fein,

:09:28. > :09:30.they've got the vote out, they've done well. Some could argue it

:09:31. > :09:33.wasn't that difficult given some ammunition they were given from the

:09:34. > :09:38.other side. Yes, I think that's true, Tara. The main story of this

:09:39. > :09:41.election is the reawakening of nationalism from a slumber which had

:09:42. > :09:46.been a theme over the last four or five elections. Just thinking last

:09:47. > :09:51.year, the 2016 election, the nationalist party, Sinn Fein, the

:09:52. > :09:55.SDLP, only managed to Garner 36% of the vote between them. There are -

:09:56. > :10:00.overall share of seats fell to 40. Sinn Fein are on course to perhaps

:10:01. > :10:04.at the minimum get 26 seats now, they could even match the 28 seats

:10:05. > :10:09.they had in the Assembly chamber last year when there was 108 seats

:10:10. > :10:13.overall. Right across the north we are seeing nationalists coming out

:10:14. > :10:15.and crucially in a number of constituencies the turnout with

:10:16. > :10:25.nationalism and unionism is such that the likes of Newry and Armagh,

:10:26. > :10:27.west Tyrone, Mid Ulster, and even in North Belfast which is in a

:10:28. > :10:29.psychologically sense a significant development there could be three

:10:30. > :10:33.nationalists and two unionists elected. We will hear more from you

:10:34. > :10:39.later. For now, Michael and Chris, thank you very much.

:10:40. > :10:44.Thank you very much. Interesting battle is developing in East

:10:45. > :10:50.Londonderry. I am pleased to say we are joined about by the independent

:10:51. > :10:55.candidate Clare Sugden. Nobody returned as yet but you have a

:10:56. > :10:59.decent vote just under 5,000 first preferences, you are in 4th place in

:11:00. > :11:04.a five-seater at the moment. Are you quietly confident?

:11:05. > :11:10.Yes, I am quietly confident, increasing my vote by over 1,500

:11:11. > :11:13.votes as of last year. So delighted with the turn out and the people

:11:14. > :11:20.that came out to vote for me yesterday.

:11:21. > :11:25.Talk me through the numbers, Keith arch I bald, 5800, and then the

:11:26. > :11:29.second Sinn Fein candidate and yourself and George Robinson and

:11:30. > :11:35.Caral Ni Chuilin of the DUP, does it look like the DUP will lose a seat

:11:36. > :11:40.and the SDLP will lose a seat as there was a split there? No.

:11:41. > :11:45.Certainly I think that the third DUP seed is vulnerable, as is the SDLP

:11:46. > :11:50.seat. We are in a position where there will be transfers before

:11:51. > :11:55.anyone is elected. I am transfer friendly, being independent so I

:11:56. > :12:01.hope to put up my numbers up to get to the quota, hopefully today but

:12:02. > :12:04.maybe Saturday. There is a changing representation in East Londonderry,

:12:05. > :12:08.with the turnout, I'm delighted to see so many voting. The people have

:12:09. > :12:11.spoken and when the political parties are negotiating post

:12:12. > :12:18.election, I hope that they take it into account.

:12:19. > :12:22.Turnout in the constituency is up 11.9 percentage points. And broadly

:12:23. > :12:31.in line with what is happening elsewhere. Claire, transfers, you

:12:32. > :12:38.are hoping to pick up transfers, maybe even from Gerry mull yen,

:12:39. > :12:42.former SDLP, now Independent, so you should hoover up. I wonder what your

:12:43. > :12:47.reading is across Northern Ireland, though? It looks like the DUP has

:12:48. > :12:55.done well. Like Sinn Fein has done very well it looks like Alliance has

:12:56. > :12:59.held on. The opposite ends of the spectrum doing well, the middle

:13:00. > :13:04.ground doing well but a squeeze on the Ulster Unionist Party and the

:13:05. > :13:08.SDLP? I'm not surprised. It is all very well, saying we must change the

:13:09. > :13:15.status quo but there must be an alternative. The SDLP and the Ulster

:13:16. > :13:20.Unionist Party have been jumping on the coat tails of the RHI scandal.

:13:21. > :13:26.Not taking leadership. It disheartens me as well.

:13:27. > :13:29.I would be a moderate candidate. I would like to see progressive

:13:30. > :13:32.politics moving forward. Hopefully there can be a solution to get back

:13:33. > :13:38.up and running. OK. We will see. Those are the

:13:39. > :13:43.numbers for a while today and maybe tomorrow.

:13:44. > :13:50.Claire Sugden joining us there from the Foyle arena in Derry.

:13:51. > :13:56.Now to the Aaura Leisure Centre in Bangor.

:13:57. > :13:59.And Steven Warren has a guest. The only Ulster Unionist Party with a

:14:00. > :14:07.success so far is that right? That's right.

:14:08. > :14:10.There is a successful candidate with me, Alan Sheamus, congratulations.

:14:11. > :14:14.The sole Ulster Unionist Party in Northern Ireland going to the

:14:15. > :14:19.Assembly. How does it feel? A huge responsibility. But I'm up for it.

:14:20. > :14:23.A bad day for the party? Well it is not looking good in some areas at

:14:24. > :14:28.the moment. But with the way that PR elections have gone, I've been

:14:29. > :14:33.around elections in Northern Ireland for 25 years, I've seen people

:14:34. > :14:39.salvage seats in the last-minute in the last count. So imoptimistic.

:14:40. > :14:44.Your party could be down to single figures? It's been put forward but

:14:45. > :14:50.the sad thing is that some of the people we may lose them but I hope

:14:51. > :14:53.not. They are good people. I'ved worked with them in Stormont. They

:14:54. > :14:58.are making a contribution to Northern Ireland.

:14:59. > :15:01.It would be sad to lose them. Why couldn't you make a break

:15:02. > :15:06.through? We hope that Northern Ireland will have elections on bread

:15:07. > :15:09.and butter issues but it keeps getting caught back to the orange

:15:10. > :15:15.and green election it is really very sad. You wonder when will we ever

:15:16. > :15:22.have normal politics? What about the comments to the vote transfers? The

:15:23. > :15:26.comments resonated positively for me as can be seen from my personal

:15:27. > :15:30.vote. It went up from 3,000 to almost 7,000.

:15:31. > :15:36.But it is not the same story in Strangford? I'm not so sure. But we

:15:37. > :15:43.will wait and see at the final count. I don't see the difference in

:15:44. > :15:47.Strangford until it was in May? Confident of the leader. I am.

:15:48. > :15:51.Thank you very much. Back to Belfast.

:15:52. > :16:00.Stephen, thank you very much. Let's get another story from one of our

:16:01. > :16:05.correspondents, Julian Fowler is giving us the story at Fermanagh

:16:06. > :16:12.South Tyrone. Arlene Foster top the poll but not

:16:13. > :16:19.elected yet? No. A different to last year, Arlene Foster polled 8101

:16:20. > :16:25.votes. But this time the quota increased with the higher turnout.

:16:26. > :16:35.It would have been enough to get her elected but she polled 8479 first

:16:36. > :16:40.preference votes, leaving her 232 votes short of the quota. Her

:16:41. > :16:46.running mate has increased his vote on the last time. In real terms, the

:16:47. > :16:52.DUP vote is slightly up on last year. The other interesting story

:16:53. > :16:56.here is in the Sinn Fein vote. No surprise Michelle Gildernew is the

:16:57. > :17:04.top of the three candidates there but in second place for Sinn Fein is

:17:05. > :17:12.the new young candidate, Gemma Dolan, 1,500 votes ahead of Shaun

:17:13. > :17:17.Lynch outgoing from the MLA. We have been talking about the Ulster

:17:18. > :17:22.Unionist Party lagging behind and rosemary Barton is 200 votes behind

:17:23. > :17:27.Shaun Lynch. But looking at the transfers and it came down to that

:17:28. > :17:32.the last time, she could pick up from the Air lines and the SDLP and

:17:33. > :17:40.she does have the fifth seat in her sights. So don't write off the

:17:41. > :17:46.Ulster Unionist Party yet. So, a lot of big names chasing the

:17:47. > :17:50.five seats down there. Big name casualties but let's drill

:17:51. > :17:56.to the numbers. So many numbers, not enough time. Before we get on to a

:17:57. > :17:59.couple of constituencies and do the number drilling, a word about the

:18:00. > :18:05.overall picture here. We have been hearing about

:18:06. > :18:09.Fermanagh, a constituency where it looks like the Ulster Unionist Party

:18:10. > :18:13.and the SDLP could take a hit. It is the picture of the election. In

:18:14. > :18:22.terms of the strength of the party groups, how is that looking? The DUP

:18:23. > :18:28.have a maximum of 32 seats to win, the Ulster Unionists, a maximum of

:18:29. > :18:33.11. Throwing in Claire Sugden, that adds up to 45. That is half of the

:18:34. > :18:37.seats in the Assembly. Some of the seats are marginal. So we can

:18:38. > :18:45.definitely say that there will not be as many as 45 unionists in the

:18:46. > :18:49.new assembly. Maybe 44 or 43. That is a contrast to the old

:18:50. > :18:58.assembly where 52% were unionists? That's right.

:18:59. > :19:03.56 out of 108. To 44. And the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist

:19:04. > :19:09.Party could shrink? They are going down badly. The Ulster Unionists

:19:10. > :19:14.could go down to eight. The SDLP could go down to six. An awful

:19:15. > :19:19.decline from where they were. We heard about West Belfast, where

:19:20. > :19:22.Alex Howard has been eliminated now to Newry Armagh. There is a

:19:23. > :19:29.veteran of Northern Ireland politics who may be in trouble. William Irwin

:19:30. > :19:34.of the DUP came up. And Boylan as we can see. Here is

:19:35. > :19:38.the share of the vote. Sinn Fein is dominant in the constituency. Let's

:19:39. > :19:43.have a look at how it worked out. There were fears on the part of Sinn

:19:44. > :19:52.Fein that they might lose the third seat but not on that 7% rise.

:19:53. > :19:57.No. Sinn Fein was vulnerable earlier but it has stayed the same if not

:19:58. > :20:03.increased. And firstly, let's have a look a the

:20:04. > :20:08.swing between Sinn Fein and the SDLP, Sinn Fein putting on 4.5%age

:20:09. > :20:15.points. Let's have a look at the personalities. Cathal OhOisin and

:20:16. > :20:21.Megan Fearon, they are keeping their noses ahead of Danny Kennedy. Is he

:20:22. > :20:28.in trouble? Worse so. I don't think he will be elected. 600 transfers

:20:29. > :20:33.coming from surplus. No unionist transfers coming to take Danny

:20:34. > :20:42.Kennedy to take him to less than half the distance. I don't think he

:20:43. > :20:48.will keep a seat. He was saying there are just not the

:20:49. > :20:55.votes for him? Yes. Now, South Down. Some extraordinary

:20:56. > :21:02.individual performances, especially from Sinead Ennis. But Sinn Fein, we

:21:03. > :21:11.can see there, oops, we have shifted through. Sinn Fein putting on more

:21:12. > :21:15.than 7.5%. And this is an in area that was historic SDLP stronghold?

:21:16. > :21:19.Yes, and Sinn Fein is now in the lead.

:21:20. > :21:25.And a quick look at the swing. There is Sinn Fein, 7% swing. That is

:21:26. > :21:31.remarkable. Margaret Richie is in trouble? She

:21:32. > :21:38.may have to rely on the unionist voting? That is the case.

:21:39. > :21:48.And if we look at who could lose out, and pointing out that Sinead

:21:49. > :21:54.Ennis is well connected. And Jim Wells is looking well.

:21:55. > :21:58.Are they safe, or is there a way that Patrick Brown could make a

:21:59. > :22:05.break for the Alliance? It is possible. Looking at where the votes

:22:06. > :22:10.are going to go, 4,000 could go to Jim Wells.

:22:11. > :22:16.There could be 3500 transfer votes to Jim Wells, which it depends on

:22:17. > :22:22.whether or not they follow Mike Nesbitt's advice and transfer to the

:22:23. > :22:29.SDLP or the Alliance. It could be tight for them for the final seat.

:22:30. > :22:35.And Carroll McKee, he will not have a seat for very long. It looks like

:22:36. > :22:39.he is well and truly out. An interesting situation.

:22:40. > :22:42.There have been surprises. I suspect that throughout the rest of the

:22:43. > :22:48.today, tonight and tomorrow there will be a few more as well. Martina,

:22:49. > :22:54.Jeffrey, Newton and are Rick are with me. We were looking at

:22:55. > :22:59.the numbers, having a conversation. Gives your thoughts on where you

:23:00. > :23:03.think we are now after a few hours of detailed results coming in? The

:23:04. > :23:10.story of the election is the huge rise in the Sinn Fein vote a small

:23:11. > :23:17.rise in the DUP vote and the centre degree is fated parties being

:23:18. > :23:23.crushed. The story being missed is Allianced a the Greens having a

:23:24. > :23:28.large rise. The Alliance up 4%. It fits in with the model. The future

:23:29. > :23:34.at Stormont is a three party system, unionists, nationalists and other.

:23:35. > :23:46.That is the only space that is left. Pictures of Alex Attwood coming into

:23:47. > :23:50.the Titanic Exhibition Centre. And it doesn't matter who or how

:23:51. > :23:56.important you are, you have to get a wrist band. Alex Attwood will be

:23:57. > :24:05.disappointed. If you are joining us he lost his seat in West Belfast, he

:24:06. > :24:10.has been an SDLP, MLA there since 1998. He will be gutted.

:24:11. > :24:16.He will. But a question mark as to who would survive. The story is what

:24:17. > :24:23.has opposition gained the SDLP? They have not had much time to develop

:24:24. > :24:30.but they have been destroyed. Claire Sugden has risen her votes,

:24:31. > :24:35.becoming the only successful independent MLA, elected because of

:24:36. > :24:39.personal appeal. Doing it by being transfer friendly and also by going

:24:40. > :24:43.on to the executive. She went into office, that is how she grew her

:24:44. > :24:47.professional. Operation risky but it paid off? It

:24:48. > :24:55.worked and proved that opposition in our system does not work.

:24:56. > :25:00.And a quick word, Nicola Manageon from the SDLP there giving moral

:25:01. > :25:06.support to Alex, Jeffrey, how do you feel looking at the pictures? You

:25:07. > :25:10.will know Alex well. You can't be involved in politics foe in Northern

:25:11. > :25:13.Ireland for 20-plus years without having fairly close relationships

:25:14. > :25:19.with people. Do you feel sorry for him on a day like today? I do. Alex

:25:20. > :25:23.is a decent colleague, one of the most decent I have worked with over

:25:24. > :25:27.the years. We have shared many experiences in political terms. My

:25:28. > :25:31.heart goes out to all of the candidates who are feeling as Alex

:25:32. > :25:36.does. Alex has been around a long time in a major contribution to the

:25:37. > :25:40.political negotiations and the peace process.

:25:41. > :25:44.You know, it must be really tough to take that walk that he's taking now.

:25:45. > :25:49.Yes, because there is no question about it, we were saying earlier, it

:25:50. > :25:54.will be interesting to see when Alex Attwood appears, if so, what he will

:25:55. > :25:59.say but there is a huge media interest in him being there. It

:26:00. > :26:06.takes guts to do what he is doing in the full glare of the public? Yes. I

:26:07. > :26:13.think that any candidate and let's face it, there will be 18 MLAs that

:26:14. > :26:19.will be subjected to that scrutiny, and human beings being what we are,

:26:20. > :26:24.you know, we would all feel that for any individual. I certainly feel it

:26:25. > :26:30.for Alex and for any... On a personal level are you happy to see

:26:31. > :26:37.the SDLP wiped out in we have Belfast by your party? What I am

:26:38. > :26:44.happy about in West Belfast, we look like we are getting four Sinn Fein

:26:45. > :26:49.MLAs. That is important. I would say as an observer, and it is not

:26:50. > :26:55.something that the SDLP will listen to what I would say but I would

:26:56. > :27:00.detect that there is a lot of negativity that sounds the

:27:01. > :27:04.commentary of the SDLP. It doesn't sit well within our constituency. I

:27:05. > :27:11.think, you know, there are a number... Negative commentary from

:27:12. > :27:16.where? From individuals, within the SDLP, that the focus, the attack is

:27:17. > :27:20.on Sinn Fein. Well, they are political opponents?

:27:21. > :27:26.Of course, we have broad shoulders and can take it but being in

:27:27. > :27:30.opposition, I don't think listening to Sorcha Eastwood, there today, I

:27:31. > :27:34.found him subdued, I think we have to listen to the mood of the people.

:27:35. > :27:37.There are things where we have common ground and there are issues

:27:38. > :27:41.we could engage. It is easy to say that after the

:27:42. > :27:48.election, you would not say that a week ago? We are trying to get the

:27:49. > :27:57.SDLP not to support this going through... Let's not go back.

:27:58. > :28:05.To be honest, with all due respect to you all, sometimes you are

:28:06. > :28:10.attacking, you are who you are. That's like a get out of trouble,

:28:11. > :28:16.let's not face the reality charge. We have to deal with the things that

:28:17. > :28:22.impact on our constituents. That was my point. Rick, you know Alex well.

:28:23. > :28:25.How will he be feeling? He is a gentleman. I'm sure his departure

:28:26. > :28:30.will mark the character of the moment. It will be a graceful

:28:31. > :28:34.departure, you will be graceful leaving the stage. Yes, one can't

:28:35. > :28:39.help but feel something for him. I would like to come back to the point

:28:40. > :28:45.made earlier about opposition and whether it's a vindication to go

:28:46. > :28:50.into the executive, where is the Ulster Unionists and SDLP chose to

:28:51. > :28:55.go into opposition. Strategically, in a sense, it wasn't necessarily a

:28:56. > :29:02.mistake. I think the mistake was, you have to you will burn in. So

:29:03. > :29:07.what the SDLP failed to do, I think, is articulate a coherent opposition

:29:08. > :29:11.programme. I don't think they ever got that together. Certainly when

:29:12. > :29:18.Mike said, vote for me and get Colin and so on, that was met not only

:29:19. > :29:25.with antipathy among his own party, I think the initial response from

:29:26. > :29:29.the SDLP was rather less fulsome. The logic of that announcement was,

:29:30. > :29:40.both those parties effectively become a split Alliance party. We

:29:41. > :29:50.have just a confirmation that in Newry and Armagh the SDLP have an

:29:51. > :29:54.MLA returned at this stage. What the election has done in terms of Sinn

:29:55. > :29:59.Fein, it's reverse a trend in terms of the downward share of the

:30:00. > :30:03.nationalist vote. The SDLP is continuing a serial decline. I think

:30:04. > :30:07.for the SDLP it's a really existential moment. What do they do

:30:08. > :30:12.now? They could be less than double figures. The irony is, when you look

:30:13. > :30:15.at the coverage after the BBC lead a debate on Tuesday, just about

:30:16. > :30:20.everybody I saw on Twitter and social media and in the newspapers

:30:21. > :30:29.said that very possibly Colin eastward was... It proves the total

:30:30. > :30:31.irrelevance of social media. Also the newspapers, established

:30:32. > :30:39.newspapers, where saying the same thing. He wanted debate, but the

:30:40. > :30:41.debate itself will not influence a significant number of voters. People

:30:42. > :30:47.cheer on their own side in those debates and that's the extent of it.

:30:48. > :30:50.If you look at the polling after the leaders debates, and look at the

:30:51. > :30:56.actual results, and we now have the first preference results all in. The

:30:57. > :30:59.DUP is the largest party followed closely, and it's very tight,

:31:00. > :31:06.followed closely by Sinn Fein. That could be significant. The fact that

:31:07. > :31:09.DUP have edged ahead on first preference votes could be

:31:10. > :31:13.significant when it comes to the final seat tally. Just to make the

:31:14. > :31:18.point, the results, the actual voting results are the mirror

:31:19. > :31:21.opposite of the polling after the Leaders' Debate. It goes to show

:31:22. > :31:27.that in the end people vote for parties. That's what's been

:31:28. > :31:32.happening here. The DUP, and I'm bound to say to the voters out

:31:33. > :31:36.there, thank you for sticking with the DUP in what were very difficult

:31:37. > :31:41.circumstances and returning us as the largest party in vote terms.

:31:42. > :31:49.That's a remarkable achievement. I want to break in. It almost sounded

:31:50. > :31:53.like a party election broadcast even know the election is over. Speaking

:31:54. > :31:57.to Steven Agnew, the Green party leader at North Down in his count at

:31:58. > :32:01.the aurora leisure Centre. I think you are still in the hunt, hopefully

:32:02. > :32:07.you will get the fifth seat. But it's tight. No, it's not tight in

:32:08. > :32:13.North Down, there is a huge gap between myself, over 5000 votes, and

:32:14. > :32:18.the sixth candidate who is on just over 1000. It's fairly comfortable

:32:19. > :32:26.but it could still be a long wait thanks to the vagaries of STV. Four

:32:27. > :32:30.people already returned. Looking for the fifth seat, you are streets

:32:31. > :32:33.ahead of everyone else. Are you hoping to pick up transfers from

:32:34. > :32:37.people as they are eliminated. You might be returned under the quota,

:32:38. > :32:43.that's possible, but whatever happens, it will take time. I will

:32:44. > :32:46.achieve the quota again. I'm confident of that, I'm looking at

:32:47. > :32:52.the parties that will be eliminated and votes will come my way. It's a

:32:53. > :32:58.matter of when rather than if. I'm pleased that in North Down our vote

:32:59. > :33:04.is up approximately 25%. It's been a very good election here. We had a

:33:05. > :33:08.bit of a situation whereby the DUP stud two instead of three, almost

:33:09. > :33:14.accepting they would be the party to lose the sixth seat, and the rest of

:33:15. > :33:18.us would remain as we were. It was almost a case of, who would get

:33:19. > :33:22.elected where rather than who would get elected. The ranking doesn't

:33:23. > :33:26.really matter at the end of the day from your point of view, as long as

:33:27. > :33:31.you are one of the five, that's all that matters. Thank you to Steven

:33:32. > :33:34.Agnew. We will keep a close eye on it, and we will chat when there is

:33:35. > :33:39.some movement and the numbers become clear. We can go back to the Titanic

:33:40. > :33:51.exhibition Centre, joined by the man of the moment Alex Attwood. I'm sure

:33:52. > :33:57.you are disappointed, but put into words what you feel about it. I'm

:33:58. > :34:01.bitterly disappointed, but more disappointed for the party in west

:34:02. > :34:05.Belfast and very disappointed for SDLP supporters in west Belfast. I

:34:06. > :34:12.feel much more for the party and people in the constituency than I do

:34:13. > :34:16.for myself. It's disappointing, the outcome of the election after so

:34:17. > :34:19.many elections and so many close calls. Last year it was described as

:34:20. > :34:24.the great escape, but it wasn't to be this time. It wasn't. As an Irish

:34:25. > :34:29.Democrat I live with the will and wishes of the people, even if on the

:34:30. > :34:33.far side of this election there might be outcome is that I don't

:34:34. > :34:38.think are good for the future of our country, nonetheless as an Irish

:34:39. > :34:42.Democrat I accept that. I have always accepted that, that's part of

:34:43. > :34:48.the calibre of the SDLP, its culture and ethic. It always will be. The

:34:49. > :34:53.SDLP held the MP seat, the Westminster seat 20 years ago. You

:34:54. > :34:57.have previously had two MLAs in the assembly. In terms of the narrative,

:34:58. > :35:02.what went wrong. Even when there was a bit of a protest last year towards

:35:03. > :35:07.Gerry Carroll from Sinn Fein, should that have been yet still be that

:35:08. > :35:12.capitalised on that? I think there was a surge towards a radical

:35:13. > :35:15.alternative, and maybe that surge in respect to Gerry Carroll has been

:35:16. > :35:20.brought back a bit in respect of this election. But yes, there was

:35:21. > :35:25.ground the SDLP could have better occupied. If there are any failings

:35:26. > :35:30.in that regard them first and foremost they fall to me. I have

:35:31. > :35:34.never been one in politics, be it in government or policing or in the

:35:35. > :35:39.constituency that has walked away from what I failed to contribute and

:35:40. > :35:45.what was primarily my responsibility. That's the way I

:35:46. > :35:53.feel about it. Yes, we should have occupied more ground. Gerry Adams is

:35:54. > :35:57.just arriving at the Titanic. It has been a good election for Sinn Fein

:35:58. > :36:02.so far. People have come out and the protest has gone their way. What is

:36:03. > :36:09.next for you personally? Will you stay in the party or go elsewhere

:36:10. > :36:13.for a career in a different field? I have been a political activist since

:36:14. > :36:21.my teenage years. I don't think political activism will go away.

:36:22. > :36:29.Really what's not important is who wins and loses today. It is, is our

:36:30. > :36:33.country winning or losing today? How do we now work through a pathway to

:36:34. > :36:40.get through where we want to be. We will hear from Gerry Adams. I want

:36:41. > :36:47.to thank all of those who voted for Sinn Fein. I want to commend a very

:36:48. > :36:51.positive campaign. This is a huge vote of thanks to Martin McGuinness

:36:52. > :36:55.and his family. It's a vote and a mandate that will have to be

:36:56. > :37:00.respected by the two governments, by all the other parties, for a step

:37:01. > :37:05.change, an end to the old status quo and a new beginning to how we do our

:37:06. > :37:11.business here. It's also a reassertion of our position on

:37:12. > :37:14.Brexit, that this part of Ireland should have special designated

:37:15. > :37:20.status. Whatever your issue with the constitutional staters, the only way

:37:21. > :37:25.to stop a land frontier between the European state and the British state

:37:26. > :37:28.on this island is to make sure there is a special designated status

:37:29. > :37:33.within the European Union for this part of the island. And finally it's

:37:34. > :37:37.a vote for Irish unity, for us to gather as a people, as Ian Paisley

:37:38. > :37:42.famously told Martin McGuinness, we don't need in this meant to govern

:37:43. > :37:50.us. Will your politicians take this in the next few weeks? Michelle has

:37:51. > :37:55.already indicted all the parties and the two governments to talk. We will

:37:56. > :37:58.do it this evening, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. We are

:37:59. > :38:03.there to do the business and we have a mandate to do that. We stood with

:38:04. > :38:07.a very positive agenda and we are clear on what we need. Essentially,

:38:08. > :38:11.what it is about, it's about agreements that have already been

:38:12. > :38:19.made being implemented. That's essentially what it's about. You

:38:20. > :38:24.probably can't legislate for this, a wee bit of manners, respect,

:38:25. > :38:29.treating other people the way you want to be treated yourself. There

:38:30. > :38:33.has been a lot of talk about red lines, what are those now the

:38:34. > :38:38.election is over? We have stayed away from putting out any red lines

:38:39. > :38:42.publicly. That's the way you do your business. That's not true, one of

:38:43. > :38:47.your candidate is talked about the Irish line which act as a public red

:38:48. > :38:52.line. If you knew that, why did you ask me the question? You said there

:38:53. > :38:57.were no red lines but a candidate standing beside you said there were.

:38:58. > :39:01.I said there were not any red lines clearly in terms of the all the

:39:02. > :39:05.issues that are agreements not delivered on, that are huge issues.

:39:06. > :39:08.What I am making as a clear point is, we don't need a really big

:39:09. > :39:16.renegotiation of what has already been agreed. Let's talk about

:39:17. > :39:21.delivery of what has been agreed. That includes the language act, a

:39:22. > :39:28.bill of rights, the proper working of the power-sharing core and the

:39:29. > :39:33.allied nature of this agreement. Has this strengthened your hand at storm

:39:34. > :39:38.at? It's a matter of us wisely using the mandate we have used. We would

:39:39. > :39:44.argue very clearly that we have done that so far and we will continue to

:39:45. > :39:47.do that. I suppose that is best personified by Martin McGuinness's

:39:48. > :39:51.commitment as our leader at that time to the process. As I said

:39:52. > :39:57.earlier to your college, I think it's also a huge vote of thanks to

:39:58. > :40:04.Martin and the whole McGuinness clan. Gerry Adams just finishing his

:40:05. > :40:08.comments in the media scrum at the front of the Titanic exhibition

:40:09. > :40:13.Centre. We will hopefully get him to the platform and drill down into

:40:14. > :40:18.some of the comments he made there to find out what his voters can

:40:19. > :40:22.expect after this election. Alex Attwood is still here. You were

:40:23. > :40:25.saying you have been a party political activist since your

:40:26. > :40:28.teenaged years. Can you imagine a role within the party that isn't

:40:29. > :40:39.unelected one? That's for another day. Given what I think of eastward

:40:40. > :40:44.and the new SDLP leadership, I will do whatever I can and whatever I am

:40:45. > :40:50.asked. If that is much or little, that's the approach I will adopt.

:40:51. > :40:58.Because the great project of the Good Friday Agreement, the concept

:40:59. > :41:00.of the accommodation of unionists and nationalists, the comments that

:41:01. > :41:04.have informed the democratic struggle over 60 years and the

:41:05. > :41:10.Democratic negotiation and agreement, those remain and must

:41:11. > :41:16.endure. Questions must be asked over the next while over whether all are

:41:17. > :41:21.going to ensure that they prevail and endure in our politics. We are

:41:22. > :41:25.now in a volatile situation. Hydro you see at playing out? I could give

:41:26. > :41:31.you four or five different answers do that. -- how do you see it planed

:41:32. > :41:38.out. British government might want to go in One Direction. Other

:41:39. > :41:45.parties might want to go in another. Are you worried about direct rule.

:41:46. > :41:49.Is that the worst-case scenario? We said in the STL P, especially in the

:41:50. > :41:52.latter days of the campaign, because red lines have been created with one

:41:53. > :41:57.side against the other, that trying to emerge from that with a fully

:41:58. > :42:01.functioning devolution that lives up to all the requirements of the Good

:42:02. > :42:04.Friday Agreement and all its strands, was problematic, and

:42:05. > :42:08.therefore there was a risk we were digging ourselves into a hole that

:42:09. > :42:14.would lead to direct rule, the end of evolution for now, and a hard

:42:15. > :42:15.unionist, hard Tory and hard government in London running the

:42:16. > :42:28.place. east Does it frustrate you are no

:42:29. > :42:35.longer involved with the system that was part of the Good Friday

:42:36. > :42:38.Agreement? Well, hopefully, I will have made some difference to many

:42:39. > :42:42.people, a large number of people in Northern Ireland.

:42:43. > :42:47.So, we haven't seen the last of you? Look, I'm not going to brow phrases

:42:48. > :42:50.like that from somebody else. All right, Alex. Commiserations to

:42:51. > :42:55.you. Thank you very much, Tara. Instead

:42:56. > :43:01.of drilling down to a constituency, let's have a look at the overall

:43:02. > :43:05.picture as it is emerging. This is the state of the parties in the new

:43:06. > :43:11.assembly. We should bear in mind there have been 24 of the 94 seats

:43:12. > :43:16.declared. So a long way to go. Sinn Fein are topping the table with 11

:43:17. > :43:21.MLAs voted for. They have done well. In every

:43:22. > :43:26.constituency the vote has gone up and good at dividing the votes

:43:27. > :43:36.between the candidates. And symbolic of how bad it has been

:43:37. > :43:41.for the official parties? OK, let's go on to the share of the vote. We

:43:42. > :43:46.have that. This is the first preference votes for the parties.

:43:47. > :43:50.Here we see that the DUP, even though under pressure, they just

:43:51. > :43:57.marginally are still the largest party in terms of first preference

:43:58. > :44:02.votes? Yes. And not totally unprecedented for Sinn Fein to be

:44:03. > :44:06.one of the biggest parties. But this would have been, they are

:44:07. > :44:10.close to being the first party in the assembly election for the first

:44:11. > :44:18.time. And the two big power brokers, the

:44:19. > :44:24.Sinn Fein and the DUP. Let's have a look at the movement.

:44:25. > :44:28.The DUP under pressure in the campaign. In relation to the

:44:29. > :44:32.Renewable Heat Incentive saga. Do you think that they will be happy

:44:33. > :44:37.with the drop? I think that they will and expect it to go down

:44:38. > :44:45.further. The opinion polls suggested it would be worse. It increased

:44:46. > :44:51.although in South Down and in Upper Bann, up 7%. So chinks in the light.

:44:52. > :44:56.But Sinn Fein are the big winners so far in the election. At one point

:44:57. > :45:00.considered the mud guards to the executive but their decision to cut

:45:01. > :45:06.loose and allow the people to have their say seems to have paid off? It

:45:07. > :45:12.seems to have justified a strategy, if it was, of course.

:45:13. > :45:20.We will be hearing where the unionists and the SDLP got it wrong.

:45:21. > :45:29.But the SDLP have just dropped marginally, and the DUP put on in

:45:30. > :45:34.some circumstances? Well, there was a shift from two/five to six and

:45:35. > :45:40.what it would mean. But thoufr is the worth result for the SDLP. The

:45:41. > :45:46.worst ever result for the party. So, clinging tonne the seats.

:45:47. > :45:50.They needed to do more. And the Alliance doing well in percentage

:45:51. > :45:57.terms? A good result in share increase and a good result in terms

:45:58. > :46:03.of keeping seats. All eight of their seats are safe and a chance of a

:46:04. > :46:08.gain in South Down. My reading of the maths of the new assembly, is

:46:09. > :46:14.that under the rules you must have 8% of the new assembly to qualify

:46:15. > :46:19.being in the same position? So by staying the same they should

:46:20. > :46:21.qualify? Indeed, and the SDLP may not.

:46:22. > :46:25.Thank you very much. There we leave it on that note. Back

:46:26. > :46:33.to you, Mark. Thank you very much. Interesting to

:46:34. > :46:35.see the overall picture in and it's facts, counterfacts and

:46:36. > :46:41.contradictions. I want to go to Stephen Walker,

:46:42. > :46:47.following the counts in North Down and Strangford. Kelly Armstrong of

:46:48. > :46:51.Alliance has been returned. What is the Ulster Unionist Party

:46:52. > :46:57.picture in Strangford? Have you worked it out yet? Just before you

:46:58. > :47:02.came to me, I had a word with Mike Nesbitt, below me in the counting

:47:03. > :47:08.hall. I asked if he would be talking to the media. He said not today. The

:47:09. > :47:15.body language was not very good. He looked despondent. The camp here has

:47:16. > :47:20.looked gloomiment the biggest smiles on the faces of the DUP activist

:47:21. > :47:24.supporters. So a bad day for the Ulster Unionist Party in Strangford.

:47:25. > :47:30.Hoping to get the fifth seat with Phillip Smith. As the numbers are

:47:31. > :47:35.being crunched it looks like Peter Weir is in the driving seat for the

:47:36. > :47:41.fifth seat in Strangford. Mike Nesbitt will hold on to his

:47:42. > :47:44.seat, though, he will be disappointed that Phillip Smith may

:47:45. > :47:49.lose out, he will be back but not clear how many he will have with

:47:50. > :47:52.him? That's right. There is no confirmation that Mike Nesbitt is

:47:53. > :47:58.home and dry but the expectation is that he will take the seat. He was

:47:59. > :48:02.hoping to bring his running mate, Phillip Smith along with him. In the

:48:03. > :48:10.last election, Smith did not poll well. But there were transfers. That

:48:11. > :48:16.may not happen as much as last time Mike Nesbitt topped the poll but on

:48:17. > :48:24.this occasion, it didn't happen, Simon Hamilton did.

:48:25. > :48:29.In North Down, Allen Chambers polled well but in terms of Strangford,

:48:30. > :48:31.they had high hopes to bring in Phillip Smith as the second

:48:32. > :48:36.candidate. As we are going from six seats to

:48:37. > :48:42.five seats, we made the point earlier, the quota is up from 14.3%

:48:43. > :48:49.2016.7%. So a bigger ask to win a seat this time around. And the

:48:50. > :48:58.complicating factors of the other issues in the election.

:48:59. > :49:10.Let's have a chat with Eida Duncan. What is happening where you are? The

:49:11. > :49:15.first headline we have heard about is that Declan Kurney has been

:49:16. > :49:21.elected with more than 7,000 votes. But things are happening differently

:49:22. > :49:25.here. We are not getting the declarations with everybody gathered

:49:26. > :49:30.around. There is a clap from below and we are handed a piece of paper

:49:31. > :49:37.that says somebody has been elected. Declan concerny is the first elected

:49:38. > :49:41.in South Antrim. In the east we have had David hilled itch and the

:49:42. > :49:44.electorate officer spoke to the candidates and agreed that they will

:49:45. > :49:49.not have individual declarations after each person that has been

:49:50. > :49:52.elected. They are to wait until the end and then announce all five

:49:53. > :49:57.together. So we will have to wait and see and we'll get all of the

:49:58. > :50:05.applause all in one go. They say it's an attempt to speed things up.

:50:06. > :50:11.But we have had one person elected in South Antrim and one person

:50:12. > :50:19.elected in East Antrim. In the south, Declan concerny has topped

:50:20. > :50:28.the vote. David Ford is doing well. The DUP, Paul Girvan is polling

:50:29. > :50:32.well. There is Pam Cameron and Trevor Clark also from the DUP it

:50:33. > :50:37.looks like they are battling it out for the seats.

:50:38. > :50:42.Thank you very much. We will stay in touch as the afternoon unfolds.

:50:43. > :50:47.Let's go to Foyle. Let's join my colleague there with

:50:48. > :50:52.Raymond McCarthy. He just held on to his seat, Kieron? That's right.

:50:53. > :50:56.Stephen Walker was talking about body language. I think that the body

:50:57. > :51:01.language of Sinn Fein in Foyle is one of jubilation.

:51:02. > :51:08.Your party delivered on the two seats here in Foyle? We have fought

:51:09. > :51:13.an energy gettic campaign. To set the target to return two MLAs back

:51:14. > :51:18.to the assembly. We have seen on the doors, the mood of the people. I

:51:19. > :51:23.think most people understood Martin McGuinness and how he was very much

:51:24. > :51:30.a matter part of the campaign, even if he was not on the campaign trail,

:51:31. > :51:35.he was a great motivating factor. Yesterday we knew early on that the

:51:36. > :51:40.vote was responding. Today with the size of the vote, I think it is the

:51:41. > :51:45.highest total that Sinn Fein has gotten in Foyle. So it sent a clear

:51:46. > :51:49.message in terms of whether or not the right decision was made to

:51:50. > :51:55.collapse the executive. A day of mixed emotions but also for

:51:56. > :52:01.the republicans here? Absolutely. The Sinn Fein in the city were

:52:02. > :52:08.outstanding. Martin was at each of the collections, and told people

:52:09. > :52:12.that it broke his heart he could not stand in the election. I have no

:52:13. > :52:18.doubt he will be watching the programme and will have a smile on

:52:19. > :52:23.his face. He mows what the average was put on Derry but looking at the

:52:24. > :52:28.rums, he will be saying job well done.

:52:29. > :52:32.I know that health is a private matter but a lot of people are

:52:33. > :52:39.wanting to know, how is Martin McGuinness? Well, he is a private

:52:40. > :52:43.family, and we respect that. He is going through his treatment. We hope

:52:44. > :52:47.he will be well soon and that we see him again.

:52:48. > :52:51.On Monday, when the dust settles, what happens then? We have to see

:52:52. > :52:56.how the results pan out today and tomorrow. The electorate will have

:52:57. > :53:01.sent a clear message to us. That we did the right thing. And we are

:53:02. > :53:06.going back to the negotiations, to be saying clearly, that there are

:53:07. > :53:09.agreements previously made. We must treat people with dignity and

:53:10. > :53:14.respect, that is the basis on the assembly and how it functions. So

:53:15. > :53:20.that is how we are talking with our negotiations with any party.

:53:21. > :53:24.Do you think that there could be an executive, given the level of

:53:25. > :53:27.insults that that you your party has traded with the DUP and the poisoned

:53:28. > :53:35.atmosphere that is there at the moment? Absolutely. We told it as we

:53:36. > :53:40.see it. That is our duty. We make pledges to people when we stand in

:53:41. > :53:45.elections. So therefore, if we say we are standing up for citizens'

:53:46. > :53:50.rights, that is not insulting language. If we stand for the Irish

:53:51. > :53:56.language, the gay community, any of those citizens that feel left out,

:53:57. > :54:01.who are telling us clearly, that they are not trading insults, that

:54:02. > :54:08.is telling it as it is. That is what Palestinianings is about.

:54:09. > :54:13.You are confident about that? There is no disagreement. If the

:54:14. > :54:18.electorate is responding to us, we should listen to the electorate.

:54:19. > :54:33.Thank you very much for that, Kieron. Now to the Lagan Valley

:54:34. > :54:38.Centre in Lisburn. I'm sure you have looked at the 23478s, and Sinead has

:54:39. > :54:44.but it looks like Sinead is second in the leaderboard two votes behind

:54:45. > :54:48.Sinn Fein's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill? I wonder if she

:54:49. > :54:52.would have been pleased if she had been knocked off the top spot? I

:54:53. > :54:56.don't know about that but I'm sure that Sinn Fein are delighted with

:54:57. > :55:05.the performance in South Down. Chris has been elected as well. Topping

:55:06. > :55:09.the poll, Sinead Ennis, and Sinn Fein overtaking the SDLP. Do you

:55:10. > :55:15.think that was inevitable in this election? I think it was. It has

:55:16. > :55:19.been on the cards for a number of elections. I'm delighted to have

:55:20. > :55:25.done it in spectacular fashion this time around.

:55:26. > :55:29.Does it matter who tops the poll from the party's perspective?

:55:30. > :55:34.Topping the poll is not what we go into the election to achieve. We

:55:35. > :55:37.want to increase the mandate. I am glad we've been able to play a part

:55:38. > :55:41.in that. How much are you looking forward to

:55:42. > :55:46.serving in an assembly? You come from the council. But there is a

:55:47. > :55:51.doubt as to when we will have an executive and an assembly? As I

:55:52. > :55:57.said, we are going to let the results sink in. Going into the next

:55:58. > :56:02.few weeks with an open mind and hearts. We want to see the executive

:56:03. > :56:06.up and running. Obviously I'm a councillor, it is a step up but

:56:07. > :56:12.ready for the job and excited to see the assembly up and running.

:56:13. > :56:19.Talking to Jim Wells earlier, he said that RHI was no the an issue in

:56:20. > :56:27.South Down, was he rapping the wrong doors? What were you hearing? It was

:56:28. > :56:34.a huge issue for people. People wanted to engage like never before.

:56:35. > :56:39.I was commented, that this election is not about street lights but civil

:56:40. > :56:42.rights. So I don't know what doors he was knocking. They were not the

:56:43. > :56:48.same as ours. What will Sinn Fein do with the

:56:49. > :56:55.mandate it gets? What will it deliver? We said it was about

:56:56. > :56:59.fighting Brexit, returning integrity to Government. They want the

:57:00. > :57:03.executive to work. So that's the priority, to deliver for people.

:57:04. > :57:07.That is what we are going into the negotiations to achieve.

:57:08. > :57:13.Are you intimidated by going to the assembly from the council. Many have

:57:14. > :57:20.done it before but no apprehension there? Och, no. Obviously it is a

:57:21. > :57:23.big step up. But Chris is a seasoned politicians, and he was with the

:57:24. > :57:27.minister for infrastructure last time. So I have lots of help and

:57:28. > :57:35.support. Chris and I are a team. We'll do the job together.

:57:36. > :57:41.And briefly, the DUP will poll strongly, one assumes, we don't have

:57:42. > :57:45.the final figures, will that make reaching an agreement more difficult

:57:46. > :57:49.to make with both parties potentially coming from a position

:57:50. > :57:54.of strength? It is early days. We have to see the final count. But I

:57:55. > :57:58.can only speak for ourselves. We're getting into this to make sure that

:57:59. > :58:02.the institutions are back up and running and delivering. I hope that

:58:03. > :58:06.the DUP approach it from the same perspective as well.

:58:07. > :58:13.Thank you very much for joining us. With that from the Lagan Valley, it

:58:14. > :58:18.is back it you in the studio. A few more results to share with

:58:19. > :58:26.you. Sinn Fein has secured his seat and

:58:27. > :58:32.from Ulster, we have been joined by Michelle O'Neill, in as well. So

:58:33. > :58:35.three seats there. It looks like the Ulster Unionist parties could

:58:36. > :58:39.anybody difficulty there. I will keep you up-to-date with the

:58:40. > :58:43.developments as they happen. Let's go back to my panel.

:58:44. > :58:47.We will consider some of what we have been listening to.

:58:48. > :58:53.Rick, no huge changes. It is pretty much as we were in terms of the

:58:54. > :58:58.direction of travel. I wanted to ask you about what Newton was saying

:58:59. > :59:04.earlier on, if we can deduce anything it may be that the decision

:59:05. > :59:06.to move into opposition by the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party was a

:59:07. > :59:13.big mistake? It was because I don't think they

:59:14. > :59:18.made a good fist of it. It was a hard thing to do. And they haven't

:59:19. > :59:22.had much time, to be fair, only eight months before the election was

:59:23. > :59:26.called. Nevertheless, one would expect to see some coherence evident

:59:27. > :59:31.as they approach the election campaign proper. It really wasn't

:59:32. > :59:40.there. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was decidedly weak. Many

:59:41. > :59:43.in the STL P were rather about the idea anyway. They're bigger battle

:59:44. > :59:48.was with Sinn Fein and they have clearly lost that battle. I don't

:59:49. > :59:52.know if the SDLP will get enough seats to go into opposition in this

:59:53. > :00:00.coming Assembly. A formal opposition as it were. We talked about this

:00:01. > :00:04.earlier and they said eastward did well in the debates, there was an

:00:05. > :00:07.appetite for change and people came out to vote because they were

:00:08. > :00:13.energised in a way they were not ten months ago. You think that might

:00:14. > :00:20.have percolated through in a way that the SDLP might have done

:00:21. > :00:25.better. -- Colum Eastwood. Looking back, the trajectory of vote share

:00:26. > :00:30.of the both DUP and Sinn Fein, they virtually run in parallel. This time

:00:31. > :00:35.they have almost converged. I think the DUP is just 0.2% in terms of

:00:36. > :00:40.vote share ahead. They are converging the electorate. There is

:00:41. > :00:44.a sense now that Northern Ireland, as Newton hinted at earlier, it's

:00:45. > :00:52.now a 2.5 party system we have. The two big parties in our alliance, I

:00:53. > :00:57.think quite frankly the one party leader who will not survive this is

:00:58. > :01:01.a Mike Nesbitt. I think he will be gone and if BT is elected back to

:01:02. > :01:10.the assembly I think he can be brought in. Why would he go? Has he

:01:11. > :01:14.over claimed? He over claimed, overpromised, and the delivery of

:01:15. > :01:17.vote transfers between the UUP and SDLP doesn't look like it has

:01:18. > :01:22.materialised. To the extent it has, it doesn't matter because the SDLP

:01:23. > :01:28.have taken a hammering. The UUP have not done at all well and have lost

:01:29. > :01:32.key figures, looks like Sandra Irving will lose her seat as well. I

:01:33. > :01:34.think Nicholas Whyte made the point earlier that this is the first

:01:35. > :01:43.devolution assembly we have had where there will not be a unionist

:01:44. > :01:50.majority. I want to talk about mandates again. Arlene Foster said,

:01:51. > :01:56.vote for the DUP on Thursday because you need to stand up against Sinn

:01:57. > :02:00.Fein's radical republican agenda. That's how she characterised it. You

:02:01. > :02:04.are going to have a good mandate, so if Sinn Fein. Is the DUP's mandates

:02:05. > :02:12.to work with Sinn Fein and make storm on tap in, or is the DUP's

:02:13. > :02:14.mandate is not to work the mandate and not operate alongside Sinn

:02:15. > :02:21.Fein's radical Republican agenda. It can be both -- it can't be both. And

:02:22. > :02:25.out on the doorsteps it was absolutely clear across the

:02:26. > :02:28.political spectrum, regardless of who people were voting for, they

:02:29. > :02:31.were voting for the parties to come back in and make storm at work.

:02:32. > :02:41.That's clear, and we are committed to doing that. -- and make Stormont

:02:42. > :02:44.work. We don't elect Sinn Fein, it's the nationalist community that

:02:45. > :02:49.elects Sinn Fein and we recognise that's what's happening again. Sinn

:02:50. > :02:53.Fein and the DUP are neck and neck, that's what we predicted, and that

:02:54. > :02:58.the outcome. In the end, Sinn Fein have a mandate, and we have a

:02:59. > :03:01.mandate, and there has to be respect for both of those mandates and we

:03:02. > :03:06.have to get a government formed in the next three weeks. That's what we

:03:07. > :03:10.want to achieve. The answer to that question is very clear, yes, we're

:03:11. > :03:17.up for doing this. Just to pick up on that specific point. Martina made

:03:18. > :03:22.it very clear earlier, and Michelle O'Neill made it clear earlier, what

:03:23. > :03:25.she said to me today and a couple of weeks ago, she said Sinn Fein will

:03:26. > :03:33.not work in the executive with Arlene Foster. This side of the RHI

:03:34. > :03:37.public enquiry reporting. Is there flexibility within that as far as

:03:38. > :03:42.the DUP is concerned? Can you find a creative way to not dance to Sinn

:03:43. > :03:50.Fein's tune, but still not stop storm aren't getting up and running

:03:51. > :03:53.again. I hope the Sinn Fein will draw back from setting preconditions

:03:54. > :03:57.and red lines. We could take a view, and could have taken the view a long

:03:58. > :04:01.time ago that until we deal with the legacy of our troubled past, we are

:04:02. > :04:04.not prepared to go into government with Sinn Fein or with anyone in

:04:05. > :04:08.Sinn Fein who has been associated with that troubled past. We didn't

:04:09. > :04:13.do that because people have voted for us to get into government and

:04:14. > :04:16.make this work. I would say to Sinn Fein, that's what their mandate is

:04:17. > :04:21.for. It's not about bringing Stormont down, it's about relaxing

:04:22. > :04:27.the government at a time when big decisions are being made about our

:04:28. > :04:30.future. Let's take a look at some pictures of Mike Nesbitt, I think

:04:31. > :04:38.he's walking across the car park at the aurora leisure Centre in Bangor.

:04:39. > :04:43.There's an Ulster Rugby top he has on. Apparently, according to my

:04:44. > :04:48.colleagues, that's a pretty rare sighting of Mike Nesbitt today.

:04:49. > :04:51.Stephen Walker told us, down at the count, he talked to Mike Nesbitt,

:04:52. > :04:55.and Mike Nesbitt said he wasn't prepared to do interviews today.

:04:56. > :04:59.Holding fire until tomorrow. We will see what he has to say in due

:05:00. > :05:11.course, but everyone will say is not a great day for the UUP just yet.

:05:12. > :05:16.Not a great day for Eamon McCann. The outgoing candidate of the people

:05:17. > :05:20.before profit party. Your share has gone up a little bit. Your vote

:05:21. > :05:29.tally has gone up a little bit. But the chance of you holding onto that

:05:30. > :05:33.seat are a bit less than 50-50. You were searching for the phrase there,

:05:34. > :05:39.went to! Chances are less than 50-50. Looking at the figures,

:05:40. > :05:44.there's no point in trying to blind oneself with some imagined silver

:05:45. > :05:47.lining. The fact is, the seat is going to go unless something

:05:48. > :05:53.extraordinary happens in the pattern of transfers. The last seat will go

:05:54. > :05:56.to the DUP. That's regrettable, obviously, from our point of view,

:05:57. > :06:00.but we have to be realistic, that's the way to looks and I think that's

:06:01. > :06:04.how it will be. The whole thing at this stage is to pick up transfers

:06:05. > :06:11.as others are eliminated, but you are chasing a quota of about 7500,

:06:12. > :06:23.nearly 2000 up on what it was last year in May. The DUP candidate, Gary

:06:24. > :06:27.Middleton, he's moving candidate. The target is disappearing out of

:06:28. > :06:33.sight. But I'm just repeating myself. Just looking at the figures,

:06:34. > :06:36.everybody knows people before profit are realistic enough to know that

:06:37. > :06:42.it's very unlikely to hold the seat here. That's the reality of the

:06:43. > :06:48.situation. We have to look to the future. My voice will not be heard

:06:49. > :06:52.in the Assembly in the next session, but my voice will be heard clearly

:06:53. > :06:57.around Derry and the north generally because there are a lot of things to

:06:58. > :07:01.speak loudly about. If you don't hold onto the seat, how will you

:07:02. > :07:06.feel about that? You and I have had many conversations over the years.

:07:07. > :07:10.The first entered the political race in 1969 when some of us were still

:07:11. > :07:14.in nappies. You are very successful last year. People who didn't

:07:15. > :07:17.necessarily share your worldview were pleased for you that you had

:07:18. > :07:23.secured that seat. But you didn't really like Stormont, you weren't

:07:24. > :07:27.sure it was doing what it should be doing to the best of its ability. Do

:07:28. > :07:34.you have a mixed view of not being back there? Personally, I might have

:07:35. > :07:44.a view about how enjoyable Stormont was or wasn't. Not very, presumably.

:07:45. > :07:49.But there was a job to do. You have lost me a little... You are saying

:07:50. > :07:56.we might wonder about your view of how enjoyable Stormont was, and I'm

:07:57. > :08:05.saying, presumably not very. To be honest, it wasn't me, it's not my

:08:06. > :08:09.style, the constrictions and the limits one has to operate in at

:08:10. > :08:14.Stormont. But all that said, lots of people go to work every day, and it

:08:15. > :08:18.doesn't mean I have to work into work with a lilt in their step all

:08:19. > :08:23.the time. I was very pleased to do the job. What was interesting,

:08:24. > :08:27.fascinating, and I wouldn't miss the experience for the world. That

:08:28. > :08:35.doesn't mean I have to regard it as a laugh a line during my time at

:08:36. > :08:39.Stormont, and it certainly wasn't. My main feeling, despite my own

:08:40. > :08:44.personal views might be about being in Stormont, is one of great

:08:45. > :08:47.disappointment we haven't held onto the seat. That overwhelms any

:08:48. > :08:51.personal feelings I might have. There is a delay on the line but I

:08:52. > :08:57.will ask one final question. Do you think the people before profit's

:08:58. > :09:00.position on Brexit has been a problem because the ground has moved

:09:01. > :09:04.from under you on that issue. Maybe the people who lent you a vote last

:09:05. > :09:07.time round might have been supportive this time, but couldn't

:09:08. > :09:12.bring themselves to do it because they don't like where you stand on

:09:13. > :09:17.the prospect of Brexit? It would be idle for me to deny that Brexit

:09:18. > :09:20.didn't do us any favours. It was certainly a negative factor as far

:09:21. > :09:27.as we were concerned in the campaign. We took a stand, we didn't

:09:28. > :09:32.flip-flopped on the issue of Europe. It's a position we have held for 30

:09:33. > :09:35.years, we stood by it and there are times in politics that even though

:09:36. > :09:38.you know something is proving unpopular, you have to take your

:09:39. > :09:43.stand and say what you really believe. I think people will agree

:09:44. > :09:48.you have certainly done that over the years. Great to talk to you.

:09:49. > :09:52.We'll keep an eye on that and see how the numbers shake down in the

:09:53. > :09:55.final analysis. Thank you for talking to us. Eamonn McCann there,

:09:56. > :10:02.the people before profit candidate who admits he is unlikely to hold

:10:03. > :10:08.onto his in foil. Let's look at some of the numbers, the bigger picture.

:10:09. > :10:13.Mark Sampson in our future virtual Stormont chamber. A quarter of the

:10:14. > :10:18.seats being filled, let's look at the early state of play. The largest

:10:19. > :10:24.party so far is Sinn Fein with 14 seats. 14 out of 27. If my maths

:10:25. > :10:28.teacher is watching, she will be proud of me because I think it's

:10:29. > :10:33.more than half of the seats so far settled. A good day for Sinn Fein is

:10:34. > :10:39.so far and the new leader Michelle O'Neill. No Martin McGuinness, but

:10:40. > :10:46.no problems so far. The DUP got 38 seats last time. It's early days,

:10:47. > :10:52.have eight. No way they will get 38, but they still want 30. The third

:10:53. > :10:59.biggest party at the moment, the Alliance party, good collection so

:11:00. > :11:07.far for Naomi Long. She has five already so far. One Ulster Unionists

:11:08. > :11:13.so far. Sneaking in there, a blue looking Alan Chambers in North Down.

:11:14. > :11:20.Not good news for Mike Nesbitt. The SDLP, looking at the other side of

:11:21. > :11:24.the chamber. They also have only one MLA re-elected so far. That's the

:11:25. > :11:29.state of play so far in the chamber. The big picture is, the DUP have a

:11:30. > :11:33.lot of work to do, not just to get past the magic 30 number to give

:11:34. > :11:37.Arlene Foster a petition of concern, but would be a satisfactory result

:11:38. > :11:41.for her as party leader, they also want to catch up with Sinn Fein. The

:11:42. > :11:49.number of seats could be very close. As things stand at the moment, it

:11:50. > :11:52.doesn't look like any party will get past 30 seats, but it's early days,

:11:53. > :11:56.we are only about a quarter of the way through. Thank you to mark.

:11:57. > :12:00.Feels like we should be a bit further on many quarter, but there

:12:01. > :12:06.you go. Gives you a good sense of how the numbers are stacking up. As

:12:07. > :12:12.Mark said, heavily caveat it with the reminder that it's extremely

:12:13. > :12:17.early and we can't draw any huge conclusions. Back to the panel.

:12:18. > :12:23.Martina, we touched earlier on the idea of direct rule as an option if

:12:24. > :12:27.the two main parties don't manage to agree to resurrect Stormont, or how

:12:28. > :12:32.it can be resurrected in the short term. Are there any circumstances in

:12:33. > :12:36.which direct rule is an attractive option for Sinn Fein, the most

:12:37. > :12:40.attractive option for Sinn Fein? I want to say to Rick and two other

:12:41. > :12:47.commentators that I have listened to over the last few weeks, sometimes

:12:48. > :12:50.when we go over the negotiations that have been made and the

:12:51. > :12:57.commitments that have been made and not honoured, you seem to get a bit

:12:58. > :13:01.defensive or dismissive. I'm not saying you personally, but that

:13:02. > :13:06.seems to be the category. The Saint Andrews agreement had a joint

:13:07. > :13:11.statement from the two governments, British and Irish, and it said,

:13:12. > :13:18.never again will there be direct rule from London only. That's a

:13:19. > :13:26.quote from the joint statement from the two governments. Sometimes I

:13:27. > :13:39.find, Rick, that is dismissed. By me bust in yellow not you generally, --

:13:40. > :13:43.by me? Not you generally. They talked about joint authority. It

:13:44. > :13:47.could be a greener form of direct rule. It could be joint authority

:13:48. > :13:51.and we don't know the form of that. I'm not saying that's the direction

:13:52. > :13:56.of travel, but I want to put it on the table. Let's see what Rick has

:13:57. > :14:00.to say. Is that actually on the table? There is no textual warrant

:14:01. > :14:08.for joint authority over Northern Ireland. What is, if you remember,

:14:09. > :14:12.it was floated by both Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, there could have

:14:13. > :14:19.been devolution, what they referred to as a form of joint stewardship. I

:14:20. > :14:23.remember speaking to senior officials at the time who did use

:14:24. > :14:28.the phrase, a greener form of direct rule, but it was never pinned down

:14:29. > :14:32.and there is no legal or textual warrant for joint authority, none.

:14:33. > :14:37.That would be a breach of UK sovereignty if that was to be the

:14:38. > :14:41.case, but it's not provided for in the Saint Andrews agreement, or in

:14:42. > :14:45.the subsequent Saint Andrew's act. What we were left with was a

:14:46. > :14:51.beguiling prospect of joint stewardship, but it was never pinned

:14:52. > :14:54.down. Newton is nodding. You just have to listen to what Gerry Adams

:14:55. > :14:58.is saying if you want to know what's going on. Earlier in the broadcast

:14:59. > :15:01.at the election count he said he wanted to focus on outstanding

:15:02. > :15:06.commitments. He said he wanted the executive restored, and has listed

:15:07. > :15:10.nine of them previously. All bar one were at British and Irish government

:15:11. > :15:14.level. In fact, the executive is rather irrelevant to the Sinn Fein

:15:15. > :15:18.process now. They want agreements delivered by the British and Irish

:15:19. > :15:21.governments. A dispute over whether its outstanding comedy bill of

:15:22. > :15:29.rights for example. The text or process was met but didn't produce a

:15:30. > :15:32.bill. The Irish language act was to be delivered by Britain but it was

:15:33. > :15:35.then devolved by virtue of the St Andrews agreement so handed back to

:15:36. > :15:41.the DUP, a negotiating mistake at best. All of these things to be

:15:42. > :15:42.resolved. When promised that the executive by passing it. It's a

:15:43. > :15:56.mixed message. You were taking issue with what

:15:57. > :16:01.Martina Anderson was suggesting. But can you see what she was suggesting,

:16:02. > :16:06.it is not in the letter but part of a wider conversation that clearly

:16:07. > :16:12.Martina would like to see resurrected? And no doubt Sinn Fein

:16:13. > :16:16.would like to see it resurrected but it is going nowhere, and it has been

:16:17. > :16:23.said that joint authority is not on the table. The idea that is

:16:24. > :16:29.catastrophe Conservative government, that is unionist, looking to fight a

:16:30. > :16:35.battle, possibly in a referendum, would all of a sudden turn union is

:16:36. > :16:40.bizarre. At a time when they are focussing on Brexit and the

:16:41. > :16:43.negotiations with the European Union, that they would introduce

:16:44. > :16:48.constitutional calamity in Northern Ireland is unthinkable. So I would

:16:49. > :16:53.say to Sinn Fein, you have been given a mandate, the mandate given

:16:54. > :16:57.is to get back to government. People elected you to be in government.

:16:58. > :17:01.Elected the DUP to be in government. They want to see a Government

:17:02. > :17:04.formed. They want to see the government taking decisions, getting

:17:05. > :17:09.on with governing Northern Ireland. They want to see that government

:17:10. > :17:14.setting out its plan for how we handing Brexit. If we have direct

:17:15. > :17:17.rule, and the irony is, the direct rule suits the DUP more than Sinn

:17:18. > :17:23.Fein, we have a government that relies on our votes on a significant

:17:24. > :17:28.number of occasions, I could make an argument for direct rule but it is

:17:29. > :17:34.not the mandate we sought. We want a government in Stormont.

:17:35. > :17:38.But it was said that this is a vote for the united Northern Ireland. But

:17:39. > :17:44.the hope is to have these arguments and keep the ball in the air.

:17:45. > :17:49.We will come back to this, you both seem to like the direct rule but not

:17:50. > :17:59.agree on the circumstances of that. And I want to talk with Ian Paisley,

:18:00. > :18:05.at the North Antrim and Mid Ulster count in Ballymena. Good afternoon.

:18:06. > :18:13.The DUP has held on to its seat. It looks like you might lose a seat is

:18:14. > :18:19.that a possibility? Well, Mid Ulster has been an excellent result. 10,000

:18:20. > :18:25.votes, probably the strongest voice west of the position for us as a

:18:26. > :18:30.Unionist Party and a voice for the community west of the ban. And it is

:18:31. > :18:36.difficult for us to secure three seats on 40% of the votes. I think

:18:37. > :18:42.we have to recognise it is probably beyond reach with about 3 or 400

:18:43. > :18:48.votes short. But the election was about resetting the clock. Sinn Fein

:18:49. > :18:54.did not like that the DUP had ten seats ahead of them. A lot of things

:18:55. > :18:57.were put into the mix, pressing the reboot button and seeing if Sinn

:18:58. > :19:00.Fein can get close to us. That possibly and more than likely has

:19:01. > :19:05.happened. Are you confident that the DUP will

:19:06. > :19:12.be coming out on top? If you have not seen it, you will have heard

:19:13. > :19:18.from the comments on The View, David McIlveen said a couple of things,

:19:19. > :19:23.much about charisma, and predicted that Arlene Foster would not be the

:19:24. > :19:29.leader of the DUP by Monday. His dad and your dad are big friends. A huge

:19:30. > :19:37.fan of your father's legacy, as you are, how many people in the DUP does

:19:38. > :19:42.David McIlveen speak for? Well, I must say, I personally rent people

:19:43. > :19:45.popping up now, claiming the mantle of my father, claiming that they

:19:46. > :19:52.speak for him and know what his mind would have been. Frankly, that is an

:19:53. > :19:55.insult to him. I resent it, my mother resents it, my family resents

:19:56. > :19:59.it, stop doing it. A number of people have been doing it. Stop

:20:00. > :20:03.doing it. You are obviously angry about that.

:20:04. > :20:09.Will you have words with David about what he said last night? Honestly,

:20:10. > :20:14.for people to start name calling, saying this person is not

:20:15. > :20:18.charismatic, when perhaps it is not the word you associate with the

:20:19. > :20:23.person making the comments, I would have liked David to continue to be a

:20:24. > :20:28.strong voice for the DUP policies on the ground here in north Antrim. He

:20:29. > :20:33.came close to holding his seat. That is what he should have focussed on.

:20:34. > :20:38.But what has been said has been said. Our party is always good at

:20:39. > :20:44.this. Discipline internally, and if there are issues we wish to say to

:20:45. > :20:50.each other, we say them behind closed doors, man to man, face to

:20:51. > :20:55.face. But the clock was reset in terms of trying to get more people

:20:56. > :20:58.over the line for Sinn Fein in terms of the assembly seats

:20:59. > :21:03.proportionately seeking, and that is what they are trying to achieve.

:21:04. > :21:10.This is a tight election. It will throw up big issues. I believe in

:21:11. > :21:16.taking the issues a step at a time. No knee-jerk reactions but crossing

:21:17. > :21:22.the badges as we come to them. And Gerry Adams said there was no need

:21:23. > :21:27.for any big renegotiation. A couple of things needed sorting out.

:21:28. > :21:30.Everyone knows in this room, in your studio, across Northern Ireland that

:21:31. > :21:34.the ordinary man and woman in Northern Ireland wants an assembly

:21:35. > :21:39.up and running and working for them. They want my party and the other

:21:40. > :21:45.parties playing that role. We are up for that. We are calling for the

:21:46. > :21:50.other parties to do that, and stop wrecking the devolution and the

:21:51. > :21:54.hopes and the aspirations of the entire party.

:21:55. > :22:00.Thank you for that. He did not know what was coming next

:22:01. > :22:03.but he has set it up perfectly, that is Tara the Titanic Exhibition

:22:04. > :22:06.Centre, I understand she has been joined by the Sinn Fein President,

:22:07. > :22:14.Gerry Adams. Tara? You are at a disadvantage as

:22:15. > :22:19.you didn't know what was said there. But he said he was fed up at Sinn

:22:20. > :22:23.Fein, directing the remarks playing about with the assembly, with

:22:24. > :22:28.devolution, that people want an assembly and want it up and running

:22:29. > :22:35.soon. If that is the case, I take him at his word. We have invited the

:22:36. > :22:38.DUP to talks. And all of the other parties of course and the two

:22:39. > :22:42.governments. But not with Arlene Foster? No. Of

:22:43. > :22:45.course we will deal with Arlene Foster. She is the leader of the

:22:46. > :22:51.DUP. But you are not going to an

:22:52. > :22:55.executive with force Foster? We need an agreement on the terms, firstly,

:22:56. > :23:01.for the executive to run. Let's recap that. That is what the vote is

:23:02. > :23:04.about. It's about the political institutions being run based on the

:23:05. > :23:08.agreements that they were founded on. It is not a matter of having a

:23:09. > :23:13.big negotiation about issues which have been agreed. It is a matter

:23:14. > :23:18.about agreeing how they could implement it in terms of Arlene,

:23:19. > :23:22.look, she needs the party, these accusations have been made against

:23:23. > :23:27.her. We have not pronounced nor judged on that. She says she is

:23:28. > :23:31.innocent. I hope that she is. She needs to get it cleared up. That's

:23:32. > :23:34.what we are saying. Get it cleared up.

:23:35. > :23:40.Do you not realise from a DUP point of view you are putting her in an

:23:41. > :23:44.impossible position. If she says OK, put somebody else in as the joint

:23:45. > :23:50.First Minister or First Minister or whatever it turns tout be that is at

:23:51. > :23:55.Sinn Fein's behest? You asked me the question. We have not been making a

:23:56. > :24:00.headline of this. Martin McGuinness went and privately spoke to Arlene

:24:01. > :24:04.Foster and said to her, allegations have been made by Jonathan Bell that

:24:05. > :24:12.puts a different complex on what we are doing here. We need an inquiry,

:24:13. > :24:16.to stand aside without prejudice temporarily. She said no. That

:24:17. > :24:21.became the issue of contention between us. Let's take our foot off

:24:22. > :24:25.that peddle for the moment. That can't be sorted out. She's the

:24:26. > :24:32.leader of the DUP, I'm the leader of Sinn Fein. I didn't nominate myself

:24:33. > :24:37.to be the deputy, or the First Minister First Minister. I nominated

:24:38. > :24:43.Martin McGuinness and incidentally, this vote for Sinn Fein is a huge

:24:44. > :24:48.vote of thanks to Martin McGuinness and to the McGuinness family. This

:24:49. > :24:54.time around, if we have the opportunity I will nominate Michelle

:24:55. > :24:58.O'Neill for the position of deputy or First Minister First Minister. As

:24:59. > :25:02.Arlene says she is innocent of the charges so let's go it cleared up

:25:03. > :25:06.and move forward. So when it comes to the gamble to

:25:07. > :25:14.bring the assembly down, has it paid off? It is not about that, with

:25:15. > :25:20.respect. If you read Martin McGuinness's letter, he was a

:25:21. > :25:25.reluctant reseenee. Making it clear that the position was untenable. If

:25:26. > :25:27.we had been hammered in the elections, Martin McGuinness's

:25:28. > :25:34.action would still have been the right reaction. As it is, people

:25:35. > :25:41.responded. I want to commend Michelle O'Neill for the positive

:25:42. > :25:44.campaign she led. I wanted to thank the members, the families, the

:25:45. > :25:49.people that travelled from the south to work with us in the north and all

:25:50. > :25:54.of those that voted. On the collapse of the Assembly, did

:25:55. > :26:04.you force his hand? Were you part of that? The belligerent element that

:26:05. > :26:11.Peter Robinson referred to? I have worked with Peter. He knows I am the

:26:12. > :26:15.least most belligerent person in Sinn Fein. Peter should know, better

:26:16. > :26:20.than most felt, that the position was untenable. And by the way, why

:26:21. > :26:25.did he do that? So that the people should have their say and the people

:26:26. > :26:30.have had their say. And in terms of the increase and the turnout, that

:26:31. > :26:36.is vindication of. Did the DUP make the selection easy,

:26:37. > :26:40.with some of the things that were said, the crocodiles, the social

:26:41. > :26:45.media hype. Did they help you gain the results you had? I think that

:26:46. > :26:50.they made it more difficult for themselves to resolve those issues

:26:51. > :26:56.in terms of agreements that were already made. I mean an Irish

:26:57. > :27:02.Language Act is in place now for Gaelic speakers in Scotland. They

:27:03. > :27:09.have their Scots Gaelic Act, the same with Welsh speakers in Wales.

:27:10. > :27:13.So why can't it have the same status as other parts of the United

:27:14. > :27:20.Kingdom? I think this is an important point, some members of my

:27:21. > :27:25.family are Irish speakers from birth, some kids in my street have

:27:26. > :27:32.never spoken English to me. I can tell you that the DUP have done more

:27:33. > :27:37.to radicalise and to politicise those very intelligent, wonderful

:27:38. > :27:41.young people with a great deal of potential and have done more to

:27:42. > :27:45.radicalise and politicise those young people than I could ever have

:27:46. > :27:49.done as all that they wanted was to be treated with respect.

:27:50. > :27:54.When it comes to going forward, can you guarantee the people that voted

:27:55. > :27:58.for you and came out in the numbers yesterday, that there will be no

:27:59. > :28:02.return to direct rule? We can't guarantee that but what we can

:28:03. > :28:09.guarantee is that Sinn Fein wants to see an end of any sort of English

:28:10. > :28:14.interference and I refer to the late Ian Paisley and the statement he

:28:15. > :28:20.made to Martin McGuinness, he said Martin, we don't need English men to

:28:21. > :28:26.govern us and we don't. That is what may be around the corner? Not if the

:28:27. > :28:30.parties take the mandates that they have been given, or has been art I

:28:31. > :28:35.can lated that they want back into the institution. And when dealing

:28:36. > :28:40.with jobs, so on, that there is a basis of doing that, it is scald

:28:41. > :28:45.equality, it is called honouring agreements made and doing what many

:28:46. > :28:48.of us were taught when we were kids, treating people the way that we want

:28:49. > :28:55.to be treated ourselves. Thank you very much. We refreshed

:28:56. > :29:01.the panel, Sir Jeffrey Donald left us to be replaced by Sammy Wilson,

:29:02. > :29:09.the DUP for East Antrim. How are you? Fine, thank you.

:29:10. > :29:15.It's good of you to spare as some of your time on a busy day. The mood

:29:16. > :29:22.where I have been as being very good as far as our boat was concerned,

:29:23. > :29:26.despite all the efforts from the BBC over the last four months, our vote

:29:27. > :29:35.has held up very well. What efforts are those? I think anybody who has

:29:36. > :29:41.watched and listened to the BBC and the four months of attacks on Arlene

:29:42. > :29:45.Foster, the four months on attacks on the DUP, rolling out every

:29:46. > :29:50.commentator you could, packing audiences with people who were

:29:51. > :29:56.opposed to Arlene Foster, you have used every programme, good morning

:29:57. > :30:02.Ulster, evening extra, the view, Spotlight, the Nolan show, Talkback,

:30:03. > :30:05.for four months it has been incessant bombardment against the

:30:06. > :30:10.party. Despite that, we held our vote. I thought he told me you

:30:11. > :30:18.haven't watched TV and don't listen to the radio. I do not, but I have

:30:19. > :30:26.got very good informants who tell me all the time. BBC's Northern Ireland

:30:27. > :30:31.briefing of Radio 4, I assume that's where Northern Ireland got their

:30:32. > :30:35.briefing from, even they had the skewed view that Arlene Foster had

:30:36. > :30:42.had to resign because of a financial scandal caused by the RHI scandal. I

:30:43. > :30:46.wonder where that came from. I suspect it came from a briefing they

:30:47. > :30:51.got from BBC Northern Ireland. But that spider by. I've no idea where

:30:52. > :30:55.came from. You must be feeling better now you've got that off your

:30:56. > :31:03.chest. I've been waiting all day to say that! The rotten old BBC never

:31:04. > :31:07.let you have your say! You looked the better for it. You look like a

:31:08. > :31:13.great pressure has lifted off your shoulders. I'm glad I got it off my

:31:14. > :31:17.chest. Are you ready to answer my questions, give me straight answers

:31:18. > :31:23.to my questions. I always give you straight answers. That's very

:31:24. > :31:29.decent. Out of curiosity, you probably think that I dream to this

:31:30. > :31:36.up in advance, but do you recognise the broad media coverage, skewed in

:31:37. > :31:39.one particular direction, Martina? I think what Sammy has done here today

:31:40. > :31:45.epitomises what Arlene Foster and the DUP have been doing for weeks,

:31:46. > :31:49.they are in denial. Not listening to the mood of the wider constituency,

:31:50. > :31:55.about the arguments in the DUP, and they will blame it on everybody, the

:31:56. > :32:03.world and its mother is to blame here. It's... Sammy, there was a

:32:04. > :32:08.problem with relation to a scheme that the First Minister designed and

:32:09. > :32:12.stripped out 17 words from a renewable heating scheme that were

:32:13. > :32:16.about cost controls. Which is now the subject of a public enquiry

:32:17. > :32:22.Reece Topley and by meeting with the Commissioner next month, the

:32:23. > :32:30.competition commissioner with regards to it. -- and -- which is

:32:31. > :32:37.now the subject of a public enquiry. And I am meeting with the

:32:38. > :32:40.competition Commissioner next month. Everybody else created the

:32:41. > :32:44.environment that got us to where we are today. I say to Sammy, that

:32:45. > :32:50.yourself, your leader, and a number of others have been in denial.

:32:51. > :32:58.Martina... You are the party that cost this country ?174 million

:32:59. > :33:06.because you would not accept the changes in welfare reform. I am

:33:07. > :33:11.proud of what we did, we are protecting the most vulnerable in

:33:12. > :33:15.society. As a result you deny people the opportunity to have the changes

:33:16. > :33:23.that were agreed by the executive and the government in the United

:33:24. > :33:27.Kingdom. And austerity driven government. You promised you would

:33:28. > :33:34.stand up for those people by handing it back to Westminster. Don't talk

:33:35. > :33:38.about arrogance or wasting money. Here is the point. Even know Sammy

:33:39. > :33:42.was kicking my shins, I will be fair to Sammy because I have broad enough

:33:43. > :33:45.shoulders, and I think the BBC has the broad shoulders to take the

:33:46. > :33:51.criticism he wants to throw in my direction or in our direction. That

:33:52. > :33:55.is fine. To be fair to Sammy Wilson, his party has actually performed

:33:56. > :33:59.pretty well so far. We are far enough away from knowing the final

:34:00. > :34:03.tally, but it's a pretty creditable performance so far and it looks like

:34:04. > :34:07.they might go back with 30 seats, they could reach the magic number.

:34:08. > :34:13.If they dipped below, it will only be by a little bit. You talk about

:34:14. > :34:17.this about being some sort of referendum or plebiscite on

:34:18. > :34:29.integrity and equality and so far. The DUP have done well so far. In

:34:30. > :34:32.the republican and nationalist community it was. Arlene Foster's

:34:33. > :34:39.so-called comments about so-called crocodiles and so on. It wasn't just

:34:40. > :34:42.republicans voting in this election. I'm talking about a constituency I

:34:43. > :34:49.am in contact with an engaging with the most. We take a read from the

:34:50. > :34:53.people we talk to. We have to translate that and feed it back. Our

:34:54. > :35:00.constituents are saying to us that this is not a Sinn Fein just demand.

:35:01. > :35:06.Constituents are saying we cannot go back into government unless we have

:35:07. > :35:11.a situation where the leader of the DUP is not tarnished in the way that

:35:12. > :35:14.she currently is. I will put it to Sammy because Gerry Adams just made

:35:15. > :35:20.that point as well. Two bits of news. Simon Hamilton has just been

:35:21. > :35:26.returned in his constituency of Strangford. He topped the poll in

:35:27. > :35:31.there. Danny Kennedy, the Ulster Unionists, is out in Newry and

:35:32. > :35:34.Armagh. Looking at pictures of Simon Hamilton, I think that's Jim Sharman

:35:35. > :35:41.and Peter Weir, Michelle McIlveen as well. Not the end of his political

:35:42. > :35:46.career necessarily, but it is for today, hitting the buffers. He was

:35:47. > :35:49.in a fight, and a lot of people thought he would probably prevail at

:35:50. > :35:54.the end of the day. I certainly thought he would. I didn't think he

:35:55. > :35:59.would be eliminated. For him and the DUP, this is a real blow. All three

:36:00. > :36:10.Sinn Fein candidates got in in Newry and Armagh. Reign this is, I

:36:11. > :36:15.suspect, another nail in his Coffin. This might be over egging the

:36:16. > :36:19.pudding, but Mike Nesbitt said in the week he would transfer to the

:36:20. > :36:23.SDLP. Almost immediately Danny Kennedy said he would certainly not

:36:24. > :36:28.follow his lead in my constituency. We had that slightly awkward moment

:36:29. > :36:33.where Mike Nesbitt said that's what he would be doing, and Danny Kennedy

:36:34. > :36:40.was over his shoulder smiling. It was awkward. It was very awkward.

:36:41. > :36:43.This is where the DUP and Sinn Fein, it's where I think they are

:36:44. > :36:49.incredibly strong, they gave every appearance, at least on the surface,

:36:50. > :36:52.of being united and strong parties, the DUP in particular. Occasionally

:36:53. > :37:03.you looked a bit more like the Osmonds and the Bogrias. But the UUP

:37:04. > :37:11.have never looked like that. There are enormous tensions in that party.

:37:12. > :37:14.There is something about Mike Nesbitt's leadership that has come

:37:15. > :37:20.to the fore. People have spoken to me about it. I think Danny Kennedy

:37:21. > :37:24.going is symptomatic of a party that is divided. Some people said in

:37:25. > :37:29.advance, if you talked to them quietly, if Mike was to go after a

:37:30. > :37:33.bad election, who would be the characters to take over, and Danny

:37:34. > :37:39.Kennedy's name was in the mix. Not any more it's not. There was the

:37:40. > :37:46.view he would take on it had he had thrown his hat in the ring. Had he

:37:47. > :37:50.had known. I suspect if Mike Nesbitt does go, although I suspect he will

:37:51. > :37:56.be re-elected in Strangford, but my money would be on Doug Beattie. The

:37:57. > :38:00.Ulster Unionist Party is quite unusual in that it's leadership

:38:01. > :38:06.election selector at who vote for the leader is the members, like

:38:07. > :38:09.Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. If you have somebody like Doug Beattie who

:38:10. > :38:12.is personally very popular with members, then he has a very good

:38:13. > :38:17.chance to break through the Parliamentary politics. Stephen

:38:18. > :38:25.Aitken is another. You tend to analyse leadership party elections

:38:26. > :38:29.in terms of their party politics, but somebody like Doug Beattie could

:38:30. > :38:33.rise to the ranks overnight in a party like the UUP. Perhaps because

:38:34. > :38:37.he was a very well-known figure after his time as a high-profile

:38:38. > :38:42.television journalist. There was a familiarity death and people felt if

:38:43. > :38:45.he was successful... It was actually because he had an argument about

:38:46. > :38:53.going into opposition with the other candidate Jim McAllister and he

:38:54. > :38:57.argued against it. Another irony. A supreme irony. We will hear from Jim

:38:58. > :39:05.Mackay star later. You must have got to know Danny Kennedy pretty well

:39:06. > :39:10.down the years. I'm sorry to be, because Danny was a good, strong

:39:11. > :39:13.unionist representative, he held unionist views that I would be

:39:14. > :39:21.comfortable with. I think you'll be a great loss to the community there.

:39:22. > :39:27.I will also say that it will increase the sense of isolation from

:39:28. > :39:31.any unionists along the border, that a unionist has been replaced by a

:39:32. > :39:35.Sinn Fein representative. That's what people voted for, that's

:39:36. > :39:39.democracy. Yes, it's what people voted for, but I believe the

:39:40. > :39:43.unionist community at the border will feel more isolated now as a

:39:44. > :39:48.result of the emergence of more Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein has adopted this

:39:49. > :39:51.harder line and, despite all their talk about respect and everything

:39:52. > :39:55.else, they have shown little or no respect to the people who have been

:39:56. > :40:00.the victims of IRA terrorism along the border. One of the first things

:40:01. > :40:03.Michelle O'Neill did was honour people who went out to murder

:40:04. > :40:08.policemen. I thing it will increase a sense of isolation and anger

:40:09. > :40:11.amongst the unionist population. I'm sorry to see Danny go on a personal

:40:12. > :40:18.level because I got on very well with him. During my time in the

:40:19. > :40:22.Assembly we were able to work together on a number of things. A

:40:23. > :40:26.little update, we referenced earlier, Sinead Bradley in the

:40:27. > :40:30.neighbouring consistency of Southdown, the SDLP candidate, has

:40:31. > :40:35.been returned. Good news for her, but a bittersweet day because she

:40:36. > :40:38.buried her father today, PJ Bradley, who formerly served as an MLA for

:40:39. > :40:43.that constituency for the same party, and a lot of people had a

:40:44. > :40:46.great fondness for him. Again, PJ Bradley was in the Assembly from

:40:47. > :40:52.when I was there at the very start. He was a real gentleman. A lot of

:40:53. > :40:56.people have said that, and a lot of people have said Sinead Bradley was

:40:57. > :41:01.an impressive MLA for the eight months she was in the chamber. And

:41:02. > :41:05.her media performances. I want a very short answer to tee up a

:41:06. > :41:10.discussion we will have later, but how do you respond to Martina

:41:11. > :41:14.Anderson and how do you respond to Gerry Adams speaking to Tara there

:41:15. > :41:19.whenever he said that the DUP are not going to be back in government

:41:20. > :41:23.with us if Arlene Foster is their nominee for first or Deputy First

:41:24. > :41:27.Minister. Is there a way of squaring circle? A very simple answer to him,

:41:28. > :41:31.we will choose who will be our leader, we will choose who we

:41:32. > :41:35.nominate as First Minister and Arlene Foster, if there is this

:41:36. > :41:41.cloud which he says hangs over her head, it's only there because Sinn

:41:42. > :41:45.Fein delayed and deliberately delayed any investigation in the RHI

:41:46. > :41:49.scheme so that it would not be resolved before this election, and,

:41:50. > :41:52.indeed, they were the people who insisted that could be an inter-rim

:41:53. > :41:57.report. They were the people who insisted it had to be a six-month

:41:58. > :42:01.investigation by the judge. If there is any delay in finding out what

:42:02. > :42:05.role Arlene Foster and other ministers, because don't forget Sinn

:42:06. > :42:11.Fein ministers were involved. Michelle O'Neill was involved. She

:42:12. > :42:15.is as culpable as Arlene Foster. There are questions about the role

:42:16. > :42:19.of other Sinn Fein members who asked for this. It will all be

:42:20. > :42:24.investigated during the public enquiry. All I am saying is we will

:42:25. > :42:28.not let Sinn Fein tell us who our leader will be. Just to clarify,

:42:29. > :42:36.even if that means storm at doesn't get back up and running again? --

:42:37. > :42:43.Stormont doesn't get up and running again. Michelle O'Neill and her

:42:44. > :42:48.department ran exercises at the time when it was known RHI was being

:42:49. > :42:54.overspent. We haven't insisted she stand aside. We didn't at insist

:42:55. > :42:58.Michelle O'Neill stand aside because she commended IRA murderers who were

:42:59. > :42:59.trying to kill policeman. We will not dictate their lead and they

:43:00. > :43:15.shouldn't dictate hours. Now to let you know about, we have a

:43:16. > :43:21.re-count from Fermanagh South. Nobody elected, so, Stuart Dixon,

:43:22. > :43:30.the Alliance candidate is in East Antrim and South Antrim.

:43:31. > :43:36.And David Ford looking comfortable with 5278, first preferences. Declan

:43:37. > :43:42.concerny has been returned. He is the only person that is in. David

:43:43. > :43:46.Ford looking likely to get in there, maybe not immediately but a bit of

:43:47. > :43:52.redistribution going on there. When we hear more we will bring you up to

:43:53. > :43:59.speed. But let's go and crunch a few more numbers with mark.

:44:00. > :44:03.The purists tell you that single transferrable voting elections are

:44:04. > :44:07.not about counting up big piles of numbers but the clever party

:44:08. > :44:12.balances the votes between a number of candidates. Clever strategies.

:44:13. > :44:16.Not a beauty contest but in defiance of that, let's have a beauty contest

:44:17. > :44:22.and look at who has been piling up the votes! Let's have a look at the

:44:23. > :44:26.top ten vote-getters in the election and the five in contention for the

:44:27. > :44:30.wooden spoon. So, no question about it, Sinn Fein

:44:31. > :44:34.has done well in the election. And the Sinn Fein leader in Stormont,

:44:35. > :44:39.Michelle O'Neill topping the pile there.

:44:40. > :44:44.It is well to say you must balance the votes to maximise your chance of

:44:45. > :44:48.winning seats but if the vote share is up overall you don't have to