Results Part 2

:00:00. > :00:00.10:30pm on BBC One and now we go back to the special election

:00:00. > :00:30.programme, but from me, by bye. Hello and welcome to the Titanic

:00:31. > :00:35.Exhibition Centre, location of the count for the Belfast constituencies

:00:36. > :00:40.and coverage of the 2017 Assembly election. This evening we will bring

:00:41. > :00:45.you the big results, some already are in, the immolation of the

:00:46. > :00:51.elimination of Alex Attwood, Danny Kennedy and Jonathan Bell, some of

:00:52. > :00:54.the big surprises. As the party leaders are concerned, Michelle

:00:55. > :01:00.O'Neill secured victory and Arlene Foster was elected within the last

:01:01. > :01:06.hour. Earlier, the Alliance leader Naomi Long retained receipt in East

:01:07. > :01:11.Belfast. The real drama might be just starting over the next few

:01:12. > :01:14.hours, we will get a better idea of the party strengths, where the

:01:15. > :01:20.transfers are going and the names of the big winners and losers. We will

:01:21. > :01:23.hear from Mark and his guests in a moment, but first, reporters are not

:01:24. > :01:30.the count centres, starting with Julian Fowler in Omagh. We are

:01:31. > :01:35.waiting for the results of the final stage in Fermanagh-South Tyrone, the

:01:36. > :01:39.transfer of the SDLP's Richie McPhillips' votes at the big story

:01:40. > :01:43.is Arlene Foster topping the poll, no real surprise but she did not

:01:44. > :01:52.reach the quarter on first preference, just around 232 short.

:01:53. > :01:56.She received transfers in the second stage and was elected. We have asked

:01:57. > :02:01.Arlene Foster for an interview but she says she will not be speaking to

:02:02. > :02:05.the BBC and has spent much of the day here away from the media inside

:02:06. > :02:12.the conference room or in the count centre behind me. We have not heard

:02:13. > :02:16.any reaction from the DUP leader and we will wait to see if she decides

:02:17. > :02:21.to speak to us later this evening. The final stage is crucial here

:02:22. > :02:30.because depending on where the SDLP transfers go, that will depend on

:02:31. > :02:33.who wins the final seat. So far, the Ulster Unionist Rosemary Barton has

:02:34. > :02:36.done very well on transfers and could secure that seat ahead of Sean

:02:37. > :02:42.Lynch from Sinn Fein, the outgoing MLA. He has been lagging behind his

:02:43. > :02:50.colleagues, Michelle Gildernew and Jemma Dolan. He is set to miss out.

:02:51. > :02:55.Maurice Morrow of the DUP should also retain his seat. In West

:02:56. > :03:00.Tyrone, things are going more slowly, the results earlier on,

:03:01. > :03:04.Barry McElduff for Sinn Fein and Michaella Boyle elected along with

:03:05. > :03:10.Thomas Buchanan for the DUP, Sinn Fein pulling strongly in West Tyrone

:03:11. > :03:16.on a turnout of 69%. They received over 21,000 votes. This is the

:03:17. > :03:24.situation in Omagh, we can cross to Foyle and Keiron Tourish. The

:03:25. > :03:28.current continues at the Foyle Arena for East Londonderry and the Foyle

:03:29. > :03:32.constituency. What has been the story of the day has been the strong

:03:33. > :03:37.performance of Sinn Fein and for the first time ever we have outpolled

:03:38. > :03:42.the SDLP on first preference votes and who would have thought that in a

:03:43. > :03:46.place that was once the heartland of John Hume, the former SDLP leader?

:03:47. > :03:52.Sinn Fein have retained both seats and they say that has vindicated the

:03:53. > :03:56.position of Martin McGuinness and a stance he took to collapse the

:03:57. > :03:59.Assembly and for the SDLP, Colum Eastwood has been elected in the

:04:00. > :04:07.last hour and he will be expected to be followed shortly by Mark H

:04:08. > :04:13.Durkan. The losers? He has all but conceded defeat, but Eamonn McCann

:04:14. > :04:17.will have one of the shortest medical careers on record, seven

:04:18. > :04:22.months, he will lose his seat following a dramatic turnaround and

:04:23. > :04:27.the DUP sitting MLA Gary Middleton is expected to pick up the last

:04:28. > :04:32.seat. In East Londonderry, Sinn Fein are pulling well and they might well

:04:33. > :04:37.take another seat, the DUP could be down by one seat and you have to add

:04:38. > :04:44.that it is all to play for and early days. Who could be the loser? It

:04:45. > :04:47.could be John Dallat, the SDLP veteran making a political comeback,

:04:48. > :04:52.he could lose out in East Londonderry but the outgoing Justice

:04:53. > :04:56.Minister Claire Sugden says she is quietly confident she will do well

:04:57. > :05:01.and could retain her seat. David Maxwell joins us in Belfast.

:05:02. > :05:08.The biggest story this afternoon so far has been Alex Attwood in West

:05:09. > :05:14.Belfast losing the seat for the SDLP. He held on last time by the

:05:15. > :05:17.skin of his teeth but not this time and we don't need a crystal ball to

:05:18. > :05:23.know what the results will be in West Belfast, four Sinn Fein seats

:05:24. > :05:31.very likely and Gerry Carroll, he has been returned. In North Belfast,

:05:32. > :05:35.no one has been returned so far, the only Belfast constituency not to

:05:36. > :05:38.declare for anyone, Jerry Kelly was returned last time in the first

:05:39. > :05:43.round but no one so far and stop we expect him to get elected and Sinn

:05:44. > :05:49.Fein are confident that Caral Ni Chuillin will follow him. Nichola

:05:50. > :05:54.Mallon not to be rolled out, and if there were to be three nationalist

:05:55. > :05:59.seats in North Belfast, remember, there are three DUP seats at the

:06:00. > :06:02.moment, that but knock out a DUP representative and some say Nelson

:06:03. > :06:06.McCausland is talking like he has already lost. That would be

:06:07. > :06:13.significant for the DUP and in East Belfast... The DUP, everyone we

:06:14. > :06:19.speak to say they expect to lose a seat and that will be twain Robin

:06:20. > :06:23.Newton, the speaker in the last December, and David Douglas, who

:06:24. > :06:28.replaces his father, Sammy. It is likely that David Douglas will be

:06:29. > :06:33.more transfer friendly when it comes to transfers of John Kyle, the DUP

:06:34. > :06:38.representative, when he is eliminated and and south Belfast,

:06:39. > :06:43.that is a rainbow constituency. Last time it had five parties

:06:44. > :06:48.represented. Mairtin O'Muilleoir, the only candidate elected so far

:06:49. > :06:53.for Sinn Fein. We expect the SDLP and Alliance to follow him, given

:06:54. > :06:57.the numbers at the moment. The race for the last two seeds are between

:06:58. > :07:02.both DUP representatives and Clare Bailey of the Green Party. We wait

:07:03. > :07:06.to see what that will be but there is potential in Belfast and I stress

:07:07. > :07:14.only a potential that three out of the four seats to go could be DUP.

:07:15. > :07:19.That would be significant indeed. Stephen Walker is in Bangor.

:07:20. > :07:27.It has been a very good day for the DUP in North Down and the Strangford

:07:28. > :07:32.seats in North Down, taking two seats and in Strangford it looks

:07:33. > :07:35.like they are on course take three. They moved Peter Weir from North

:07:36. > :07:40.Down into Strangford and they faced a threat from Jonathan Bell but that

:07:41. > :07:43.never materialised so it looks like the DUP will take three seats in

:07:44. > :07:49.Strangford. There is a tussle for the final seat with Philip were,

:07:50. > :07:52.Philip Smith, rather, from the Ulster Unionists but it looks like

:07:53. > :07:57.the DUP will get that. Strong showing from the Alliance and the

:07:58. > :08:01.Greens but disappointing for the UUP, it is not applicable get the

:08:02. > :08:07.second seat in Strangford, putting further pressure on Mike Nesbitt,

:08:08. > :08:13.the leader. Thank you. Welcome back to our studio in broadcasting house

:08:14. > :08:18.in Belfast for continuing coverage of the results for the 2017 Assembly

:08:19. > :08:26.elections. It does not seem so long since we were here not so long ago,

:08:27. > :08:29.last May, ten months ago, having not hugely dissimilar conversations in

:08:30. > :08:35.Somerset 's -- respects but in another respect a lot has changed.

:08:36. > :08:41.Some fresh faces on the panel. Fionnuala O'Connor, a regular on the

:08:42. > :08:52.airwaves. Alex Kane, of course, freshfaced! And bearded! Underneath!

:08:53. > :08:59.The former Sinn Fein MLA has joined us and Stephen Grimason, who was

:09:00. > :09:03.with us earlier, the former head of communications for the Executive and

:09:04. > :09:09.former Political Editor for BBC Northern Ireland so no stranger to

:09:10. > :09:14.this setup. We can dive in. We have not heard from vanilla and Alex. Let

:09:15. > :09:18.us hear from them. We have had a very good overview from the

:09:19. > :09:21.colleagues on Newsline with Donna Trainer and colleagues out and about

:09:22. > :09:32.at the various count centres. Is your assessment, seven hours into

:09:33. > :09:38.the current? -- into the current? Other people have said this but

:09:39. > :09:42.Arlene Foster has done an amazing double, she has brought out the Sinn

:09:43. > :09:46.Fein vote to the maximum or certainly bigger than it has been

:09:47. > :09:55.and she has brought out her own foot so this is a double first, Sinn Fein

:09:56. > :10:02.should invite to the next are-! She will not thank you for saying that!

:10:03. > :10:08.They could do it! On the other side of the fence, the other two parties

:10:09. > :10:14.in contention, the Ulster Unionists and SDLP, pretty shaky, especially

:10:15. > :10:18.for Mike Nesbitt, something you could see coming because he did that

:10:19. > :10:22.crazy thing, he appealed to the people over the head of his party.

:10:23. > :10:27.He did not discuss to any good purpose his idea of giving his first

:10:28. > :10:33.preference or second preference to the SDLP and I think we have to

:10:34. > :10:38.suppose he tried the site inside the party and did not go down very well

:10:39. > :10:45.but it was a very unpolitical thing to do and he must be lamenting that.

:10:46. > :10:51.Will he pay a price for that within his party? Newton Emerson said he

:10:52. > :10:56.made the mess calculations of going into opposition? There is no place

:10:57. > :11:03.called opposition, somebody famously said, but he moved into opposition

:11:04. > :11:07.as the Leader of the Opposition, self-styled, and then those comments

:11:08. > :11:12.about transferring to the SDLP in East Belfast. Has that cost him?

:11:13. > :11:18.Living in the opposition was the right thing to do. But he would have

:11:19. > :11:21.expected five years for both parties to get their act together for

:11:22. > :11:27.movement and something resembling coherence to emerge and to present

:11:28. > :11:32.themselves as a credible alternative to Sinn Fein and the DUP but as we

:11:33. > :11:35.know, this was nothing to do with politics, this was orange and Green

:11:36. > :11:42.yet again and Arlene Foster pulled it off, no matter what you say about

:11:43. > :11:45.the DUP or the circumstances of this election, she delivered her vote and

:11:46. > :11:50.that is all that matters. Mike Nesbitt did not but I think his

:11:51. > :11:57.resignation cannot be far away. We will see. Catriona Ruane, looking at

:11:58. > :12:04.pictures from the count centre and your colleagues holding up four

:12:05. > :12:14.fingers, four MLAs returned. Fra McCann and Pat Sheehan, strife. --

:12:15. > :12:18.home and dry. It is remarkable vote management. It is difficult to get

:12:19. > :12:24.three out of five and I know that from the Newry and Armagh and Mid

:12:25. > :12:30.Ulster areas but four out of five? Remarkable. And that is the

:12:31. > :12:37.crocodile! The crocodile featured in the last few days. Crocodile voting!

:12:38. > :12:45.Is that a crocodile or an alligator? What is the difference? You tell me!

:12:46. > :12:50.It is interesting, passing the mantle to the next generation and

:12:51. > :12:56.Orlaithi Flynn topping the poll and we're not into topping the polls but

:12:57. > :13:00.I think it is interesting that we are passing the mantle and that is

:13:01. > :13:06.what needs to happen. Stephen, what do you make of where we are? Quite

:13:07. > :13:14.an achievement for Sinn Fein MLAs, four out of five. And knocking Alex

:13:15. > :13:21.Attwood out at the same time. The Ulster Unionists scenario, Mike

:13:22. > :13:26.Nesbitt has not spoken yet. If you suggest over the head of your party

:13:27. > :13:32.and the UUP is largely unreadable anyway but if you do that and the

:13:33. > :13:39.broader electorate will have picked this up, who are the other big

:13:40. > :13:43.winners? The Alliance Party. People said, think about transferring, let

:13:44. > :13:48.us go the whole hog and vote for Alliance. The debate that he began

:13:49. > :13:56.went in that direction and took even more away from him. Cutting the feet

:13:57. > :14:00.from under him. Just a quick word. I was on the committee of the

:14:01. > :14:08.Executive and I think it was a mistake, I will disagree, by the UUP

:14:09. > :14:12.and SDLP to go into opposition because we are power-sharing...

:14:13. > :14:19.Stormont was power-sharing, North and South. Perfectly entitled to

:14:20. > :14:24.make that decision. I am not arguing that, parties are entitled to that

:14:25. > :14:28.but I think there was a much stronger power-sharing when

:14:29. > :14:34.everybody was in it and it was better for the SDLP and UUP because

:14:35. > :14:38.they were part of this. They did not think they had any part in this. The

:14:39. > :14:44.problem was not the power, they had difficulty resigning to the fact

:14:45. > :14:49.they were the smaller parties. They felt they were being ignored, there

:14:50. > :14:53.were secret meetings not involving them and they were not included and

:14:54. > :15:02.they felt excluded. Danny Kennedy said, already being the opposition.

:15:03. > :15:09.Let us develop this through the evening. Still some interesting

:15:10. > :15:13.things happening. Conor Macauley is at Banbridge leisure centre. The

:15:14. > :15:20.Upper Bann count and Newry and Armagh. What is the latest? Newry

:15:21. > :15:29.and Armagh has wrapped up for the day, the seats are filled, three

:15:30. > :15:34.Sinn Fein, one SDLP and one DUP, Justin McNulty for the SDLP and

:15:35. > :15:41.William Irwin for the DUP but the big story here was the loss of the

:15:42. > :15:47.seat by Danny Kennedy of the UUP, a seat that he has held since 1998 and

:15:48. > :15:52.he said the increased turnout in this constituency had essentially

:15:53. > :15:57.washed away the second unionist seat. Upper Bann, shaping up for an

:15:58. > :16:02.interesting battle, still going on this evenly, Carla Lockhart elected

:16:03. > :16:06.for the DUP and we expect confirmation that she will be joined

:16:07. > :16:11.by Jonathan Buckley and John O'Dowd is safe for Sinn Fein and Doug

:16:12. > :16:17.Beattie is pulling ahead of Jo-Anne Dobson for the UUP and she could

:16:18. > :16:21.turn out to be the casualty for the UUP in this constituency, leaving

:16:22. > :16:29.Dolores Kelly and Nuala Toman I'm Sinn Fein writing for the last seat.

:16:30. > :16:34.Dolores Kelly had good news from the Alliance transfers, she had about

:16:35. > :16:39.1200 of those, and she says there is nothing left to come but unionist

:16:40. > :16:43.transfers and she is ahead of Nuala Toman White 264 and she thinks that

:16:44. > :16:45.the transfers, she could stay ahead of Nuala Toman, gifting her the

:16:46. > :16:57.final seat. Here it's all gone a bit quiet here,

:16:58. > :17:01.there's not much happening at the moment. Some exclusions being

:17:02. > :17:05.counted. It's a strongly republican area and Sinn Fein feel they kept

:17:06. > :17:09.their three MLAs, their existing MLAs, including Michelle O'Neill and

:17:10. > :17:11.it appears from some Sinn Fein commentators that the fact of

:17:12. > :17:15.Michelle O'Neill having a much higher profile now in Stormont seems

:17:16. > :17:21.to have upped the ante here and brought in more votes to Sinn Fein.

:17:22. > :17:24.Also early election of the sitting DUP MLA, Keith Buchanan. If you can

:17:25. > :17:29.count that makes four, that means there is one left, one seat left to

:17:30. > :17:33.fight for. That seems to be between Patsy McGlone of the SDLP and the

:17:34. > :17:36.Ulster Unionist Sandra Overend, they're in contention for that seat.

:17:37. > :17:42.We are hearing, although nothing confirmed yet, we are hearing Patsy

:17:43. > :17:46.McGlone is safe for that seat. In North Antrim, after ten hours nobody

:17:47. > :17:52.elected yet. Previously three DUP, one TUV and one Ulster un-Eyes party

:17:53. > :17:57.and one Sinn Fein. The only person saying anything much is the Sinn

:17:58. > :18:01.Fein candidate Philip McGuigan who has been celebrating on social media

:18:02. > :18:04.even though it's not decided yet. We are hearing three DUP candidates are

:18:05. > :18:07.hopeful of keeping their seats but nobody is saying that's going to

:18:08. > :18:11.happen and in fact we are thinking that the two people left in

:18:12. > :18:18.contention who are in doubt are Philip Logan of the DUP and Robin

:18:19. > :18:23.Swann of the UUP and we think Robin Swann is closer to that quota. He

:18:24. > :18:32.may well get in first. Over to Julian O'Neill in Lisburn.

:18:33. > :18:36.Jim Wells I believe is about to be deemed elected in South Down. This

:18:37. > :18:42.is his 17th election campaign and he will be the father of the House in

:18:43. > :18:47.the next Assembly. Already past the post in that South Down constituency

:18:48. > :18:54.were Sinead Elis who topped the poll for Sinn Fein followed by kriz

:18:55. > :18:59.Hazzard -- Chris. Also past the post and deemed elected Sinead Bradley of

:19:00. > :19:03.the SDLP. Now a bittersweet day for her, retaking her seat on the day

:19:04. > :19:07.she attended her father's funeral. I haven't seen her at the count centre

:19:08. > :19:19.and I believe she may not be coming here. One seat left to fight for in

:19:20. > :19:23.South Down between Colin McGrath and Patrick Brown. Harold McKee of the

:19:24. > :19:27.Ulster Unionists has been eliminated. He held the 5th - sorry

:19:28. > :19:32.the 6th seat at the last election, but he loses out in that

:19:33. > :19:38.constituency. Things running a lot slower in Lagan valley which is also

:19:39. > :19:41.being counted here at Lisburn. One candidate so far elected, Paul Givan

:19:42. > :19:47.of the DUP who for the second election in a row has topped the

:19:48. > :19:52.poll. I expect Edwin Poots, his running mate, to also be elected.

:19:53. > :19:57.Trevor Lunn has polled well for Alliance, almost doubling his vote.

:19:58. > :20:00.He too is likely to be elected. The final seat, I should say Robbie

:20:01. > :20:08.Butler has polled well and is likely to get in, that leaves a 5th and

:20:09. > :20:12.final seat up for grabs between two outgoing MLAs, Brenda Hale of the

:20:13. > :20:16.DUP and Jenny Palmer of the Ulster Unionists. The DUP were hopeful at

:20:17. > :20:21.the start of this day they would hold their three MLAs in this

:20:22. > :20:24.constituency. That doubt has crept in, they're not now so confident and

:20:25. > :20:29.I am even hearing from the SDLP that they feel they may be in with a

:20:30. > :20:35.shout on that seat based on transfers but in all likelihood it

:20:36. > :20:42.will be a run-off with Brenda Hale and Jenny Palmer. Over to

:20:43. > :20:50.Newtownabbey and Ita. Here there is a bit of a teatime lull. I have

:20:51. > :20:55.spoken to people off for a spot of lasagne. First to to South Antrim

:20:56. > :21:07.and two people elected here, the first person to be elected was

:21:08. > :21:11.Declan Kearney. Steve Aiken. We are at the next stage now and the

:21:12. > :21:16.elimination of the SDLP's Roisin Lynch. Those transfers are going to

:21:17. > :21:20.be distributed. David Ford says that he is feeling optimistic that he

:21:21. > :21:27.will be next in line for a seat. There is no DUP MLAs elected here so

:21:28. > :21:32.far. But they are fighting for - three candidates and they're

:21:33. > :21:36.fighting for two seats, Paul Girvan, Pam Cameron and Trevor Clarke. There

:21:37. > :21:41.is a bit of nervous energy amongst that group of DUP candidates. In

:21:42. > :21:50.East Antrim we already have four seats filled. We just heard that the

:21:51. > :21:57.DUP's Gordon Lyons has been elected. Earlier his colleague David Hilditch

:21:58. > :22:03.was the first elected here. Next the Alliance's Stewart Dickson and Roy

:22:04. > :22:07.Beggs. One seat left and Sinn Fein's Oliver McMullan is still there now.

:22:08. > :22:20.He is vulnerable and only got eight transfers in the last round. That

:22:21. > :22:23.remaining seat could be the Ulster Unionists' Stewart. -- John Stewart.

:22:24. > :22:29.The numbers make for interesting reading. When you look at the growth

:22:30. > :22:33.in the DUP vote, it's interesting on last May, 23,000 up. Sinn Fein vote

:22:34. > :22:37.up 57,000. Yes, and the really interesting

:22:38. > :22:41.figure is the difference between in the popular vote, between the DUP

:22:42. > :22:49.total, they topped the popular vote, but Sinn Fein are just under 12 o 00

:22:50. > :22:57.votes behind them now -- 1200. As Monty Python used to say that's a

:22:58. > :23:02.wafe refreshings thin majority. Even they didn't think it would be that

:23:03. > :23:06.close. As I suggested earlier if you draw a

:23:07. > :23:09.line down the middle of Northern Ireland you have a differentential

:23:10. > :23:14.turnout west and east of the Bann. It takes fewer unionists to elected

:23:15. > :23:21.an MLA than nationalists to put it crudely. Kwha do you make of that,

:23:22. > :23:28.interesting numbers That's psychologically an important thing

:23:29. > :23:32.and it must factor - it must be a factor in Arlene Foster's

:23:33. > :23:38.psychology. I heard somebody saying, was it David McIlveen, again the

:23:39. > :23:42.Thorne in the flesh who has more play than he probably deserves and

:23:43. > :23:47.clearly has a firm out of spite and mallise in him from his experiences

:23:48. > :23:51.in May. I think it was him who said there was a comfortable gap between

:23:52. > :23:55.the parties the last time. This is nothing like a comfortable gap. I

:23:56. > :24:02.suspect he would dispute the idea of malice. Of course he would. Maybe

:24:03. > :24:07.malicious... It's fair to suggest that he has an axe to grind. I never

:24:08. > :24:16.thought I would feel sympathy for Arlene Foster, I must say but... Do

:24:17. > :24:20.you not? No, it past! Nicholas Whyte was saying this earlier, but for the

:24:21. > :24:24.first time unionists will not have an overall majority in terms of

:24:25. > :24:30.seats or possibly will not have an overall majority in terms of seats

:24:31. > :24:32.in the Assembly. They would still be the single biggest designation, but

:24:33. > :24:38.they wouldn't necessarily have a majority. If they come in at 43, 44

:24:39. > :24:41.seats, out of 90, that's less than half. That's going to be a

:24:42. > :24:43.difficulty and I was writing about that at the beginning of the

:24:44. > :24:47.campaign. Why is it a difficulty? It's psychological. What's going to

:24:48. > :24:53.happen, if you get a situation... You are shaking your head, does it

:24:54. > :24:57.matter? Why it will make a difference. For unionists majority

:24:58. > :25:00.matters to unionism, it's a psychological thing. For the first

:25:01. > :25:03.time, whether it's a Stormont parliament or an Assembly in

:25:04. > :25:06.Northern Ireland, if someone can get up and say, whether it's someone

:25:07. > :25:12.from Sinn Fein or Alliance or the SDLP to say to - assuming it's

:25:13. > :25:17.Arlene Foster, you do not speak for, this House does not represent a

:25:18. > :25:22.unionist majority any more, that's psychologically damaging. She will

:25:23. > :25:27.feel vulnerable. Can you understand that, the psychology of that I can

:25:28. > :25:31.understand it but as a society we need to stop thinking in terms of

:25:32. > :25:38.majority. We need to be thinking in terms of celebrating diversity. We

:25:39. > :25:45.need to be thinking of making this a place for everyone. I think - I do

:25:46. > :25:49.understand it, but I still - I haven't seen the right words for it,

:25:50. > :25:54.we have to change that way. I am pretty sure if that balance Stephen

:25:55. > :25:57.was talking about was in favour of Sinn Fein, if Sinn Fein was the

:25:58. > :26:01.largest party in Northern Ireland they might not be blatantly saying

:26:02. > :26:07.look at us, but they would have let the message go out to the core, we

:26:08. > :26:11.are now the largest party, we are making progress. It's in their

:26:12. > :26:17.psychology, as well. I am going to disagree with you. I know you are.

:26:18. > :26:19.Not in the same way. When we were discussing it in the previous

:26:20. > :26:24.election about first and Deputy First Minister, I mean, first and

:26:25. > :26:31.Deputy First Minister have - we have said it, have the exact same powers.

:26:32. > :26:36.What Martin McGuinness said was let's have joint ministers. If Sinn

:26:37. > :26:40.Fein were to be the biggest party, let's have joint ministers. I think

:26:41. > :26:46.we need to stop thinking like that. We need to be thinking of our LGBT

:26:47. > :26:51.and thinking of women and ethnic minorities. We need to be working

:26:52. > :26:55.together to build a better island. In my case a better island. In the

:26:56. > :27:00.case of unionism as they would see it a better place for us all to

:27:01. > :27:04.live. There are bound to be people in Connolly House saying we can kick

:27:05. > :27:08.on from this, we are really close now. Is that likely to be spooking

:27:09. > :27:11.some unionists? More than some. Interesting point, thank you very

:27:12. > :27:16.much. We will come back to this in due

:27:17. > :27:21.course. Before teatime we heard from Alex Attwood of the SDLP who lost

:27:22. > :27:27.out in West Belfast, he was an MLA since 1998 there. A short time ago

:27:28. > :27:32.he spoke to people gathered at the Titanic count centre. People ask me

:27:33. > :27:37.how do I feel, that's not so important. What is important to me

:27:38. > :27:41.is that I do feel that I have let down the SDLP. And I do feel that I

:27:42. > :27:45.have let down the people of West Belfast. That is something that I

:27:46. > :27:53.will carry into the future for a very long period of time. But I am

:27:54. > :27:57.reassured that the new generation of SDLP coming through in West Belfast

:27:58. > :28:02.will take the party to places and to success that has been beyond my

:28:03. > :28:08.grasp in recent times. I have confidence in them and I would ask

:28:09. > :28:13.people who support the SDLP in West Belfast to have confidence in them

:28:14. > :28:17.too. Alex Attwood speaking at the count centre in Belfast. Obviously

:28:18. > :28:21.very disappointed. Let's talk to his party leader Colum Eastwood, leader

:28:22. > :28:27.of the SDLP who joins us from his home count in Derry. Evening to you.

:28:28. > :28:31.Thank you for joining us. How do you feel about Alex Attwood's career

:28:32. > :28:35.being brought to a juddering halt this afternoon? Well, it's a huge

:28:36. > :28:39.loss for us and of course Alex hasn't let us down. He has done

:28:40. > :28:43.anything but let the people of this country down over his many decades

:28:44. > :28:48.of service. Because of Alex Attwood we have a new beginning to policing,

:28:49. > :28:52.he played a huge role in the peace process and our negotiations so we

:28:53. > :28:56.are very proud of the work that Alex has done as a representative of the

:28:57. > :29:01.SDLP and a representative of West Belfast over many years. We will

:29:02. > :29:06.miss him very, very sorely. Of course, it was a very difficult ask,

:29:07. > :29:10.we duesing from six to five seaters, he won the 6th seat just about a few

:29:11. > :29:15.months ago. The 5th seat was just I think a bit of a stretch for us and

:29:16. > :29:20.we always knew he would be under pressure in West Belfast and Alex

:29:21. > :29:24.did put a trojan effort to try to retain the seat, unfortunately the

:29:25. > :29:29.wins were against him. It's been a bad day so Forrest -- so far for the

:29:30. > :29:33.SDLP, not just in West Belfast but elsewhere too. Your overall

:29:34. > :29:37.performance, last May it was the worst SDLP performance ever. Today,

:29:38. > :29:45.it's worse again. Your vote is down I think overall... Is it? It is,

:29:46. > :29:50.yes. It is. Your vote is down by and share is down by 0. 1%. You are

:29:51. > :29:56.going - you have lost one seat. Are you going to make ten seats, can you

:29:57. > :30:00.make ten seats? How bad is it in your estimatation? Well, of course I

:30:01. > :30:07.don't see it in the same way that you do. 0. 1% is hardly anything at

:30:08. > :30:10.all. For the SDLP to retain its vote share across the north in such a

:30:11. > :30:14.difficult and poisonous situation that we have had, the political

:30:15. > :30:18.context has been horrible for parties of the middle. Of course

:30:19. > :30:22.this was an election pitched as a battle between Sinn Fein and the DUP

:30:23. > :30:25.and we were always going to find it difficult. Of course, ten seats will

:30:26. > :30:28.be proportional to what we have right now given the fact we are

:30:29. > :30:34.reducing the number of seats in the Assembly. I don't think we are far

:30:35. > :30:37.away from ten seats and people like Dolores Kelly are doing well to hang

:30:38. > :30:43.in there and she will take a seat I think at the expense of Sinn Fein in

:30:44. > :30:47.Upper Bann. What about the decision that you made to go into opposition

:30:48. > :30:51.with Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionist party. We heard from some

:30:52. > :30:54.commentators around the table here that may well have cost both your

:30:55. > :30:59.parties, the centre ground, if you like, or a major part of the centre

:31:00. > :31:04.ground, real support in this election, do you think now with the

:31:05. > :31:09.benefit of hindsight it was a miscalculation? No, I think that's

:31:10. > :31:12.utter nonsense, the idea this was an election about the Government versus

:31:13. > :31:16.opposition, as much as some of us tried to make it that and move

:31:17. > :31:19.politics on to that ground, that's not what this election was about, it

:31:20. > :31:25.was about old battles that have come to the fore again. The people saying

:31:26. > :31:28.that we moved into the opposition was a strategic mistake were saying

:31:29. > :31:32.it was a good idea a few months ago, so I don't buy that. That's not what

:31:33. > :31:36.this election was about. Just to be clear, I have to be fair to you,

:31:37. > :31:42.your share of the overall vote is down 0. 1%. You may well be down

:31:43. > :31:46.overall in terms of seats. Your vote is up because turnout is up and

:31:47. > :31:49.everybody's - all the main parties have an increased vote. So the vote

:31:50. > :31:56.has gone up by a few thousand. I accept that. But the share... I am

:31:57. > :32:04.glad you say that, Mark. I thought that our vote was up. It is up but

:32:05. > :32:09.in percentage terms it's down. By 0. 1% which I don't think anybody could

:32:10. > :32:11.hold against us in a poisonous political atmosphere which was an

:32:12. > :32:15.election between the DUP and Sinn Fein. The rest of us tried to find

:32:16. > :32:23.some space to make a positive case. I think we did well to retain that

:32:24. > :32:27.percentage share and we will end up in and around prorata what we had. I

:32:28. > :32:28.think it's a good day for an SDLP in a difficult and poisonous

:32:29. > :32:42.atmosphere. Thank you very much. We will have further conversations

:32:43. > :32:48.in the next few days. Jo Whiley Dobson for the Ulster Unionists has

:32:49. > :32:53.been eliminated in her caught so she has gone. That is Upper Bann,

:32:54. > :32:58.speculation that Doug Beattie could be under pressure, her running mate,

:32:59. > :33:06.but he is hanging in. Jo-Anne Dobson has gone. That is significant.

:33:07. > :33:10.Another bad bit of news for the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mike

:33:11. > :33:15.Nesbitt. Mark Devenport is looking at the overall picture. Let us look

:33:16. > :33:24.at the Assembly make up so far. Here we go. 42 of the 90 seats declared

:33:25. > :33:29.and we can see Sinn Fein on 18, putting in a quick start to this

:33:30. > :33:37.race. Any idea of what you might end up with? Between 26 and 28.

:33:38. > :33:42.Depending on whether they can make gains in East Londonderry and the

:33:43. > :33:50.second seat in north Belfast. The DUP trailing them on 13 what they

:33:51. > :33:57.will make up that gap? At least, maximum of 29, the uncertainty is

:33:58. > :34:02.whether they can hang onto the second seat in Fermanagh-South

:34:03. > :34:07.Tyrone. Alliance Party, four, in third position. Can they hold on?

:34:08. > :34:14.For it is not impossible, there is an outside chance in South Down and

:34:15. > :34:20.North Belfast, outside chances but nonetheless they are there. And the

:34:21. > :34:25.Ulster Unionists and SDLP, poor figures. Some of the faces joining

:34:26. > :34:32.the Assembly. And some of those who will be lost. Jonathan Buckley and

:34:33. > :34:40.Upper Bann taking over the seat vacated by Sidney Anderson. The DUP

:34:41. > :34:47.consolidating their consolidation. Sinn Fein, Elisha McCallion, the

:34:48. > :34:50.former Mayor of Derry, taking over from Martin McGuinness, and Sinead

:34:51. > :34:59.Ennis, only beaten by her party leader. Most impressive performances

:35:00. > :35:06.from both candidates, replacing long-standing local figures. Some of

:35:07. > :35:11.those no longer with us. Gerry Mullan, he stood as an independent

:35:12. > :35:17.in East Londonderry and he has done damage to the SDLP? It looks like

:35:18. > :35:22.because of the confusion between the candidates the SDLP will lose that's

:35:23. > :35:29.it. Jonathan Bell in Strangford, at the centre of the RHI storm, did not

:35:30. > :35:35.do the DUP as much damage has had? Clearly not and did himself no

:35:36. > :35:42.favours. Moving along. The SDLP, pretty bad for them, some veterans,

:35:43. > :35:53.Alex Attwood and West Belfast and Richie McPhillips losing out?

:35:54. > :35:58.Squeaking through last time. Alex Attwood is a significant loss. And a

:35:59. > :36:03.bad day for the Ulster Unionists. Jo-Anne Dobson, that was a surprise

:36:04. > :36:08.she did not do better than her running mate, Doug Beattie, and she

:36:09. > :36:15.loses Danny -- joins Danny Kennedy and Harold McKee? And in the short

:36:16. > :36:21.term, there are number of candidates has been reduced. Lots of human

:36:22. > :36:25.drama. With all the comings and goings of the new

:36:26. > :36:33.Thank you. We can talk to Jim Wells, the DUP candidate, successfully

:36:34. > :36:41.returned in South Down. Thank you for joining us. Congratulations.

:36:42. > :36:48.Thank you. Are you pleased you came in third place with 7800 first

:36:49. > :36:56.preferences behind two Sinn Fein candidates? Pretty comfortable? Yes.

:36:57. > :37:05.The vote was up 53% from last May, very comfortable. Up from 5000 to

:37:06. > :37:09.7800, very credible performance and I want to thank my election agent

:37:10. > :37:14.and my colleagues in the team. I want to pay tribute to Howard

:37:15. > :37:21.McHugh, who did not make it. He will be missed in South Down. Sinead

:37:22. > :37:25.Bradley successful for the SDLP and a very difficult day for Sinead,

:37:26. > :37:30.returned today, the pleasure of getting back to Stormont with what

:37:31. > :37:37.was her father's seat but she buried her father this morning? Yes, PJ

:37:38. > :37:41.Bradley was one of the nicest men ever to represent South Down and his

:37:42. > :37:45.passing is a tragedy and very difficult for Sinead because he was

:37:46. > :37:49.ill for some time and she fought that campaign without going on so

:37:50. > :37:54.well done to her in difficult times and commiserations to you and your

:37:55. > :37:59.family. What do you make of the battle for the fifth seat? Between

:38:00. > :38:04.Colin McGrath of the SDLP and Patrick Brown from Alliance, he is

:38:05. > :38:09.trailing column by around 600 votes but we are looking at the

:38:10. > :38:12.redistribution of the surpluses and there is every possibility, is

:38:13. > :38:18.there, that they could go to Patrick Brown more than Colin McGrath? We

:38:19. > :38:28.could have a new face returned for South Down? It would not be Howard

:38:29. > :38:34.McHugh's surplus, it is mine, with 2500 votes. We did not want members

:38:35. > :38:39.and supporters to transfer to the Alliance. I think that Colin

:38:40. > :38:44.McGrath, the sitting MLA, has a good chance. He has a lead over Patrick

:38:45. > :38:48.Brown and I would think he will get the that's it, two Sinn Fein and

:38:49. > :38:56.SDLP and myself as the only unionist. I am just looking at the

:38:57. > :39:04.numbers. There are so many columns and boxes and numbers, I miss read

:39:05. > :39:10.that. Sinead Bradley got in ahead if you on the third stage. That would

:39:11. > :39:17.mean Colin McGrath would be home and Patrick Brown not successful. Any

:39:18. > :39:24.idea of the timescale? Pistil redistribution of the surplus from

:39:25. > :39:31.Chris, about 600, that will favour Colin McGrath and my surplus is

:39:32. > :39:35.around 2500, fairly neutral, so Colin would be the favourite, two

:39:36. > :39:43.more accounts and Colin will probably be elected. We will see.

:39:44. > :39:48.Good to talk to you. Thank you. We can talk to Patsy McGlone from the

:39:49. > :39:55.SDLP, who joins us from his count in Mid Ulster. The seven Towers Leisure

:39:56. > :40:03.Centre. Are you confident that you will hang onto your seat? I am

:40:04. > :40:06.hopeful. We're at the fourth count for the smaller parties being

:40:07. > :40:12.eliminated so there are transfers coming across so it seems hopeful

:40:13. > :40:16.that I will be returned again. That would mean you are knocking out

:40:17. > :40:21.Sandra Overend, who has served there for quite some time, as did her

:40:22. > :40:28.father before her. More bad news for the Ulster Unionist Party. Yes, I do

:40:29. > :40:33.not count my chickens before they hatch and that was the case, I would

:40:34. > :40:38.feel for Sandra Overend, as I would for anyone who gets knocked out, who

:40:39. > :40:42.has been there and served their community and has done well for

:40:43. > :40:48.those communities. Unfortunate that somebody has to be the loser, we had

:40:49. > :40:54.the reduction from six to only five seats but that is the inevitability

:40:55. > :40:59.of it, five people have to get through and with 11 candidates,

:41:00. > :41:03.there are six losers. Impressive performance by Sinn Fein, Michelle

:41:04. > :41:07.O'Neill, the party leader, at Stormont, topping the poll. Bringing

:41:08. > :41:15.both running mates with her in some style? They have done well here. I

:41:16. > :41:21.have to say, I congratulated all the candidates elected so far but on the

:41:22. > :41:26.political side, we had a huge fear factor in this election that turned

:41:27. > :41:31.into a sectarian bunfight but the SDLP has put its vote up by 12,001st

:41:32. > :41:37.preference votes 19 months ago which is good for us. However, this

:41:38. > :41:41.election was not about RHI or anything else, we saw Arlene Foster

:41:42. > :41:45.whipping up the fear and that was reciprocated by those who want to

:41:46. > :41:49.give her a political bloody nose and that was the sum total of what

:41:50. > :41:54.seemed to have happened. How do you feel about the broader message from

:41:55. > :42:00.the electorate? Particularly towards the Ulster Unionist Party add your

:42:01. > :42:03.own party, the SDLP? The decision to go into opposition in the middle of

:42:04. > :42:08.last year, people this evening saying that could be judged to have

:42:09. > :42:13.been a mistake? You have been rejected at the ballot box by the

:42:14. > :42:18.electorate? It has been a mistake that added an extra 12,000 votes to

:42:19. > :42:27.us in a period of nine months. I don't know if you can call that a

:42:28. > :42:32.mistake! I would not call it that. The overall share is down and your

:42:33. > :42:39.seat tally, the critical thing, is not as good as you would have hoped?

:42:40. > :42:43.That depends. We will wait. Wait until the final count and we will

:42:44. > :42:48.see, like last year, I heard the same refrain from your colleagues,

:42:49. > :42:52.and it is looking good for us in Upper Bann with Dolores Kelly and

:42:53. > :42:59.hopefully she will be back and we have a shout in Lagan Valley so wait

:43:00. > :43:03.until we see the final result. I will emphasise, we have put our

:43:04. > :43:09.first preference vote up by 12000 and that is no mean feat. Thank you

:43:10. > :43:16.very much. Patsy McGlone from the Mid Ulster count in Ballymena. John

:43:17. > :43:22.O'Dowd has been returned in Upper Bann. Last time around in May, he

:43:23. > :43:29.had a fight for the final seat with an Grace Kelly and he managed to

:43:30. > :43:33.that seat by 168 votes, and very tight squeeze and people had him

:43:34. > :43:39.down and out. More comfortable today on the fifth stage. -- Dolores

:43:40. > :43:45.Kelly. Carla Lockhart topping the poll, John O'Dowd, Jonathan Buckley

:43:46. > :43:49.from the DUP and the battle for the fourth and fifth seats between Nuala

:43:50. > :43:55.Toman of Sinn Fein, Doug Beattie of the Ulster Unionists and Jo-Anne

:43:56. > :43:58.Dobson is out and Dolores Kelly, who retired last May after defeat but is

:43:59. > :44:06.back in the frame. Interesting stuff. We have new faces, Nigel

:44:07. > :44:12.Dodds and we can welcome me. And John McCallister, former Ulster

:44:13. > :44:19.Unionist and former NI21 and former independent representative for South

:44:20. > :44:23.Down. Such a build-up! South Down, we were talking to Jim Wells, how do

:44:24. > :44:32.you see the numbers are stacking up? Do you think that it looks pretty

:44:33. > :44:38.safe for Colin McGrath? Not pretty safe, Jim was talking about his

:44:39. > :44:42.surplus and that is true. But the core of those votes will be the

:44:43. > :44:52.elimination is from Howard McKee. You do not know where that could go.

:44:53. > :44:56.It is still probably favouring Colin but this is a remarkable performance

:44:57. > :45:01.by Patrick Brown in the Alliance Party. Ten years ago, when I was

:45:02. > :45:10.elected to the Assembly, the Alliance vote was around 700 and

:45:11. > :45:16.nine he was on 4501st preference, remarkable turnaround. Mike Nesbitt

:45:17. > :45:19.confirmed returned in Strangford and Michelle McIlveen. Mike Nesbitt has

:45:20. > :45:25.his seat. He beat you for the leadership of the party so you have

:45:26. > :45:31.history with them, but the best of friends, there is no secret about

:45:32. > :45:37.that. We are very close friends! I'm not saying you are sworn enemies!

:45:38. > :45:42.How do you feel about his day-to-day? Not looking great for

:45:43. > :45:47.the UUP? He is having an awful day but this is what I warned about for

:45:48. > :45:55.a number of years, you have to decide what it is the party is

:45:56. > :46:02.about. Unionist unity or opposition? I wanted, like Alex, in 2012, five

:46:03. > :46:07.years ago, I wanted to take the party into opposition, I did not

:46:08. > :46:13.want to bring down the institutions. Do we want to go in that direction?

:46:14. > :46:17.And saying no to unionist unity. Mike Nesbitt wanted to go a

:46:18. > :46:21.different way and what has not been clear over those years, and he is

:46:22. > :46:27.paying the price, 2013 without deal in Mid Ulster and I resigned from

:46:28. > :46:32.the UUP at that point but you have to decide what is your party is

:46:33. > :46:36.about. And until they do that, and that is not entirely his fault, part

:46:37. > :46:41.of that is the party has never decided what it wants to do.

:46:42. > :46:46.Interesting. We will come back to that. Nigel Dodds, welcome. What are

:46:47. > :46:52.your initial thoughts about your party's performance this time

:46:53. > :46:56.around? Given all the predictions and commentary leading up to this

:46:57. > :47:00.election it has been a remarkable performance, our vote has held up

:47:01. > :47:06.extremely well and Arlene Foster and all of those around her deserve

:47:07. > :47:09.enormous credit for the way in which she has withstood so much that has

:47:10. > :47:16.been thrown at her and the way the party has come through. The vote is

:47:17. > :47:21.down a little bit. But given the barrage of criticism and the

:47:22. > :47:25.maelstrom in which people said we were caught up, it is remarkable.

:47:26. > :47:31.What is coming out of this is very clear. There are none to parties,

:47:32. > :47:35.Sinn Fein with a very strong mandate and the DUP with a very strong

:47:36. > :47:40.mandate, slightly stronger, and what we need to do is work together to

:47:41. > :47:45.move Northern Ireland forward. It is very clear that the people have

:47:46. > :47:49.spoken. Yesterday, in the election. They made it very clear that in

:47:50. > :47:53.terms of unionism and the DUP speaking for the unionist people and

:47:54. > :47:58.they have made it clear in terms of the nationalist republican

:47:59. > :48:02.community, but opposition, the SDLP decision and the rest of it is not

:48:03. > :48:06.something they want to go forward with, they want to get moving

:48:07. > :48:10.forward in terms of the executor. What we need to do in the coming

:48:11. > :48:15.days is set down, work out how we can get this province bidding, get

:48:16. > :48:18.the Assembly running, get the Executive back, I do not think the

:48:19. > :48:24.people yesterday were voting in favour of opposition. The idea that

:48:25. > :48:27.parties exist in order to go into opposition, and I have the greatest

:48:28. > :48:32.respect for John and everything he has done in politics and he knows

:48:33. > :48:37.that, but the idea that you go into politics offering people opposition,

:48:38. > :48:38.you do not want to take power, you do not want responsibility, is

:48:39. > :48:46.something I think is a mistake. I don't think anybody do that.

:48:47. > :48:48.People knew when they were voting for the SDLP and the Ulster

:48:49. > :48:52.Unionists that really effectively they were voting for people that

:48:53. > :48:54.were going to be in opposition because no matter what people

:48:55. > :48:57.were... They thought if enough people voted for them they would be

:48:58. > :49:02.in Government and you would be in opposition. People knew as they

:49:03. > :49:06.voted in this election that the idea that it was going to be an SDLP and

:49:07. > :49:09.Ulster Unionist Government and that the DUP and Sinn Fein were going to

:49:10. > :49:14.be - it was nonsense, people knew that. It goes back to this mixed

:49:15. > :49:16.messages and the rest of it. We have a system in Northern Ireland of

:49:17. > :49:20.mandatory Government and people have to make up their minds. If they're

:49:21. > :49:24.going to play a role or opt out. Can I ask you for a response to

:49:25. > :49:27.something that Fionnuala said earlier, which is Arlene Foster to

:49:28. > :49:32.be congratulated on a fine performsance as far as the DUP is

:49:33. > :49:36.concerned, but also deserves congratulations for mobilising the

:49:37. > :49:41.Sinn Fein vote. Yes, it's a good soundbite. But the reality is that

:49:42. > :49:46.nobody expected the DUP to do as well as we have done. Sinn Fein can

:49:47. > :49:55.speak for themselves and will speak for themselves in terms of their

:49:56. > :50:03.vote Maybe it galvanised votes. The same can be said the same as post

:50:04. > :50:06.eulogis being murders... People notice what goes on in each side of

:50:07. > :50:11.the community. Don't understatement how unionists feel when they see the

:50:12. > :50:15.leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland eulogising murder. That has

:50:16. > :50:19.an effect in the unionist community as well and galvanises people just

:50:20. > :50:23.as people, the Ulster Unionist leader when he says transfer to

:50:24. > :50:26.nationalists, you know, we don't want to increase or help other

:50:27. > :50:29.unionists get elected, that's an effect within the unionist community

:50:30. > :50:33.too. And that has to be borne in mind. I will come back to you again

:50:34. > :50:42.shortly. I want to park that for a moment. I want to hear from Tara

:50:43. > :50:47.again who has some guests at the Titanic Ex Centre in Belfast.

:50:48. > :50:52.Yes, we may not be able to get an interview with Arlene Foster in the

:50:53. > :50:55.BBC today but we do have pictures that Brian John Spencer has done for

:50:56. > :51:01.us today, some of the cartoons he has been working on.

:51:02. > :51:05.Do you think the one on the left with the rope saying that she may be

:51:06. > :51:10.taken down, that's premature now, isn't it or out of date because she

:51:11. > :51:13.will probably survive as leader? I think she will survive as leader.

:51:14. > :51:16.The DUP have done just enough, they're ahead of Sinn Fein in the

:51:17. > :51:21.popular vote. They're probably going to lead Sinn Fein in terms of the

:51:22. > :51:27.number of Assembly seats. We are not going to have a rethink in terms of

:51:28. > :51:30.party seats or block designations so she's probably done enough, she was

:51:31. > :51:34.not the commanding figure in May 2016 but Arlene Foster will claim a

:51:35. > :51:38.renewed mandate today. The story is of Sinn Fein's advances but Arlene

:51:39. > :51:42.Foster has probably done enough to stay in place. Arlene Foster will

:51:43. > :51:44.only step down on a voluntary basis and will not have Sinn Fein

:51:45. > :51:48.effectively choosing the DUP leader. So it's as you were with all the

:51:49. > :51:52.problems of course that brings in terms of forming a Government. Still

:51:53. > :51:56.with nothing between Michelle O'Neill and Gavin Robinson earlier,

:51:57. > :51:59.he carefully didn't rule out somebody else going in as First

:52:00. > :52:03.Minister but he didn't rule it in either. He wasn't emphatic about it.

:52:04. > :52:07.Sinn Fein have been less careful about, in terms of their blanket

:52:08. > :52:11.refusal to countenance Arlene Foster. There is more wriggle room

:52:12. > :52:14.on the other side. How will the DUP actually sell that? Because if

:52:15. > :52:18.Arlene Foster was to step aside for any reason it would look like giving

:52:19. > :52:22.in to Sinn Fein. So it's difficult to see how we get a compromise from

:52:23. > :52:27.here. That's why I am pessimistic about the prospects of an Executive

:52:28. > :52:30.formed over the next 6-9 months. All hopes are pinned on the RHI inquiry

:52:31. > :52:35.which provides utter clarity and that we can move on from there. I am

:52:36. > :52:40.not sure we will get that far. Chris, the pictures, I remember the

:52:41. > :52:44.picture that Brian Spencer did last year, it was of an Iron Lady, echos

:52:45. > :52:49.back to Margaret Thatcher and she is not in that position now. No, she's

:52:50. > :52:54.not. Such a change. The reception that Arlene Foster got here last

:52:55. > :52:58.year when she came in, this year it was Michelle O'Neill got that

:52:59. > :53:02.reception. Very clearly the story of this election has been Sinn Fein's

:53:03. > :53:07.stunning electoral success. Here in Belfast and West Belfast they've

:53:08. > :53:12.taken four out of five seats. Very comfortably taken those seats with

:53:13. > :53:14.over 61% of the vote. In North Belfast interestingly, that surge of

:53:15. > :53:18.support for Sinn Fein has meant that we could be on the verge of for the

:53:19. > :53:20.first time ever having more nationalists elected in a

:53:21. > :53:24.constituency-wide election in North Belfast than unionists, which again

:53:25. > :53:28.would be a remarkable change on how things have been nine months ago. A

:53:29. > :53:33.big name potentially in trouble in North Belfast, Nelson McCausland.

:53:34. > :53:36.Yes, a significant figure within the DUP, former culture Minister. And

:53:37. > :53:40.really the mood music seems to be from the DUP that they think he has

:53:41. > :53:44.lost. He is out yet on the numbers, but from the body language of the

:53:45. > :53:51.DUP members it appears that they've lost a significant figure within the

:53:52. > :53:54.party. That would leave the DUP and unionism within Belfast likely down

:53:55. > :53:59.to just six seats out of 20 because they'll have lost a seat in East,

:54:00. > :54:03.North and South Belfast. What do you see as the overall picture then, you

:54:04. > :54:07.were saying earlier that there is a possibility that Sinn Fein and the

:54:08. > :54:10.DUP could have the same number of seats of 28, but with some results

:54:11. > :54:14.in the last half hour that's possibly not going to happen now. I

:54:15. > :54:19.still expect the DUP to be around 29, 30, to still have a slight lead

:54:20. > :54:22.over Sinn Fein. The other big question today is what happens to

:54:23. > :54:25.the smaller parties within the unionist and nationalist blocks?

:54:26. > :54:30.Mike Nesbitt said this felt different on the doorstep and yet

:54:31. > :54:34.the UUP has failed to deliver. The SDLP have really failed to deliver.

:54:35. > :54:38.I do wonder whether there is room for a smaller party within either

:54:39. > :54:46.electoral block now. Frankly, if you are a strong unionist, you vote DUP.

:54:47. > :54:51.If you are - what is the future of the UUP and SDLP? The idea of going

:54:52. > :54:54.into opposition was not a bad one, Stormont needed an opposition but

:54:55. > :54:57.it's not working on the doorstep. The only good election result the

:54:58. > :55:04.UUP have had in the last few years is when they went into a

:55:05. > :55:10.pan-unionist front at a Westminster election in 2015, everything else

:55:11. > :55:13.has been, frankly, mediocre in terms of elections, they're going to have

:55:14. > :55:18.to have a new strategy and maybe a new leader. Is there an obvious

:55:19. > :55:21.successor, though, if he decides it's not worth carrying on? Not

:55:22. > :55:27.really. Thank you very much. We will leave it there. More from you later.

:55:28. > :55:32.Thank you very much, Tara. Let's cross over to North Antrim and

:55:33. > :55:36.speak to the TUV leader Jim Allister who joins us from the Seven Towers

:55:37. > :55:41.Leisure Centre. Evening to you, thank you very much for joining us.

:55:42. > :55:45.I am looking at my computer here. I don't think anybody's formally been

:55:46. > :55:49.returned at this stage A lot of eliminations, are you confidentable

:55:50. > :55:54.you will hold on to your seat? Yes, I am within about 200 votes of the

:55:55. > :55:59.quota so I think that's pretty clear what's going to happen. I think it's

:56:00. > :56:03.going to end up one Sinn Fein seat, one TUV seat and one Ulster Unionist

:56:04. > :56:10.seat and two DUP, which is a loss of a DUP seat. Will that be Philip

:56:11. > :56:13.Logan who will lose that seat, the candidate who came through last May?

:56:14. > :56:18.Yes, it certainly looks like that. I do have to say this, this is a poor

:56:19. > :56:23.day for unionism. It's a day that need not have happened but for the

:56:24. > :56:27.arrogance of MrsFoster it wouldn't have happened. It's a day when we

:56:28. > :56:32.have seen Sinn Fein advances and probably arrived at the point

:56:33. > :56:36.unnecessarily where unionism is no longer the majority control in the

:56:37. > :56:43.Assembly and I think that does send a message to both the leaders of

:56:44. > :56:48.unionism and the unionist party that given that Stormont will only

:56:49. > :56:52.continue if the DUP now fill Sinn Fein's boots with endless

:56:53. > :56:56.concessions and - they are insatable on that front, many unionists will

:56:57. > :56:59.be asking themselves whether in these circumstances we really want

:57:00. > :57:03.to keep Stormont and I think all unionists have to do some

:57:04. > :57:08.heart-searching about whether or not that's the best way to protect the

:57:09. > :57:13.union where we have an elevated and advanced Sinn Fein agenda which will

:57:14. > :57:19.be so avarice in its demands of unionism and unionism if it wants to

:57:20. > :57:22.keep Stormont is going to have to pay an incredible and repeated price

:57:23. > :57:27.and I do question whether that is in the interests of unionism. Well, you

:57:28. > :57:31.have questioned how Arlene Foster has handled the situation and she -

:57:32. > :57:34.you say she bears some responsibility for what's happened

:57:35. > :57:39.for Sinn Fein's advances. How could she have stopped that, how could she

:57:40. > :57:42.have prevented Martin McGuinness's resignation, the only thing she

:57:43. > :57:45.could do was step aside to stop that happening and if she had done that

:57:46. > :57:49.you would have been the first person to say she was dancing to Sinn

:57:50. > :57:55.Fein's tune? Of course - I would row it back much further than that. The

:57:56. > :57:57.DUP by bringing Sinn Fein into Government created the crocodile

:57:58. > :58:03.scenario and of course they've had to feed it ever since. And as that

:58:04. > :58:10.crocodile has grown stronger and more avarice and demanding the daily

:58:11. > :58:14.diet increases. This day was coming, it's come sooner than need be.

:58:15. > :58:18.Because of the courtesy of the DUP advancing Sinn Fein in Government.

:58:19. > :58:22.Of course, they are eager to do it again because we hear them talk

:58:23. > :58:26.about wanting to get back into the Executive, they want power above all

:58:27. > :58:30.else, but this is power at the cost of paying the Sinn Fein price and

:58:31. > :58:35.it's clear that the Sinn Fein price is becoming increasingly and

:58:36. > :58:38.unsustainably high, that's why I say unionism needs to consider if doing

:58:39. > :58:41.that is any longer in their interests. OK. Good to talk to you,

:58:42. > :58:47.thank you very much indeed. We will keep a close eye on the count as it

:58:48. > :58:51.unfolds there in Ballymena. Jim Allister confident that he will hold

:58:52. > :58:55.on to his seat. It's been a bad day for the Ulster Unionist party and

:58:56. > :58:59.Harold McKee in particular, elected in South Down last year has been

:59:00. > :59:09.eliminated. He spoke to our reporter a short time ago.

:59:10. > :59:11.As an MLA for nine months, and enjoyed doing it, and I worked

:59:12. > :59:18.closely with the fishermen, they knew I was working for them, despite

:59:19. > :59:25.all of that, you know... Is it fair to say that RMI did not impact on

:59:26. > :59:30.the DUP vote in South Down? RHI was not really mentioned as much as had

:59:31. > :59:36.been and I think, you know, I don't know what obviously a massive

:59:37. > :59:39.turnout by the nationalist and republican movement particularly,

:59:40. > :59:43.who ferried people into the polling stations by bus, made sure they were

:59:44. > :59:46.making a special effort. Your party leader Mike Nesbitt will come under

:59:47. > :59:51.scrutiny off the back of the election result across Northern

:59:52. > :59:55.Ireland. What do you feel his position is this evening? Well, it's

:59:56. > :59:58.not for me to say at this present time, I am sure there will be

:59:59. > :00:02.discussions around it in the near future. Has it been as far as you

:00:03. > :00:04.are concerned a good enough performance from the Ulster

:00:05. > :00:08.Unionists on the basis of what you know so far? You can't say it's a

:00:09. > :00:12.good performance when you lose a seat. Is your party leader partly

:00:13. > :00:16.responsible for the performance, do you think? Well, maybe had a few

:00:17. > :00:22.difficulties, made it slightly awkward for myself to go to the

:00:23. > :00:25.door, I did try to sell this was me, not Mike Nesbitt standing in South

:00:26. > :00:30.Down. I have worked for you in the past, this is me. But it didn't

:00:31. > :00:34.materialise. That was Harold McKee talking to our

:00:35. > :00:39.reporter Julian O'Neill. We welcome at this stage viewers across the

:00:40. > :00:42.United Kingdom on the BBC News channel for our continuing Assembly

:00:43. > :00:48.election coverage here in Northern Ireland. Let's hear from Julian

:00:49. > :00:53.Fowler who is our reporter in Fermanagh South Tyrone. You are at

:00:54. > :00:56.Omagh Leisure Centre. Interesting developments there, what's the

:00:57. > :01:03.latest? Well, in stage four we have had the election of two Sinn Fein

:01:04. > :01:08.candidates, Michelle Gildernew and a new young candidate, Gemma Dolan. As

:01:09. > :01:16.expected, SDLP transfers have gone to the Ulster Unionist rose marry

:01:17. > :01:19.Barton and that could spell trouble for Lord Maurice Morrow, now they're

:01:20. > :01:23.transferring the surplus Sinn Fein votes, that could help their third

:01:24. > :01:30.candidate Sean Lynch across the line. He is currently 231 votes

:01:31. > :01:34.behind Lord Morrow. With those Sinn Fein transfers that could be just

:01:35. > :01:39.enough to get the last seat for Sinn Fein thachlt would leave Sinn Fein

:01:40. > :01:46.here on three seats, the DUP, Arlene Foster on just one and the Ulster

:01:47. > :01:52.Unionist rose marry Barton on one. Thank you very much.

:01:53. > :01:56.Let's hear from Gregory Campbell, the East Londonderry MP who at the

:01:57. > :02:01.East Londonderry and Foyle count at the Foyle Arena in Derry. Evening to

:02:02. > :02:06.you. Thank you for joining us. You have been keeping a close eye on

:02:07. > :02:12.both those counts. Yes, very close eye. It's been a long day and I am

:02:13. > :02:15.sure it will be a longer evening. What about Foyle, first of all, I am

:02:16. > :02:21.not sure of the state of play as far as that is concerned but Gary

:02:22. > :02:27.Middleton looking good for that 5th seat in Foyle, is he? Well, yes,

:02:28. > :02:30.it's not over the line yet, but a tremendous performance by Gary,

:02:31. > :02:35.given the context of this sustained diet that we have had for three

:02:36. > :02:39.months every day. He not only put the number of votes up that the DUP

:02:40. > :02:43.got, but he put the share of the vote up, given the rise in Sinn

:02:44. > :02:47.Fein's vote in a predominantly nationalist constituency, that's not

:02:48. > :02:51.an easy ask and he managed to do it and I think that he will take that

:02:52. > :02:56.seat. What about East Londonderry, it's your own constituency, of

:02:57. > :02:59.course. You had three DUP MLAs in the six member constituency, it's

:03:00. > :03:06.now five members. Are you going to lose one of those three seats?

:03:07. > :03:17.We said several months ago this was very difficult to take 60% of the

:03:18. > :03:21.seats, three out of five of them with 33% other foot, and

:03:22. > :03:26.extraordinarily difficult thing. And it might be just be on us but if you

:03:27. > :03:31.look at the votes, we had a very high vote last year in East

:03:32. > :03:35.Londonderry, the highest ever in Assembly election, and we exceeded

:03:36. > :03:42.that again, another 1400 on top of last year, in the face of the daily

:03:43. > :03:46.onslaught every day since early December. It was an exceptional

:03:47. > :03:53.result in both constituencies in the north-west. As far as the overall

:03:54. > :03:56.picture is concerned, we have heard from your colleagues, Arlene Foster

:03:57. > :04:01.is under an enormous amount of pressure but if you come back with

:04:02. > :04:08.around 30 seats and your vote is up a little bit and your share is up,

:04:09. > :04:17.1.1%, it will not necessarily be far from a bad day at the office for the

:04:18. > :04:23.DUP? What happens after that? Well, that is what needs to happen. I do

:04:24. > :04:27.not think there were many people who voted yesterday who said, were

:04:28. > :04:31.voting this way in whichever box they put the number, to have a

:04:32. > :04:36.protracted series of discussions and no government in place, no devolved

:04:37. > :04:40.government. People want us to get on with the business of doing

:04:41. > :04:49.government and delivering so we need discussions aimed at that deliver

:04:50. > :04:51.quickly and effectively for people in Stormont so that they can see

:04:52. > :04:54.some benefit from devolution. That is what they voted for in all of

:04:55. > :05:00.their diverse ways and that is what we need to deliver quickly. Gregory,

:05:01. > :05:05.thank you very much indeed. Gregory Campbell at the Foyle and East

:05:06. > :05:09.Londonderry count in the north-west. Some news to share with you. The

:05:10. > :05:16.Ulster Unionist Party, some good news, Doug Beattie has retained his

:05:17. > :05:21.seat in Upper Bann, his running mate Jo-Anne Dobson was eliminated and

:05:22. > :05:27.Alex, again for the Ulster Unionist Party in East Antrim, John Stewart,

:05:28. > :05:30.confirmed. They will be very pleased that, in the context of losing seats

:05:31. > :05:36.they did not expect to lose but sometimes it is those little nuggets

:05:37. > :05:39.that make the difference between a catastrophic result and a manageable

:05:40. > :05:44.result but it is still a tremendously bad day for Mike

:05:45. > :05:49.Nesbitt. And that game for the Ulster Unionist Party, Catriona

:05:50. > :05:53.Ruane, comes at the expense of Oliver McMullan Sinn Fein. That

:05:54. > :06:01.count is completed, you have lost a seat. And I have to say, it is very

:06:02. > :06:06.disappointing for Oliver. Congratulations to the UUP but it is

:06:07. > :06:10.very disappointing and Oliver was a tremendous local representative. He

:06:11. > :06:16.had been sick but never missed one day in Stormont and when I was in

:06:17. > :06:20.Sinn Fein, he was one of the greatest team players that we have.

:06:21. > :06:26.He is a fighter. We need to live there. We're getting word of a press

:06:27. > :06:32.conference happening in East Belfast with the Ulster Unionist Party

:06:33. > :06:42.reader, Mike Nesbitt. Mike Nesbitt coming into the room. He is joined

:06:43. > :06:50.by Jim Nicholson, the MEP and Lord MP. Let us hear what he has to say.

:06:51. > :06:54.It has been a miserable night. Everybody knows why we are here so I

:06:55. > :06:59.will make my statement and leave the stage. I have been reflecting on the

:07:00. > :07:07.implications of today's results for the party and for me as leader. Both

:07:08. > :07:16.in pure terms and in contextually and an essay that, I mean the

:07:17. > :07:20.context of the context of three months, I have been criticising

:07:21. > :07:23.party leaders for not taking responsibility for actions that

:07:24. > :07:27.occurred on their watch so it would be the height of hypocrisy if they

:07:28. > :07:31.did not take full responsibility and the results today for the Ulster

:07:32. > :07:39.Unionists. And in pure terms, the buck stops here. I led into the

:07:40. > :07:45.selection, I argued it should be a referendum on RHI and on ten years

:07:46. > :07:50.of the DUP and Sinn Fein leading the Executive government. I am the one

:07:51. > :07:54.who suggested that in a normal society people would vote on

:07:55. > :07:59.performance and the DUP and Sinn Fein did not earn another mandate.

:08:00. > :08:06.And I am the one who said this should be Northern Ireland's first

:08:07. > :08:08.post-sectarian election based on economy, education, health and

:08:09. > :08:15.housing and I had a different vision. But the electorate

:08:16. > :08:20.disagreed. They did not give me a mandate big enough for me to feel

:08:21. > :08:24.justified in continuing in this position. So I shall not continue in

:08:25. > :08:29.this position. I have spoken to the party chairman and I have informed

:08:30. > :08:33.him I will not allow my name to go forward for this year's collection

:08:34. > :08:38.as party leader. He will call the party officers as a matter of

:08:39. > :08:41.urgency and they will define the way forward in selecting my successor. I

:08:42. > :08:48.will stay in post until that process has been completed. I want to thank

:08:49. > :08:54.the party chairman, Jim Nicholson, who is here. All of our elected

:08:55. > :08:58.representatives and staff and all of the party members who have given me

:08:59. > :09:02.the most fantastic support over the last five years. It has been an

:09:03. > :09:07.absolute honour to have led the Ulster Unionist Party and a

:09:08. > :09:12.challenge like no other I have ever experienced in my life. I will never

:09:13. > :09:18.forget it and I will be forever grateful. My only regret is the

:09:19. > :09:22.result seems to indicate that this society is more polarised than ever

:09:23. > :09:28.rather than more united in a shared future, which was my aspiration. But

:09:29. > :09:33.we will get there. Someday Northern Ireland will vote as a normal

:09:34. > :09:37.democracy, we will vote in a post sectarian election, but it is clear

:09:38. > :09:44.it will not happen during the duration of my political life. But

:09:45. > :09:51.it will happen. My final thought is, when I was a journalist, listening

:09:52. > :09:54.to politicians, I used to hear them saying they wanted effective family

:09:55. > :10:00.and I would think, what is that about? It is only a job. I

:10:01. > :10:07.understand what it is all about. And I will finish by thanking my family.

:10:08. > :10:12.Thank you very much. So, Mike Nesbitt has fallen on his sword. He

:10:13. > :10:18.was elected as leader of the UUP in March 2012, embracing his wife,

:10:19. > :10:24.Lynda Bryans, the former presenter, and his son, PJ. At the Park Avenue

:10:25. > :10:27.hotel in East Belfast. I have a panel of guests who will reflect on

:10:28. > :10:34.mathematical development, it has to be said. John McCallister, in March

:10:35. > :10:38.2012 he defeated you for that position. How do you feel as the

:10:39. > :10:44.person who lost out to him, witnessing him announcing his

:10:45. > :10:50.resignation? I get no pleasure from this because I have not been in

:10:51. > :10:56.politics, having tasted success and defeat, whether it is going for

:10:57. > :11:01.party leader or indeed in the election last year, it is tough. And

:11:02. > :11:08.he is right to thank his family, families make huge sacrifices that

:11:09. > :11:15.politicians can do jobs like this with. Often it is discounted or

:11:16. > :11:20.overlooked. I do feel for Mike Nesbitt, it was an honourable

:11:21. > :11:27.decision, I do not know that he had any great choice. It comes back to

:11:28. > :11:34.defining what the party is about, is it unity or opposition? There have

:11:35. > :11:38.been too many mixed messages over the years and that has been a

:11:39. > :11:43.problem. That is not all his fault. I am not sure the party always would

:11:44. > :11:48.have let him go to the places that perhaps Mike Nesbitt wanted to go.

:11:49. > :11:52.Even if you take something like equal marriage, he was challenged, I

:11:53. > :11:58.think we're on the wrong side of history this. Yet he was not able to

:11:59. > :12:02.move the party on with something like that, around the issues of the

:12:03. > :12:06.party broadly on things like unionist unity. Some of the party

:12:07. > :12:12.feel closer to Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster and some feel closer

:12:13. > :12:16.to Naomi Long. And that has been a problem, getting that carved out. On

:12:17. > :12:21.a personal level, I feel sorry for Mike having to do that. It was a

:12:22. > :12:26.brave and courageous thing to announce, particularly on a dreadful

:12:27. > :12:31.day. Pretty dreadful day, described as a miserable night, he might have

:12:32. > :12:37.been referring to the weather. The end of his political career. I want

:12:38. > :12:40.to cross over to the Park Avenue hotel and hear from Gareth Gordon,

:12:41. > :12:46.who was in the room for that news conference. He said he spent the

:12:47. > :12:51.last three months criticising another leader, Arlene Foster, for

:12:52. > :12:55.her handling of the situation. It would be the height of hypocrisy if

:12:56. > :13:02.he did not take responsibility for his party's poor performance. The

:13:03. > :13:07.buck stops here? Yes, you could say of the UUP were to make inroads on

:13:08. > :13:12.the DUP it would have been this election, the DUP did not want the

:13:13. > :13:15.selection under these circumstances, but only as the Ulster Unionist

:13:16. > :13:18.Party failed to make inroads, it looks like they're heading for their

:13:19. > :13:26.worst ever Assembly election result and as a result, Mike Nesbitt feels

:13:27. > :13:29.he has no other option but to go. He said he will stand down but will

:13:30. > :13:37.remain in post until a successor is found but tonight it is a pretty sad

:13:38. > :13:43.end to a man, who came to the top of the party almost five years ago.

:13:44. > :13:46.Almost in post for five years. Promising something new, radical

:13:47. > :13:53.type of Ulster Unionist leader but it looks like ending up as other

:13:54. > :13:57.recent leaders, in failure. Did he give any indication as to whether or

:13:58. > :14:06.not he will continue in the medium to long-term a mLA? He did win his

:14:07. > :14:10.seat in Strangford this evening. He did not allowance to ask any

:14:11. > :14:20.questions, his press officer was shaking his head. He does not intend

:14:21. > :14:25.to remain, I would take that as. Not only is Mike Nesbitt not going to be

:14:26. > :14:31.the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party... Actually, I am told that he

:14:32. > :14:35.will remain as a Ulster Unionist MLA in Strangford, this is a very

:14:36. > :14:40.confused press conference. We were not allowed to ask any questions,

:14:41. > :14:45.that does not make it easy. He will remain as a mLA but will not be the

:14:46. > :14:49.Ulster Unionist Party leader. Who will follow him? The natural

:14:50. > :14:53.successor was perhaps Danny Kennedy but he lost his seat in Newry and

:14:54. > :15:00.Armagh so the party tonight is in a state of chaos. I was asking you to

:15:01. > :15:05.engage in some mind reading. You are looking past the camera to the press

:15:06. > :15:10.officer to see what he was trying to indicate by semaphore! Let me ask

:15:11. > :15:16.you something you can answer. Did he simply make mistakes? Did he over

:15:17. > :15:21.claim? Saying he would return as the largest unionist party? And by

:15:22. > :15:28.suggesting that his voters would want to transfer high up in this PR

:15:29. > :15:32.election to the SDLP? He seemed to do that without talking to key

:15:33. > :15:37.members of his party. Ambition is not a crime for any political leader

:15:38. > :15:40.so of course he was going into that election making big claims but after

:15:41. > :15:46.the second part of that question, when he indicated he would make a

:15:47. > :15:51.second preference to the SDLP, was at a fatal mistake? It did not help.

:15:52. > :15:55.It gave a boost to the DUP because it took them off the top of the

:15:56. > :16:02.agenda for Sundays and it seemed to not go down very well with lots of

:16:03. > :16:07.the party's traditional grassroots. Was that the fatal flaw? Would it

:16:08. > :16:12.have made any difference? We simply do not know. No doubt, this message

:16:13. > :16:15.did not resonate through the party and Danny Kennedy was the first one

:16:16. > :16:20.to make it clear that he did not agree with what Mike Nesbitt said

:16:21. > :16:26.and Danny Kennedy has lost his seat as well. The Ulster Unionist Party

:16:27. > :16:32.is a difficult party to lead, a very broad church. It gives out

:16:33. > :16:35.confusing, mixed messages. Certainly, Mike Nesbitt, the

:16:36. > :16:39.moderniser who felt it would take it in a different direction, he has

:16:40. > :16:43.failed to do so and tonight, what is next for the Ulster Unionist Party?

:16:44. > :16:52.That is the question. Thank you for that. Gareth Gordon. Doug Beattie is

:16:53. > :16:56.an Ulster Unionist Party member who has won his seat, he retained his

:16:57. > :17:01.seat in the Upper Bann constituency. Good evening. Congratulations.

:17:02. > :17:06.Congratulations on a personal level. I need to ask you for your rip

:17:07. > :17:11.action to the dramatic development where your party leader has said he

:17:12. > :17:16.is standing down. Did you know he was about to do that? No, I didn't

:17:17. > :17:20.know he was about to do it, Mark and I have to say that I am sorry and I

:17:21. > :17:26.am saddened that Mike has decided to stand down. Mike has been a

:17:27. > :17:30.fantastic leader. He has been a personal friend and a great

:17:31. > :17:34.colleague. I think he is an incredibly noble man and I think he

:17:35. > :17:38.has taken a noble decision. I think he believes, whether rightly or

:17:39. > :17:41.wrongly, that our poor showing in this election and I know it hasn't

:17:42. > :17:46.finished yet, but our poor showing in this election may well be down to

:17:47. > :17:49.his leadership. I don't necessarily agree with that but he has made that

:17:50. > :17:53.decision and like I said earlier I am sorry he is leaving but beneed as

:17:54. > :17:57.the Ulster Unionist party to move on, we need a new leader as quickly

:17:58. > :18:02.as we can. We need stability, we need to organise ourselves and carry

:18:03. > :18:05.on. Well, that leads me neatly on to my next question, will your name be

:18:06. > :18:09.in the frame for the leadership of the party because Gareth Gordon was

:18:10. > :18:15.making the point, Danny Kennedy might have been seen as one of the

:18:16. > :18:21.frontrunners, he has lost his seat in Newry and Armagh. You are there,

:18:22. > :18:25.you are high profile, do you fancy the job? Well, first thing I will

:18:26. > :18:30.say is that I have only heard this news ten minutes ago. So I am still

:18:31. > :18:35.sucking in that information. I still want to speak to Mike personally.

:18:36. > :18:41.Because he is a friend and he was my party leader. He had my 100% loyalty

:18:42. > :18:46.as a party leader and as this election draws to an end he would

:18:47. > :18:52.still have had that a pun % loyalty as leader. -- 100% loyalty as

:18:53. > :18:56.leader. I have only been an MLA for about nine months. It would not be

:18:57. > :19:00.right for me to lead the party, I do not have the political nuances that

:19:01. > :19:04.many other people have. I will be there to support whoever is the

:19:05. > :19:08.leader. Maybe in five or six years if we had time I could have grown, I

:19:09. > :19:12.could have done my apprenticeship as an MLA, and then I could maybe stand

:19:13. > :19:15.for being the leader of the Ulster Unionist party but I don't have that

:19:16. > :19:18.depth of political knowledge at this moment and I have to be honest...

:19:19. > :19:22.Just to be clear you are ruling yourself out of the contest at this

:19:23. > :19:26.stage, you are saying no matter what happens you will not be a candidate?

:19:27. > :19:32.Well, absolutely not as we speak now, Mark, ten minutes after I heard

:19:33. > :19:34.the news about Mike. I am ruling it out right now. If things change,

:19:35. > :19:38.then maybe I could think about it but right now as I speak to you, it

:19:39. > :19:41.would not be right that I stand. There is other people there, there

:19:42. > :19:46.are good people there who could lead the party, the likes of Robin Swann

:19:47. > :19:50.who is incredibly diligent and a good man who could lead the party.

:19:51. > :19:55.So I leave it for the time being. It's a discussion we have to have as

:19:56. > :19:58.a party. And come up with a decision on the best way forward and get the

:19:59. > :20:01.right person in place. Somebody who can bring a bit of stability. That

:20:02. > :20:05.doesn't necessarily mean it has to be the next leader who is going to

:20:06. > :20:08.fight the election but just get a bit of stability in the party and

:20:09. > :20:13.then maybe even get in a leader who can battle the next election. We

:20:14. > :20:17.have to look at this. Let me ask you quickly, Danny Kennedy has gone.

:20:18. > :20:23.Joanne Dobson has gone, as well. And we hear that Sandro Overend is

:20:24. > :20:28.struggling. It is a bad day for the Ulster Unionist party, is it not?

:20:29. > :20:31.Well, if you look at it like that it is a bad day. I think our share of

:20:32. > :20:34.the vote and I haven't got all the information, I think our share of

:20:35. > :20:39.the vote is slightly up on the last election. But the reality is it's

:20:40. > :20:43.all down to seats. Therefore, it is going to be a bad day. But you know

:20:44. > :20:47.what, the Ulster Unionist party brought hope to Northern Ireland, we

:20:48. > :20:49.wanted change. We wanted to show absolute respect for all people

:20:50. > :20:55.within our community and that's the ticket that we stood on. We stood on

:20:56. > :20:58.integrity and respect and commitment and loyalty. Yes, the electorate may

:20:59. > :21:03.have turned their back on us, but that's not an aspiration we should

:21:04. > :21:09.give up on easily. I won't be giving up on it easily. Appreciate your

:21:10. > :21:12.time, thank you very much. Congratulations on your success on

:21:13. > :21:16.what has been nonetheless as Mike Nesbitt says a miserable night for

:21:17. > :21:22.the Ulster Unionist party. Nigel Dodds, I want you to reflect on that

:21:23. > :21:26.and want to tell you that Nelson McCausland is out in North Belfast.

:21:27. > :21:30.Well, first of all, can I just say I am sorry to hear that news, it was

:21:31. > :21:33.always going to be a difficult task although we are still the largest

:21:34. > :21:39.party in North Belfast, actually increased our vote at this election.

:21:40. > :21:42.To get three seats out of five on some - a third of the vote was

:21:43. > :21:46.always going to be an enormous stretch. Nelson has contributed

:21:47. > :21:51.enormously to the DUP and to the unionist cause and will continue to

:21:52. > :21:55.do so. And I think that it's important that be put on record. Was

:21:56. > :21:58.that bad vote management that meant he was number three of your three

:21:59. > :22:01.candidates, because he is high profile, he is a former Minister.

:22:02. > :22:07.Some people might look at North Belfast and look at the other two

:22:08. > :22:10.candidates with the greatest of respect, William Humphrey and Paula

:22:11. > :22:14.Bradley and think Nelson McCausland may have come in ahead of them, how

:22:15. > :22:18.come he was trailing in third place Our vote management in North Belfast

:22:19. > :22:22.was pretty good. Both, all three candidates... Nelson McCausland

:22:23. > :22:25.might not be thinking that. Nelson agreed to the strategy and was very

:22:26. > :22:31.much part of it and we worked together as a team. They all were

:22:32. > :22:37.within, as I understand it, 70 votes of each other, I think that's good

:22:38. > :22:40.among - 700. In this election there was an increased nationalist

:22:41. > :22:45.turnout, it was always a massive stwrech to take three seats on one

:22:46. > :22:49.third of the vote. Look, we fully expected that this might happen. We

:22:50. > :22:53.did our best and the vote was well managed. It hasn't quite come off,

:22:54. > :22:57.but Nelson has an enormous contribution still to make. Can I

:22:58. > :23:02.just say in terms of the other piece of news that we heard there, Mike

:23:03. > :23:05.Nesbitt, I want to say first of all to wish Mike and Linda his wife and

:23:06. > :23:09.his family all the very best going forward. Going into politics, taking

:23:10. > :23:14.on positions of leadership, as he did, are not easy. It's very, very

:23:15. > :23:20.difficult. He is right to point to the burdens that are placed on

:23:21. > :23:23.people's families and it is a 24-hour schedule. It is very taxing

:23:24. > :23:27.and burdensome and stressful and I understand entirely what he is

:23:28. > :23:31.saying. You can hear the emotion in his voice. You know, politicians

:23:32. > :23:36.today come under a lot of scrutiny and a lot of pressure and criticism

:23:37. > :23:40.and rightly so, we volunteer for these jobs, we put ourselves up

:23:41. > :23:43.there but there is a human dimension to it and today we are seeing people

:23:44. > :23:46.who have lost their seats and Mike Nesbitt falling on his sword and I

:23:47. > :23:51.appreciate the human dimension of that. The political side of it and

:23:52. > :23:54.the analysis will follow but I think tonight in the immediate aftermath

:23:55. > :23:58.of this I want to express my personal best wishes to Mike, Linda

:23:59. > :24:02.and his family. OK. Nigel, thank you very much for that. I want to cross

:24:03. > :24:07.over to the Titanic Exhibition Centre and hear from our reporter

:24:08. > :24:11.David Maxwell. Just to pick up on the elimination of Nelson

:24:12. > :24:16.McCausland, the DUP former DUP MLA, high profile. What is the reaction

:24:17. > :24:24.there in the count centre, were people genuinely surprised that such

:24:25. > :24:27.a big name should fall? Well, definitely another dramatic moment,

:24:28. > :24:31.another big name gone here at the Titanic Exhibition Centre. But I

:24:32. > :24:36.have to say the last time I was speaking to you I had mentioned that

:24:37. > :24:38.nk was looking vulnerable and for -- Nelson McCausland was looking

:24:39. > :24:41.vulnerable. For sometime the DUP have come to realise he wasn't going

:24:42. > :24:45.to hold on in North Belfast. We have a word with him a few minutes ago.

:24:46. > :24:51.He's now left the exhibition centre here. He said that there was a life

:24:52. > :24:54.beyond politics and and he was going to reflect on his future and decide

:24:55. > :25:02.whether he will ever run again or whether this is the end of his

:25:03. > :25:07.political career. Well, it's obviously to some degree a little

:25:08. > :25:10.bit disappointed, but, in the context of the day we increased our

:25:11. > :25:13.vote in North Belfast. That was good. Didn't translate to seats. It

:25:14. > :25:17.didn't translate to seats, that's right, there was a bigger increase

:25:18. > :25:21.on the nationalist side and there will be an opportunity over the next

:25:22. > :25:24.while to have a review of what happened, how it came about, and we

:25:25. > :25:28.will build from it. What does it mean to you, you are a senior figure

:25:29. > :25:32.in the DUP, a former Minister. It means that there is a life beyond

:25:33. > :25:36.politics. And there are lots of other things that I want to do and

:25:37. > :25:40.intend to do. Is that it, Nelson is your political career finished? Did

:25:41. > :25:45.I say that? You said you had a life beyond it. In the short-term, yes. A

:25:46. > :25:49.difficult day, Nelson, for you and your staff, as well. Well, indeed.

:25:50. > :25:53.It's particularly, I think of the interests of the staff who work in

:25:54. > :26:00.the office and the impact it has on them. And that's I think the human

:26:01. > :26:04.thing to think about. But, you know, I fought many elections, there have

:26:05. > :26:11.been all sorts of changes today. I am relaxed about the whole thing.

:26:12. > :26:15.You will be back? There are a lot of things to think about. I don't make

:26:16. > :26:20.any predictions. There you go. Nelson McCausland

:26:21. > :26:24.talking to David Maxwell and not committing himself to a political

:26:25. > :26:29.return but not ruling it out, it has to be said. He is been around for a

:26:30. > :26:33.long time. Caitriona Ruane, you must have got to know him a bit at the

:26:34. > :26:39.Assembly, how do you feel about his departure? I knew him in City Hall,

:26:40. > :26:42.as well, I was the director of - he was one of the people at the time

:26:43. > :26:47.who voted against many projects we were involved in, I knew him in the

:26:48. > :26:54.Assembly, I was in the Executive with him. Look, I just know how

:26:55. > :26:58.tough it is to put yourself forward for election. I am speaking not just

:26:59. > :27:02.in terms of Nelson here, but also Mike Nesbitt and Danny Kennedy

:27:03. > :27:07.and... Philip Smith has also gone. Sandra. You know, it's tough.

:27:08. > :27:11.Politics is a tough, tough game. I know I am repeating what other

:27:12. > :27:15.people have said. You are just out there, you are in the public eye.

:27:16. > :27:19.People don't see what happens behind the scenes. What did you make of

:27:20. > :27:26.that Mike Nesbitt announcement, it was short, it was sharp and anything

:27:27. > :27:31.but sweet? Yeah, well, I think Coe have picked a better time to do it.

:27:32. > :27:36.I don't want to be critical... Do you mean because it was very quick?

:27:37. > :27:42.It might have been better to have discussions with his party and - I

:27:43. > :27:48.think sometimes and I don't want to focus on some of the maybe

:27:49. > :27:52.criticisms I have of the way maybe Mike managed the party, but

:27:53. > :27:57.party-building, for me, is very important. And I think you need to

:27:58. > :28:03.put time into the building blocks and I think sometimes Mike put more

:28:04. > :28:08.into the media and maybe the Assembly team. It's important - I

:28:09. > :28:11.don't think candidates should be hearing about resignations as

:28:12. > :28:16.they're in count centres. Having said that, I wish Mike all the best.

:28:17. > :28:22.I always found him a pleasure to work with. Indeed, all his party

:28:23. > :28:26.when I was in the Chair in the Assembly, I never had any issues

:28:27. > :28:30.with any of his party. OK. Let's talk to Fionnuala and Alex. Alex,

:28:31. > :28:35.you are a former director of communications for the you will

:28:36. > :28:39.unionist party, the party that Mike Nesbitt still leads but not for much

:28:40. > :28:43.longer, he threw himself under the bus this evening in dramatic

:28:44. > :28:47.fashion, catching people on the hop, not least Doug Beattie who obviously

:28:48. > :28:51.did not know that was coming and was somewhat wrong-footed by it. What do

:28:52. > :28:55.you make of his decision to go and to go so quickly? I think the

:28:56. > :29:00.decision was inevitable. I tweeted before lunch that barring a miracle

:29:01. > :29:06.that his leadership was untenable. I agree, one of the problems Mike had

:29:07. > :29:09.with this campaign was that he was accused of bouncing his candidates

:29:10. > :29:14.by telling you about transferring to the SDLP. None of them knew about

:29:15. > :29:20.it. He did exactly the same with his resignation. Straight over to Doug

:29:21. > :29:25.Beattie, he knows something about it. I presume others know nothing

:29:26. > :29:28.about it. Some elected for the first time have no idea now who will be

:29:29. > :29:33.leading the party. To go back to a clip earlier with Harold McKee, the

:29:34. > :29:37.defeated candidate in South Down, when asked about the campaign said I

:29:38. > :29:42.had to go on the door-steps and tell people it was me campaigning, not

:29:43. > :29:48.Mike Nesbitt. I think that, take all that in, the fact that I think the

:29:49. > :29:51.UUP were not expecting the spectacular, I think they would be

:29:52. > :29:56.lucky to get 13, I said if it fell below 13 he had problems, this is

:29:57. > :30:07.catastrophe, when you lose people like Joe and Dobson, Danny Kennedy,

:30:08. > :30:11.and Sandra Overend. You win and lose battles according to circumstances.

:30:12. > :30:14.In this case I think a lot of people, will blame him personally.

:30:15. > :30:20.Fionnuala? Well, we were talking about psychology earlier. I was

:30:21. > :30:25.thinking two things there. Listening to Nigel and Caitriona Ruane, Nigel

:30:26. > :30:29.in particular, first making that handsome reference and tribute to

:30:30. > :30:33.Mike and listening to Jim Wells earlier doing the decent thing about

:30:34. > :30:38.PJ Bradley. It was a great relief to hear all those things because it has

:30:39. > :30:42.been so unpleasant over the last six months. Listening to people doing

:30:43. > :30:46.the decent thing and saying the decent thing after an election like

:30:47. > :30:52.this is very important for it, it's important for us too. We sit here

:30:53. > :30:59.and we do, we only see what goes on in front of the camera. We don't see

:31:00. > :31:04.the strains and the emotion behind it as Nigel has suffered and

:31:05. > :31:09.Catriona has suffered in different ways. Then the Mike phenomenon, a

:31:10. > :31:13.media man to his finger tips, brought in really to improve their

:31:14. > :31:18.PR image. He did that in ways but also did it - he did it by being

:31:19. > :31:22.pleasant and smooth in performance. But he also did it by bouncing all

:31:23. > :31:25.over the place. He didn't just bounce people individually, and this

:31:26. > :31:29.is, I am doing now what the politicians didn't do, I am being

:31:30. > :31:36.brutal immediately after the event. I won't do it in much more detail.

:31:37. > :31:41.But he didn't just do trying to run a non-sectarian campaign and a

:31:42. > :31:47.non-sectarian Ulster Unionist party, he richo... There was a Westminster

:31:48. > :31:51.fight two years ago. There was that loyalist forum he joined, that

:31:52. > :31:55.period of the flags protest. I think he bewildered a lot of people in the

:31:56. > :32:00.party and voters too and that you can not do. OK. Stay with me. I do

:32:01. > :32:07.want to hear more from you shortly. I want to go to Fermanagh and South

:32:08. > :32:10.Tyrone and to Omagh Leisure Centre and join Michelle Gildernew from

:32:11. > :32:16.Sinn Fein who has been returned, held on to her seat as an MLA in

:32:17. > :32:22.that constituency. First of all, congratulations to you. That's a

:32:23. > :32:26.good result from your point of view. Also home for you is Gemma Dolan. It

:32:27. > :32:31.looks like Sean Lynch could be in trouble.

:32:32. > :32:39.He is still in there and I want to congratulate all of our successful

:32:40. > :32:44.candidates, it has been a great day and we hope that Sean and Declan

:32:45. > :32:48.McAleer will be returned before we leave the leisure centre and I am

:32:49. > :32:52.personally saddened at losing Oliver McMullan, not just a great friend

:32:53. > :32:56.but a great worker and a big loss to the Assembly but so far a great day

:32:57. > :33:02.and please God we will have shone and Declan over the line. Philip

:33:03. > :33:07.McGuigan, your party colleague in North Antrim, who replaced the

:33:08. > :33:12.haematite, has been successful and he is in. We can see Michelle

:33:13. > :33:17.O'Neill congratulating him. And he is beaming like the proverbial

:33:18. > :33:23.Cheshire cat. That will not surprise you. No, he is a great fellow and we

:33:24. > :33:28.are delighted to see him in the Assembly and there have been great

:33:29. > :33:33.results across the board today. This election was based on integrity and

:33:34. > :33:37.respect and equality and the electorate have had their say and I

:33:38. > :33:43.would hope the DUP will listen to what they have said today. We need

:33:44. > :33:47.to go back to the Assembly and into negotiations with a fresh mandate

:33:48. > :33:51.and a fresh approach and a different approach and an approach that does

:33:52. > :33:55.have respect and equality at its core. I have been very disappointed

:33:56. > :33:58.in things that have been said and done in my time in the Assembly and

:33:59. > :34:06.I hope this mandate will be different. This election was a

:34:07. > :34:08.difficult 1,000 of people wiped off the register in Fermanagh-South

:34:09. > :34:13.Tyrone and we have a huge amount of work to do to get them back on and I

:34:14. > :34:18.am proud to be the only woman, as far as I know, to have fought every

:34:19. > :34:24.single Assembly election since the Good Friday Agreement and to win a

:34:25. > :34:27.seat. I am deeply appreciative of the brilliant people are

:34:28. > :34:30.Fermanagh-South Tyrone who have returned us so far and they are

:34:31. > :34:39.fabulous people and I want to say thanks a million. Go raibh maith

:34:40. > :34:43.agat. I can just hear, Sean Lynch has been deemed elected. Three Sinn

:34:44. > :34:50.Fein in Fermanagh-South Tyrone. We are over the moon. You could get a

:34:51. > :34:55.job as a results tally person. Some people cheering over your shoulder,

:34:56. > :35:01.I wondered what was happening. He was in a tight fight but he has been

:35:02. > :35:06.successful? It has been confirmed. And I would take from that that the

:35:07. > :35:11.candidate who lost was Maurice Morrow and the DUP will have to

:35:12. > :35:17.reflect on that and the result they have here today and listen to the

:35:18. > :35:22.people, we absolutely need to see a different tenor in the Executive and

:35:23. > :35:26.the Assembly. We all about building and Ireland of equals and we will

:35:27. > :35:32.not start by being trampled over in Belfast. Thank you for joining us

:35:33. > :35:36.and keeping us up to speed with developments. We don't have

:35:37. > :35:40.confirmation that is the case but we did know that Maurice Morrow was in

:35:41. > :35:47.difficulty. That would mean that Rosemary Barton of the European

:35:48. > :35:51.might well have held onto her seat in Fermanagh South Tyrone. Jenny

:35:52. > :35:57.Palmer of the Ulster Unionist Party, formerly of the DUP, is out in Lagan

:35:58. > :36:03.Valley. Another body blow to the Ulster Unionist Party and Mike

:36:04. > :36:04.Nesbitt. Let us hear more from the Belfast counts at the Titanic

:36:05. > :36:16.Exhibition Centre. Tara Mills... I am with the SDLP's Nichola Mallon,

:36:17. > :36:21.we will keep you occupied because nobody is elected yet in north

:36:22. > :36:25.Belfast? We are working through the motions, Nelson McCausland has been

:36:26. > :36:28.eliminated so hopefully in the next couple of hours we will have the

:36:29. > :36:33.candidates declared and we will know the result. Whenever it comes to the

:36:34. > :36:39.broader picture, we will talk about the SDLP but I want your reaction to

:36:40. > :36:42.Mike Nesbitt's news. The issue of leadership by the Ulster Unionists

:36:43. > :36:47.is a matter for the Ulster Unionists. Emma Hurd Mike Nesbitt

:36:48. > :36:51.saying he was not clear his message resonated and I think it was heard

:36:52. > :36:55.in North Belfast, if you look at the transfers from the Ulster Unionist

:36:56. > :36:58.candidate, a significant portion went to the centre ground and they

:36:59. > :37:02.know from speaking to people that are numbered of unionists did vote

:37:03. > :37:07.for me so the message of partnership in the centre ground did resonate

:37:08. > :37:12.somewhat in North Belfast. Is there any sense of frustration? People are

:37:13. > :37:16.talking about opposition, is any frustration that he did not have

:37:17. > :37:21.long enough in opposition to produce any viable alternative to the big

:37:22. > :37:25.parties? Opposition is a new dynamic and it was only gathering momentum.

:37:26. > :37:30.We were beginning to work together and produce motions but we never

:37:31. > :37:35.expected the starting pistol to be fired so early. We would have wanted

:37:36. > :37:39.more time but we have to build on that and there are areas, including

:37:40. > :37:44.North Belfast, where people want that choice. North Belfast is

:37:45. > :37:46.considered one of the most fractious and polarised constituencies but

:37:47. > :37:50.clearly people have chosen the centre ground and that is a positive

:37:51. > :37:56.message that we need people to be aware of. And a bigger nationalist

:37:57. > :37:59.voice given that Nelson McCausland has been eliminated? There was a

:38:00. > :38:22.bigger turnout in North Belfast and that was strongly

:38:23. > :38:26.connected to be tried for the Brexit referendum. That was an issue around

:38:27. > :38:29.the doors and I am an Irish nationalist and I am confident that

:38:30. > :38:31.did not stand on the orange or Green ticket, I did not use sectarian

:38:32. > :38:33.language, I stood with a partnership approach on bread-and-butter issues

:38:34. > :38:36.and that worked for us in North Belfast so there is an appetite. We

:38:37. > :38:38.needed longer to build on this. People went to the polls and they're

:38:39. > :38:41.facing direct rule. This is an outcome that is in nobody's

:38:42. > :38:43.interests. It is about what happens after the results and we need to get

:38:44. > :38:47.around the table. We need devolved government based on power-sharing.

:38:48. > :38:51.Your vote has held up but there are losses with Alex Attwood

:38:52. > :38:55.disappearing from West Belfast. What do you think the SDLP will reflect

:38:56. > :39:01.upon afterwards? After every election, we sit down and look at

:39:02. > :39:07.the figures and we look seriously at what lessons can be learnt. We have

:39:08. > :39:11.taken a blow in West Belfast with Alex but we will take a seat back in

:39:12. > :39:16.Upper Bann so we need to look at the whole picture and learn from that,

:39:17. > :39:21.definitely. We might be getting something from North Belfast?

:39:22. > :39:27.Hopefully! Thank you very much. We will bring you that North Belfast

:39:28. > :39:34.result if it comes. Thank you. We can come back to this end of the

:39:35. > :39:40.table and talk to vanilla and Alex. A quick word about what we have been

:39:41. > :39:45.hearing about. It looks like bad news for the DUP in Fermanagh-South

:39:46. > :39:49.Tyrone but potentially good news in the other constituency of Lagan

:39:50. > :39:54.Valley, when they might hold onto that seat they thought might be

:39:55. > :40:02.going because Gerry Palmer is out? This is it for Arlene Foster and the

:40:03. > :40:08.DUP, it has been a curious turnout. Up in some ways, just holding in

:40:09. > :40:13.orders. Morris Mauro going out is another big blow for Arlene Foster

:40:14. > :40:17.in that constituency, they have been shoulder to shoulder, how close they

:40:18. > :40:23.actually are, I do not know. They have been trotted out together and

:40:24. > :40:28.appearing together and making jokes together, he once stalwart companion

:40:29. > :40:34.and he is out. Alex? Fionnuala is right. In Lagan Valley the DUP will

:40:35. > :40:39.be delighted, they will not have said publicly but it was always

:40:40. > :40:49.going to be difficult holding the three but that point about another,

:40:50. > :40:56.Jimmy -- Jenny Palmer going out, the Ulster Unionist Party can only get

:40:57. > :41:01.ten and that is devastating. You were talking about three seats for

:41:02. > :41:04.the DUP, that was the third seat, Sean Lynch for Sinn Fein in

:41:05. > :41:10.Fermanagh-South Tyrone, a very impressive performance by Sinn Fein.

:41:11. > :41:17.Sinn Fein and the DUP have reason to be happy, they did what parties have

:41:18. > :41:21.to do, they got the vote out, Mike Nesbitt might complain, the reality

:41:22. > :41:24.is, these parties did deliver on that day and the smaller parties

:41:25. > :41:31.with the exception of the Alliance Party did not deliver. The Ulster

:41:32. > :41:34.Unionist Party and the SDLP will have to consider the relevance of

:41:35. > :41:40.their parties and if there is any room for them electorally in

:41:41. > :41:43.Northern Ireland. We talked about Oliver McMullan, who lost his seat

:41:44. > :41:50.after many years at the Assembly and he has not been well. That is good

:41:51. > :41:55.news for Sean Lynch? It is good news for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh-South

:41:56. > :41:59.Tyrone and it shows how things can change, in the last election we did

:42:00. > :42:02.not do well in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and we ran too many

:42:03. > :42:08.candidates and be learnt from that and we went in there... You made a

:42:09. > :42:17.complete dog's breakfast of it last time! We should not have put up four

:42:18. > :42:21.candidates. It is phenomenal we have three out of five and people will be

:42:22. > :42:25.surprised to hear this, Maurice Morrow and myself had political

:42:26. > :42:28.differences but he is a very funny man and I was on the Business

:42:29. > :42:32.Committee with him and he has a quirky sense of humour and he is one

:42:33. > :42:39.of the people I will miss! On a personal level, sad to see him

:42:40. > :42:46.going? On a personal level? For the personal level. I was with Jenny

:42:47. > :42:51.Palmer today at the Lisburn count. She really tried her best in the

:42:52. > :43:00.Assembly. She really wanted to make a difference. It is tough. She put

:43:01. > :43:03.herself forward. She has had a tough time, there have been internal

:43:04. > :43:09.issues between herself and the DUP in the past and she was working with

:43:10. > :43:13.the UUP. It is tough. She is going home tonight and probably just wants

:43:14. > :43:19.to close the door. It is a brutal game. Nigel Dodds, Maurice Morrow

:43:20. > :43:24.going, he is a friend of yours. Popular in the party, is that a body

:43:25. > :43:32.blow to Arlene Foster? In many senses he was her mental? That is a

:43:33. > :43:36.big blow to the DUP family, Maurice Morrow is the chairman and has given

:43:37. > :43:42.a lifetime of service. He was elected to the local council in the

:43:43. > :43:49.early 70s. He has been around a long time. His career is not over? No, he

:43:50. > :43:56.is a member of the House of Lords and there is no retirement from

:43:57. > :44:02.that! It is an enormous blow. I will hold Maurice Morrow in the highest

:44:03. > :44:05.esteem, he piloted through the last Assembly an important piece of

:44:06. > :44:11.private members legislation in terms of human slavery and trafficking and

:44:12. > :44:16.so on and he has been talking to people across Europe and elsewhere

:44:17. > :44:20.about that. He made an enormous contribution to the Assembly and

:44:21. > :44:26.will continue to make a contribution to the party so I wish them well and

:44:27. > :44:31.it is very sad but in this election, we are seeing some very well known

:44:32. > :44:36.household names not returning to the Assembly and the people have spoken.

:44:37. > :44:41.We must always remember, at the end of the day the other servants of the

:44:42. > :44:45.people and can be brutal and very difficult. But we have to respect

:44:46. > :44:51.that. I am very gratified that Nelson McCausland, Maurice Morrow,

:44:52. > :44:56.other people from other parties, Danny Kennedy made an extremely

:44:57. > :45:05.gracious speech... On a personal level, can you feel Jenny's pain? I

:45:06. > :45:11.fought and lost an election, it is not very pleasant. Of course. People

:45:12. > :45:16.will be going home tonight to families, very upset and emotionally

:45:17. > :45:21.distraught and all the rest of it. The others, looking at Nelson, my

:45:22. > :45:24.colleague, who was very philosophical and he will take that

:45:25. > :45:28.in his stride and others will take this in a difficult fashion but

:45:29. > :45:35.certainly Maurice Morrow will be greatly missed. Danny Kennedy is

:45:36. > :45:41.quoted as saying, when he was asked how he felt, I am too tired to love,

:45:42. > :45:48.and I am too old to cry and his voice cracked. You could see the

:45:49. > :45:54.pain and sadness. One of the remarkable things is those who have

:45:55. > :45:58.died out today, it was with gracious fashion and with a very good

:45:59. > :46:06.response and that is a tribute to democracy. Naomi Long joins us.

:46:07. > :46:11.Welcome. We heard from the earlier time and the count centre, who

:46:12. > :46:16.topped the poll in East Belfast and as things stand, according to my

:46:17. > :46:24.computer, you are the only MLA for East Belfast at this stage? So far,

:46:25. > :46:29.yes. Although I think both Joanne Bunting and Chris Liddle are close

:46:30. > :46:35.behind. Only 25 votes between them, one or the other if not both will be

:46:36. > :46:40.elected during the next round. What then? Andy Allen from the UUP

:46:41. > :46:48.hanging on? And one of the two DUP... Yes, Robin Newton is ahead of

:46:49. > :46:52.David Douglas but that is difficult to judge because with transfers,

:46:53. > :46:57.people might just vote in order of alphabet and that might benefit

:46:58. > :47:02.David Douglas so we will not know until the last votes are counted.

:47:03. > :47:05.David Douglas, the son of Sami Douglas, he has the name but Robin

:47:06. > :47:11.Newton has been around for a very long time. He has been caught up in

:47:12. > :47:17.some controversy, it is fair to say. Interesting to see how that plays

:47:18. > :47:25.out. Down to the wire. We will get a good idea after the transfers. Once

:47:26. > :47:30.Chris and July get over the line, then it is things like what happens

:47:31. > :47:33.to this PUP vote? That should give us a clear picture of which of the

:47:34. > :47:36.remaining DUP candidates will go through.

:47:37. > :47:42.What is your reading at this stage of proceedings as to what the

:47:43. > :47:46.public's verdict is because it seems to me you can read it in several

:47:47. > :47:50.different ways. How do you read it? Well, in terms of their verdict on

:47:51. > :47:56.what we did over the election, I think it's a positive verdict. It's

:47:57. > :48:00.the best result we have had since 1969 in terms of votes and vote

:48:01. > :48:04.share -- 1979. The share is up. It is, we have seen our vote double and

:48:05. > :48:08.triple in some constituencies which was important because I said I

:48:09. > :48:12.wanted to reach out beyond the East of Northern Ireland and actually

:48:13. > :48:15.make inroads in the West. We have seen some improvement in our vote

:48:16. > :48:19.share there in those places. We were starting from a low base. But we

:48:20. > :48:23.have the potential there in future to be able to build for council

:48:24. > :48:27.seats and that's a Goodway for us to be coming out of this election. The

:48:28. > :48:32.wider picture, the one message we can take away is that the increase

:48:33. > :48:36.turnout is very clear to me it's the best turnout I think there's been in

:48:37. > :48:39.an Assembly election since the one immediately after the Good Friday

:48:40. > :48:42.Agreement. I think that shows when people see the institutions in peril

:48:43. > :48:45.they care about it. I think the message people are sending from

:48:46. > :48:48.their vote yesterday regardless of whether they voted DUP or Sinn Fein

:48:49. > :48:53.or Ulster Unionist or SDLP or whoever they voted for is they want

:48:54. > :48:55.the institutions to work. That's a challenge, because I think DUP and

:48:56. > :48:58.Sinn Fein in terms of their campaign have set themselves at loggerheads.

:48:59. > :49:01.It's going to be very difficult to climb down from some of the

:49:02. > :49:05.positions taken. But they've got to do it. Because it's very clear they

:49:06. > :49:08.were given a mandate to run an Assembly and an Executive that works

:49:09. > :49:12.and it's got to happen, that's what people want. We will hear lots more

:49:13. > :49:19.from you shortly. For now, thank you. Thank you to the rest of you.

:49:20. > :49:23.Let's cross back to Mark Devenport with Nicholas Whyte who has been

:49:24. > :49:25.looking at the ups and downs of leadership within unionism down the

:49:26. > :49:30.years. Thank you very much, Mark. We have

:49:31. > :49:36.decided to change academic disciplines, we are going to become

:49:37. > :49:40.amateur historians, you have it in your blood. Your dad was Professor

:49:41. > :49:43.JJ Whyte, a noted historian of the Troubles and I have dabbled with

:49:44. > :49:46.history myself. The reason for all of this talk of history is let's

:49:47. > :49:50.look at the history of the Ulster Unionist party because we have seen

:49:51. > :49:54.yet another dramatic move with Mike Nesbitt stepping down.

:49:55. > :49:57.This follows what was for a long period of time Ulster Unionist

:49:58. > :50:10.leaders seemed to be staying there forever. James Molyneaux 16 years.

:50:11. > :50:15.Lord Craigavon for 19 years. When Molyneaux was the leader, they were

:50:16. > :50:19.the dominant party. The 1993 local Government elections, 29%. They were

:50:20. > :50:24.basically double what the DUP had. They held the majority of the

:50:25. > :50:29.parliamentary seats, as well. Then David Trimble, obviously he came in.

:50:30. > :50:33.The historic leader of the Ulster Unionists who signed the Good Friday

:50:34. > :50:38.Agreement. That cost him a lot of - caused him a lot of pain but they

:50:39. > :50:44.were still maintaining dominance. I think on 21%, DUP on 18%, closing

:50:45. > :50:47.the gap. Much closer than would really had been comfortable. They

:50:48. > :50:51.had been leading 2-1 and we saw the peace process closing that gap.

:50:52. > :50:56.David Trimble still in power when the DUP went into the ascendancy. If

:50:57. > :51:02.we stick with Assembly elections, I think 2003 we had the DUP coming up

:51:03. > :51:09.to 26%. The Ulster Unionists tailing them on 23%. Then a party in

:51:10. > :51:14.problems, three leaders in relatively quick succession, in the

:51:15. > :51:18.space of about 12 years. They're trying whatever they can to

:51:19. > :51:23.find the magic recipe, be it linking up with the Conservatives or pacts

:51:24. > :51:27.or whatever. In terms of Assembly elections we have a graph that

:51:28. > :51:30.doesn't appear to show very much. The fact is it doesn't show very

:51:31. > :51:36.much. It doesn't show any progress at all.

:51:37. > :51:39.This is starting up the Reg Empey period.

:51:40. > :51:44.The tables have turned. The Ulster Unionists on about double the vote.

:51:45. > :51:47.This masks how bad the situation is. In terms of votes the DUP are on

:51:48. > :51:52.twice as many. In terms of seats they're going to finish today with

:51:53. > :51:55.three times as many I reckon. I think the Ulster Unionists will

:51:56. > :52:00.probably end on about nine. Tom Elliott not ail to close the gap.

:52:01. > :52:05.Mike Nesbitt's problem has been in 2016 the gap was still about 2-1,

:52:06. > :52:10.13%. 29%. In 2017, he hasn't closed the gap either. It's much the same.

:52:11. > :52:13.Expect that it's worse. Today the Ulster Unionists probably losing

:52:14. > :52:18.seven of their 16 seats. In seats, yeah. In vote share much the same

:52:19. > :52:24.but in seats he hasn't made any mark. He has made a loss in seats.

:52:25. > :52:30.They haven't had an uptake since the 1990s. Politics is about more than

:52:31. > :52:34.just changing your leader? You have to try something and keep on trying

:52:35. > :52:42.until something else works. Try, try and try again. The Robert the Bruce

:52:43. > :52:45.strategy. That's not really my historical period.

:52:46. > :52:47.It isn't mine either, but thank you very much.

:52:48. > :52:51.That's interesting. Let's hear from Stephen Walker following

:52:52. > :52:59.developments in Strangford. There is a battle for that final 5th

:53:00. > :53:03.seat. There is. Surprisingly it's Joe Boyle of the SDLP right at the

:53:04. > :53:07.death, a lot of people thought it would be Philip Smith of the Ulster

:53:08. > :53:11.Unionists but he has been excluded. They're looking at his vote at the

:53:12. > :53:16.moment. Everyone is saying it will be Peter Weir that will take that

:53:17. > :53:20.5th seat in Strangford, it means the DUP will have three seats in

:53:21. > :53:24.Strangford. Obviously it means that DUP gamble of moving Peter Weir from

:53:25. > :53:29.North Down to Strangford will have paid off. If that's the case. So of

:53:30. > :53:32.the two constituencies, Strangford and North Down, four elected in

:53:33. > :53:38.Strangford and four elected in North Down. The final seat in North Down

:53:39. > :53:41.looks as if it is going to go to Stephen Agnew. We are moving to the

:53:42. > :53:47.final stages here in Strangford and North Down. Thank you very much.

:53:48. > :53:50.Dramatic developments with Julian Fowler in Fermanagh and South

:53:51. > :53:55.Tyrone. Maurice Morrow is sought. That's right. You heard it when

:53:56. > :54:03.Michelle Gildernew was speaking to you earlier, I have been given the

:54:04. > :54:12.final tally. Rose marry Barton 8442 votes. Sean Lynch, Sinn Fein, 7717

:54:13. > :54:19.and Maurice Morrow 7411, just over 300 votes short of that final seat.

:54:20. > :54:22.That means three Sinn Fein, one DUP, Arlene Foster and one Ulster

:54:23. > :54:26.Unionist, rose marry mar ban elected. Still waiting for the final

:54:27. > :54:31.declares declaration to be made and the candidates to make their

:54:32. > :54:36.speeches. Earlier Arlene Foster declined a request to be interviewed

:54:37. > :54:40.by the BBC. I have been speaking to other journalists here who said they

:54:41. > :54:44.- she has told them she has no intention of standing down, no real

:54:45. > :54:48.surprise there. She said she has a job of work to do which has been

:54:49. > :54:51.made more challenging by tonight. So, hopefully we will still get an

:54:52. > :54:54.opportunity to speak to Arlene Foster later.

:54:55. > :55:04.We look forward to that. Thank you very much.

:55:05. > :55:07.From one Julian to another. Julian O'Neill at the Lagan valley count.

:55:08. > :55:12.Things are interesting, Lagan valley and of course South Down you are

:55:13. > :55:21.keeping an eye on. What can you tell us? I am, Mark. The latest, I

:55:22. > :55:28.believe it is the SDLP who have requested a recount of stage five of

:55:29. > :55:32.the Lagan Valley count. This I think relates to the redistribution of

:55:33. > :55:36.votes of two candidates who were eliminated. I don't think it's going

:55:37. > :55:43.to change the fact that Jenny Palmer has lost her seat as a result of

:55:44. > :55:45.that stage. But the SDLP want that stage recounted. I think it probably

:55:46. > :55:51.stems from the fact that they do believe that they are in with a very

:55:52. > :55:57.slim chance of taking the 5th and final seat here in Lagan Valley. Let

:55:58. > :56:01.me recap. At this stage we have only one candidate returned in Lagan

:56:02. > :56:05.Valley, that is Paul Givan who topped the poll for the DUP. I would

:56:06. > :56:11.fully expect Edwin Poots, his party colleague, to join him, Trevor Lunn

:56:12. > :56:14.of the Alliance Party also to be elected and Robbie Butler of the

:56:15. > :56:20.Ulster Unionists who has outpolled Jenny Palmer. That leaves the final

:56:21. > :56:24.seat which the DUP are now confident that Brenda Hale will take, so the

:56:25. > :56:28.DUP would retain three seats in Lagan Valley, but that's all looking

:56:29. > :56:32.into the future. No one knows whether this count will finish

:56:33. > :56:39.tonight or carry into tomorrow. Things are much more advanced in

:56:40. > :56:45.South Down. We currently have two Sinn Fein candidates elected along

:56:46. > :56:50.with Sinead Bradley of the SDLP and Jim Wells of the DUP. A 5th seat

:56:51. > :56:56.there remains to be filled. It looks like it will go to Colin McGrath of

:56:57. > :57:00.the SDLP giving them the two seats that they came into this election

:57:01. > :57:05.with. Harold McKee, who won the 6th seat for the Ulster Unionists last

:57:06. > :57:08.May, lost out. That's the latest situation from Lisburn where both

:57:09. > :57:15.counts are still continuing. Thank you very much.

:57:16. > :57:21.Two counts still continuing in Ballymena. Joining us is Maggie

:57:22. > :57:28.Taggart. North Antrim and Mid Ulster. North Antrim, after a long

:57:29. > :57:32.delay has elected its first MLA and that ironically for a strong

:57:33. > :57:37.loyalist area is Sinn Fein's Philip McGuigan. We think that two of the

:57:38. > :57:43.three DUP candidates, the previous MLAs, are likely to be re-elected,

:57:44. > :57:48.Mervyn Storey and Paul Frew. The third is vulnerable, that is Philip

:57:49. > :57:53.Logan from the DUP. It's likely that he will lose out to Robin Swann of

:57:54. > :57:56.the Ulster Unionist party, in the spotlight at the moment and he is

:57:57. > :58:01.obviously hoping he will get in. We should hear shortly because I

:58:02. > :58:05.understand earlier Doug Beattie was mentioning that Robin Swann could

:58:06. > :58:09.likely take over from Mike Nesbitt as leader of the Ulster Unionist

:58:10. > :58:16.party. In Mid Ulster, three Sinn Fein elected, one DUP. We are likely

:58:17. > :58:21.to have a casualty in the Ulster Unionist party, Sandra Overs end,

:58:22. > :58:25.she is likely to have lost out to Patsy McGlone of the SDLP, only 500

:58:26. > :58:33.votes short of a quota now. Thank you very much.

:58:34. > :58:39.Let's talk to John O'Dowd from Upper Bann, a Sinn Fein candidate, former

:58:40. > :58:45.Minister. Evening to you, thank you very much for joining us. First of

:58:46. > :58:50.all, congratulations to you on retaining your seat. Thank you very

:58:51. > :58:55.much. A lot more comfortable this time than ten months ago when we

:58:56. > :58:59.were discussing the possibility of you having to find some alternative

:59:00. > :59:03.employment. I think you were discussing put ago bet on me losing

:59:04. > :59:07.my seat at that time. Lucky for you you didn't put it on. I am not a

:59:08. > :59:09.betting man, John! I might have been thinking about other people or

:59:10. > :59:15.encouraging other people to take a bet. But I wouldn't be that easily

:59:16. > :59:19.parted with my money, you know! It was 168 votes that time. You are

:59:20. > :59:26.through this time. Does it look to you like - the battle for the 5th

:59:27. > :59:31.seat is between your party colleague Nuala Toman and the SDLP's Dolores

:59:32. > :59:36.Kelly. Someone saw her looking happy within the last five minutes, so do

:59:37. > :59:41.you think she's going to retake her seat? It's unlikely that we will

:59:42. > :59:44.take two seats in Upper Bann and Dolores Kelly will be returned.

:59:45. > :59:51.That's the decision of the electorate. Now we have increased

:59:52. > :59:55.our vote in Upper Bann by around 3,000 votes which is a remarkable

:59:56. > :59:57.turnaround in events. It's a clear signal from the people, the

:59:58. > :00:00.nationalist people in Upper Bann, that they want to move forward, they

:00:01. > :00:05.want power-sharing but on the basis of the agreements we have signed up

:00:06. > :00:07.to. They want it on the basis of equality and respect and they want

:00:08. > :00:10.to weed out corruption at the heart of Government. We have a strong

:00:11. > :00:16.mandate. We have to use it wisely, we have to use it sensibly. Over the

:00:17. > :00:19.next number of weeks through our leadership and Michelle guilder New

:00:20. > :00:25.And Gerry Adams and others we will enter those negotiations in a bid to

:00:26. > :00:30.return power-sharing but on the basis of the terms outlined and the

:00:31. > :00:33.basis of the agreements signed up to previously and that integrity and

:00:34. > :00:36.equality is at the heart of the Government moving forward. You know

:00:37. > :00:40.that the DUP is sensitive about what you have just said. And will say

:00:41. > :00:44.categorically there is no evidence of corruption at the heart of

:00:45. > :00:49.Government. There are alcombagss -- allegations made by Sinn Fein but

:00:50. > :00:54.now a public inquiry into the RHI scandal and it will report in due

:00:55. > :00:58.course and then we will make our judgments. So, those suggestions of

:00:59. > :01:02.corruption are nothing more than suggestions at this stage. Well,

:01:03. > :01:06.there is allegations from sources within the media, sources from

:01:07. > :01:10.within the DUP itself and sources elsewhere. As you say, the public

:01:11. > :01:15.inquiry will find the truth out about exactly what was going on in

:01:16. > :01:18.relation to RHI. It will investigate all those matters and we will have

:01:19. > :01:21.the truth eventually come out about that matter. We also have to deal

:01:22. > :01:27.with the issue of Brexit. We also have to deal with the issue of

:01:28. > :01:31.inequality in our society and we have to deal with the issue of

:01:32. > :01:35.power-sharing on the basis of equality, of partners in that

:01:36. > :01:38.power-sharing arrangement. If, as expected, that the DUP and Sinn Fein

:01:39. > :01:43.will be returned out of this election, as the two largest

:01:44. > :01:46.parties, then the only way pow irvrer-sharing can be restored is

:01:47. > :01:52.upon that basis. Congratulations, John. Thank you very much for

:01:53. > :01:56.joining us. We will look for confirmation of that result shortly

:01:57. > :02:00.in that particular constituency. Let's go to Fermanagh South Tyrone

:02:01. > :02:06.and hear from Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, that count is now finished.

:02:07. > :02:11.Arlene Foster topped the poll. But she's proved a little bit elusive as

:02:12. > :02:14.far as the BBC is concerned. She's declined an invitation to talk to us

:02:15. > :02:19.directly at this stage. Hopefully we will hear from her maybe later this

:02:20. > :02:22.evening or indeed tomorrow. She has spoken from the platform at her

:02:23. > :02:26.count and this is what she had to say.

:02:27. > :02:34.Can I first of all thank Martin by the way in which we have run the

:02:35. > :02:39.count and in your usual professional way and all of staff, who have

:02:40. > :02:43.engaged here tonight. Can I thank the police Service of Northern

:02:44. > :02:47.Ireland for the security they have provided during yesterday in the

:02:48. > :02:54.election and here tonight in Omagh again. Can I thank those who have

:02:55. > :02:59.voted for the Democratic Unionist Party in this election, our vote has

:03:00. > :03:03.increased in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and I want to thank all of those who

:03:04. > :03:11.have put their faith in us. I want to thank our election agent, Clement

:03:12. > :03:18.Cuthbertson, and all the volunteers from the DUP who have been working

:03:19. > :03:27.so hard over the past number of weeks for Morris and myself. Of

:03:28. > :03:33.course, I want to pay tribute to a dear friend, Maurice Morrow, my

:03:34. > :03:38.mentors in many ways, since I joined the DUP. In PR elections, sometimes

:03:39. > :03:43.it can be tough between running mates and I am delighted to say that

:03:44. > :03:49.Maurice Morrow and myself have never had across word between us and I

:03:50. > :03:54.want to think himself and Jennifer for their friendship and Maurice for

:03:55. > :03:58.his courage and everything you have contributed to the Northern Ireland

:03:59. > :04:01.Assembly, Fermanagh and South Tyrone as a constituency is worse off for

:04:02. > :04:09.you not being there and there are many who will agree. Personally, I

:04:10. > :04:12.want to thank my family and for all of the support they have given me

:04:13. > :04:20.over what has been a challenging time. In some ways. And I thank them

:04:21. > :04:23.for the love they have provided to me and the support and to all of

:04:24. > :04:31.those who have been supporting me in practical ways and three players as

:04:32. > :04:34.well. I am honoured and humbled to be standing here at the moment and I

:04:35. > :04:40.want to personally thank everyone who has come out for me and to thank

:04:41. > :04:44.everyone who has supported the team of DUP candidates across the

:04:45. > :04:47.province and beyond that, I want to thank everyone who has come out to

:04:48. > :04:53.vote in this election and has shown support for the Democratic process

:04:54. > :04:56.and the desire to see the restoration of the Assembly

:04:57. > :05:02.structures. There is no mandate across Northern Ireland for direct

:05:03. > :05:07.rule, no consensus for any end to local democracy and no desire to

:05:08. > :05:10.silence our collective and distinctive Northern Ireland voice

:05:11. > :05:14.at this critical time. The people have spoken. All public

:05:15. > :05:21.representatives of goodwill must move forward into these negotiations

:05:22. > :05:25.with a view to forming a Northern Ireland government and let us move

:05:26. > :05:31.forward with hope, hope that the common good will be able to prevail

:05:32. > :05:35.over narrow, divisive interests. Hope that civility can return to

:05:36. > :05:42.politics, hope that a functioning Assembly can be restored and hope

:05:43. > :05:47.that a Northern Ireland with so many overlapping cultural identities can

:05:48. > :05:50.be home to all of us and all of our children and, indeed, the

:05:51. > :05:57.generations to come. There is work to be done. Work to quickly meant

:05:58. > :06:02.the relationships which have been frayed by the discord of this

:06:03. > :06:08.election, work to improve our real lives with more and better jobs,

:06:09. > :06:11.better Health Service and education system and better infrastructure and

:06:12. > :06:18.the real issues that matter to people on a day by day basis. We go

:06:19. > :06:24.to the table with a renewed mandate and I will guarantee for my part, a

:06:25. > :06:26.willingness to meet those challenges, to seize the

:06:27. > :06:29.opportunities, not for narrow political advantage but for

:06:30. > :06:34.everybody in Northern Ireland. Thank you.

:06:35. > :06:39.APPLAUSE Arlene Foster, the DUP leader,

:06:40. > :06:42.making her acceptance speech in Fermanagh-South Tyrone, she topped

:06:43. > :06:47.the poll but regretting hugely the fact that running mate, Maurice

:06:48. > :06:51.Morrow, did not make it home in this particular instance. There has been

:06:52. > :06:56.a lot happening in the last hour, it is fair to say. We have lots of

:06:57. > :07:02.graphics to bring us up-to-date with the story. Over to you, Mark. We are

:07:03. > :07:08.more than halfway through! More than 50 seats, 53 seats in total, have

:07:09. > :07:12.been filled. We can look at the virtual map.

:07:13. > :07:20.We are hoping to show you the entire map, squeezing 18 constituents

:07:21. > :07:25.together to make our own map and we can see from the colours spread

:07:26. > :07:30.around the map, those constituencies have some seats filled, there are a

:07:31. > :07:34.couple of exceptions. First, let us look at how the DUP are getting on

:07:35. > :07:39.in Strangford because in some ways, this tells you the story of the

:07:40. > :07:43.election within unionism. As we know, there are three outgoing DUP

:07:44. > :07:49.ministers running. How many are back? We can see Shell Michael Green

:07:50. > :07:54.is back, Simon Hamilton is back and were told that Peter Weir, even

:07:55. > :07:57.though he has been parachuted from neighbouring North Down, is almost

:07:58. > :08:03.certain to get back. In a sense this is the story of the election, Perot

:08:04. > :08:08.like Nesbitt at the bottom, small consolation being re-elected but it

:08:09. > :08:11.looks like there are going to be three DUP back in in Strangford

:08:12. > :08:15.despite all of the problems the DUP have had and the story of the

:08:16. > :08:22.election, the Alliance doing well in Strangford. Not everyone has filled

:08:23. > :08:29.their seat belt, North Antrim has got one, East Londonderry do not

:08:30. > :08:37.have any, some people are comparing this to blockbusters. How dare they!

:08:38. > :08:41.They must be over 40! North Belfast, they do not have anybody elected but

:08:42. > :08:45.I am told it will be soon. We can look at the neighbouring

:08:46. > :08:49.constituency, West Belfast, and again, one of the stories of this

:08:50. > :08:57.election, look at the number of Sinn Fein MLAs elected. Yes, Gerry

:08:58. > :09:02.Carroll got back for People Before Profit but where is the SDLP's Alex

:09:03. > :09:06.Attwood? Nowhere to be seen. Older viewers will remember Joe Hendron

:09:07. > :09:13.topping the poll in the Westminster election back in 1992, seeing off

:09:14. > :09:18.Gerry Adams. Those days are definitely over for the best LP. The

:09:19. > :09:23.new political map is starting to take shape. As you can see, lots of

:09:24. > :09:25.seats still to be filled. It is going to be a long night! It looks

:09:26. > :09:35.fantastic! What is at the top of those stairs

:09:36. > :09:41.behind you? Do you know what? We will show you at the end of the

:09:42. > :09:46.night. Can you just dander up then? If people children after 11 o'clock!

:09:47. > :09:56.We will hold you do not -- to that! Becky! Mark Simpson with the

:09:57. > :10:02.numbers. -- thank you. Are you on course for eight seats? We are still

:10:03. > :10:07.in contention although less so than about one hour ago in South Down.

:10:08. > :10:11.And we are the runner-up in north Belfast so that is the second time

:10:12. > :10:16.we have been runner-up there in eight months, even though we managed

:10:17. > :10:21.to add to the vote, it was not enough on this occasion. That was

:10:22. > :10:26.Nuala McAllister? Yes, the runner-up and next to that, Nelson McCausland.

:10:27. > :10:31.What about predictions for the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP?

:10:32. > :10:38.Alex reckons the Ulster Unionists cannot get any more than ten? We

:10:39. > :10:41.don't have a figure on the SDLP. We'll both parties be significantly

:10:42. > :10:48.down? Even allowing for Assembly triggered? That doesn't have the

:10:49. > :10:52.case, if the Ulster Unionists, if we maintain our position we would be on

:10:53. > :10:57.seven so if the Ulster Unionists did the same they would have 12 or 13

:10:58. > :11:01.and they will be below that and similarly with the SDLP, although

:11:02. > :11:04.they are helped slightly in South Down at our expense because

:11:05. > :11:08.whichever of us does not take the final seat will be the runner-up so

:11:09. > :11:16.that is a tussle for the last seat and that will help them. But not a

:11:17. > :11:21.good collection for either party. Not as bad, I will be honest, as

:11:22. > :11:26.Mike Nesbitt seems to think as it is for him and I was shocked at just

:11:27. > :11:31.how swiftly he departed. It seems to be quite a remarkable decision to

:11:32. > :11:35.have made so swiftly without talking to colleagues and the rest of it, it

:11:36. > :11:43.seems quite a bizarre way to do things. Did he want to go at the

:11:44. > :11:48.first sign he thinks would not be going in the way he hoped in his

:11:49. > :11:53.head? I have to say yes, at the leaders debate before the election,

:11:54. > :11:57.he did seem even then to have the demeanour of somebody who felt

:11:58. > :12:03.defeated so from that perspective I don't think he had a happy election.

:12:04. > :12:07.We have fought really good campaigns and have enjoyed the campaigns and

:12:08. > :12:11.have been gutted when we get to the count centre. It happens to all of

:12:12. > :12:15.us. But I do not think he had a good campaign, he did not feel confident

:12:16. > :12:20.going into the election or throughout. It has left him in a

:12:21. > :12:25.difficult position. They have lost three out of the four women they had

:12:26. > :12:30.in the election, that is a big blow, and they have lost Danny Kennedy,

:12:31. > :12:35.who was probably the most obvious person to take over as leader if

:12:36. > :12:41.Mike Nesbitt stood aside. That is a huge loss. And to the Assembly. I

:12:42. > :12:47.was his vice chair in the OFMDFM committee days in the Assembly and I

:12:48. > :12:51.have huge respect and affection for Danny Kennedy, he is a gentleman and

:12:52. > :12:55.I am genuinely sorry to see him going because he has a great sense

:12:56. > :13:00.of humour and somebody who I think will be a great loss to the chamber.

:13:01. > :13:03.You will have felt the same thing, working with him in the role

:13:04. > :13:09.speaker. Somebody who genuinely could bring wit and humour to the

:13:10. > :13:15.role he had. And he will be a great loss to the party and the Assembly.

:13:16. > :13:18.Stay with us. Tom Elliott joins us from the Fermanagh-South Tyrone

:13:19. > :13:24.count in. You were in Belfast earlier today. You have made the

:13:25. > :13:30.journey back home. West of the river bank. What do you make of the

:13:31. > :13:35.picture unfolding tonight? We know all of the seats have been declared

:13:36. > :13:42.in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and Arlene Foster topped the poll, Maurice

:13:43. > :13:47.Morrow did not make it, any relief that Rosemary Barton held onto her

:13:48. > :13:51.seat? It is a tribute to Rosemary, she is a hard worker on the ground,

:13:52. > :13:56.she gets around a lot of issues and I am pleased that she has made it.

:13:57. > :14:00.Clearly within that there are casualties and I am sorry to see

:14:01. > :14:05.Maurice Morrow going, he is a stalwart of the Assembly. Richie

:14:06. > :14:10.McPhillips was making a huge contribution also but unfortunately

:14:11. > :14:13.that is politics. The biggest casualty is your party leader, Mike

:14:14. > :14:19.Nesbitt, who has fallen on his sword. Some people are effectively

:14:20. > :14:27.describing this as a pre-emptive strike. Did he really need to do

:14:28. > :14:31.that quite so soon? I am not sure of the entire circumstances because I

:14:32. > :14:36.was not aware of it but he has taken that decision in a very emotional

:14:37. > :14:40.time. You're not even at the end of the election count but clearly he

:14:41. > :14:48.has taken that decision at an early stage, he feels that it was a poor

:14:49. > :14:54.result, not what he was anticipating what was calculating. It is a

:14:55. > :14:57.difficult time and I just hope that himself and the family can spend

:14:58. > :15:02.some time together that he may be did not have the opportunity to do

:15:03. > :15:07.over the last five years. You have been in a difficult situation as the

:15:08. > :15:12.leader of the party and Alex Kane earlier said that it is not an easy

:15:13. > :15:22.party to lead because in a sense, it looks in two directions, one way and

:15:23. > :15:29.the other. Here is the point... Mike Nesbitt has made a decision to go.

:15:30. > :15:34.And people are not quite clear by he has made that decision. And they are

:15:35. > :15:38.not quite sure what he believed whenever he said in interviews, that

:15:39. > :15:43.the Ulster Unionist Party would come back as the biggest unionist party.

:15:44. > :15:48.Was he just talking things up or did he actually believe that? When you

:15:49. > :15:53.are in an election campaign, you do your best to try to rally the troops

:15:54. > :15:59.and get people behind you and get people to support you. That is what

:16:00. > :16:02.you do. Every party does that. Mike made the calculation that he would

:16:03. > :16:07.like to come back with more seats than he did and he just feels, I am

:16:08. > :16:17.sure, that he has not lived up to expectation. It was a very brave

:16:18. > :16:22.decision. Visit? If you wildly over claim when you rally the troops, the

:16:23. > :16:25.difficulty is, you back yourself into a corner because even though

:16:26. > :16:33.you might not have done very badly, you look like a failure, condemned

:16:34. > :16:38.by your own expectations? Yes but I do keep saying, in the election

:16:39. > :16:42.campaign you do the best for the party and you try to get people to

:16:43. > :16:47.come behind you and you will not go on the Trail and say, we will lose

:16:48. > :16:53.all of the seats. You try to make the best of it. And Mike feels he

:16:54. > :16:58.has not been able to make the best of it and I am sure he would have

:16:59. > :17:03.been more contented baby if it was not the largest party but if he had

:17:04. > :17:09.more seats and at least kept the seats that we did that. He has taken

:17:10. > :17:14.the decision, was a brave? Nothing is easy. There been a brave but not

:17:15. > :17:19.easy. And filled with an emotionally charged evening. And I hope that he

:17:20. > :17:24.can have some peace and tranquillity in the days ahead.

:17:25. > :17:29.Thank you very much, next time I want your prediction as to who the

:17:30. > :17:32.next leader will be. I presume you won't be throwing your hat in the

:17:33. > :17:35.ring for another go? I would suggest you are presuming right, Mark. Fair

:17:36. > :17:41.enough. Can't say I am surprised. Tom, thank you very much. Let's hear

:17:42. > :17:47.from Doleres Kelly from Upper Bann. SDLP candidate. Good to see you.

:17:48. > :17:55.Doesn't seem so long since we were having a conversation in which we

:17:56. > :17:58.were discussing the end of your political career. It looks like

:17:59. > :18:04.maybe you are about to come back from the dead. Rumours of my death

:18:05. > :18:09.have been much false as Mark Twain said. It is looking very positive.

:18:10. > :18:14.More or less I think Sinn Fein have conceded. They are doing the surplus

:18:15. > :18:19.at the moment. But I think I am on target to be indeed back in the

:18:20. > :18:25.Assembly. So, three MLAs have been returned for Upper Bann. You are in

:18:26. > :18:29.a scrap for the final seat with Sinn Fein's Nuala Toman. Can you give us

:18:30. > :18:34.a sense of how the transfers are looking? Do you reckon you have it

:18:35. > :18:37.in the bag, is it a possibility or a probability probableability? It's a

:18:38. > :18:42.probableability at this stage. I think I am over 1,000 in front. And

:18:43. > :18:47.there is even Beattie surplus distributed at the moment and I am

:18:48. > :18:51.ahead on those. Any idea when that declaration is likely to be made and

:18:52. > :18:56.when you are confirmed as an MLA once again? I would hope within the

:18:57. > :19:01.next 20 minutes or so. Yes, we are progressing quite well here in Upper

:19:02. > :19:04.Bann for a change. It's always been a rollercoaster, doesn't matter if

:19:05. > :19:08.it's over one day or two, it's always a difficult time. Sometime

:19:09. > :19:12.within the next 20-30 minutes it will be confirmed as having retaken

:19:13. > :19:17.the seat. We will hold our congratulations until it is

:19:18. > :19:21.official. Let me ask you, sorry to bring this up... It ain't over until

:19:22. > :19:27.it's over, that's for sure. There was controversy in the press during

:19:28. > :19:31.the campaign about the inappropriateness in inverted xhas

:19:32. > :19:36.of you receiving a significant pay-off, I think last May when you

:19:37. > :19:41.lost your seat. And you hold on to that money but you are running

:19:42. > :19:47.again. Where are we with that and if you do indeed win the seat does that

:19:48. > :19:51.make you uncomfortable? Well, Mark, can I just say what makes me

:19:52. > :19:55.uncomfortable is how I have been singled out for a particular type of

:19:56. > :19:58.rumour and almost slander and defamation of my own good character.

:19:59. > :20:02.I didn't receive all of that sum of money. A lot was spent on the

:20:03. > :20:06.rundown of my office and my staff pay-offs. I also would have to say

:20:07. > :20:11.that I don't know why I was treated differently to any other MLAs who

:20:12. > :20:16.lost or retired last year. Nor indeed those other MLAs or MPs or

:20:17. > :20:20.MEPs who stood down from other parliaments and took seats in other

:20:21. > :20:24.parliaments, not only in this jurisdiction but elsewhere and the

:20:25. > :20:29.same question and the same hints of scandal weren't thrown at them.

:20:30. > :20:32.Today I am going... Just to be clear, nothing defamatory in what I

:20:33. > :20:35.am saying to you and the reason I am talking is because I am interviewing

:20:36. > :20:39.you at the moment, I don't know if you were singled out but you are one

:20:40. > :20:44.of the MLAs who stood for election once again. The point was made about

:20:45. > :20:49.John Dallat as well. He is not I think - I think he has been elimb

:20:50. > :20:51.Nat Nated in East Londonderry -- eliminated. But you understand why I

:20:52. > :20:55.am asking you because we are having a conversation and it looks like you

:20:56. > :20:58.are about to win your seat again. There was a public debate about the

:20:59. > :21:02.appropriateness of you holding on to that money. I am just asking if you

:21:03. > :21:07.are comfortable with that. I think that's a fair question. Well, I

:21:08. > :21:10.think what is a fair question is the whole principle of severance

:21:11. > :21:15.payments to all parment tarrians and that's a debate to be had, not only

:21:16. > :21:19.with me but with the Assembly and in other parliaments. Right. I have

:21:20. > :21:23.news for you. You might be a little bit annoyed for asking that question

:21:24. > :21:28.but I can tell you formally officially you are an MLA you have

:21:29. > :21:31.been returned because my little screen has got a green tick beside

:21:32. > :21:38.your name. Maybe you will forgive me that rudeness. Wonderful news. How

:21:39. > :21:41.do you feel, congratulations. Thank you very much, Mark. It's just

:21:42. > :21:45.wonderful U I didn't expect to be back here and I want to thank my

:21:46. > :21:48.marvellous campaign team that worked really hard. I want to say a

:21:49. > :21:54.particular thanks to each and every voter in Upper Bann who came out for

:21:55. > :21:59.the SDLP, who put their faith in the SDLP and me to represent them again

:22:00. > :22:02.in this constituency, thank you all. Well, genuine congratulations. That

:22:03. > :22:07.brought a mile to your face, I have to say. -- a smile to your face. You

:22:08. > :22:10.can go and celebrate. No chat we will chat again soon. Thank you for

:22:11. > :22:17.your time. Good talking to you, Mark. Good to

:22:18. > :22:22.talk to you, as well. Fionnuala, nonetheless delighted to be

:22:23. > :22:27.returned. Must have been delightful, I believe Nuala Toman rused to work

:22:28. > :22:34.in Brid Rodgers office, maybe a long time ago and to be in a run-off with

:22:35. > :22:37.her for the seat must have been something. Apparently. Do you know

:22:38. > :22:44.if that's the case? I wasn't aware of that. It was a long time ago. I

:22:45. > :22:49.know Nuala, she never mentioned that. It may have been at school.

:22:50. > :22:52.May have been a holiday job but she did apparently work for sometime.

:22:53. > :22:56.She is Sinn Fein through and through. There was a tight fight at

:22:57. > :23:03.the end. She didn't make it. First of all, I would congratulate

:23:04. > :23:10.Dolores, it is tough coming back having lost her seat and also John

:23:11. > :23:15.O'Dowd but Nuala Toman polled very well. She should be very proud. She

:23:16. > :23:19.was in 4th place in terms of first preference votes. 6100. She didn't

:23:20. > :23:27.pick up the transfers to bring her home. An excellent first preference

:23:28. > :23:31.vote. And replacing an effective and popular person in Katherine Sealey

:23:32. > :23:35.who is popular. She's gone back to teaching. A loss I think to Sinn

:23:36. > :23:39.Fein. A lot of people feel a loss to Sinn Fein and a loss to politics

:23:40. > :23:42.because she was articulate and had things to say and a fresh

:23:43. > :23:46.perspective. No matter what you think about Sinn Fein's position on

:23:47. > :23:50.things. A lot of people liked the fact she brought something new to

:23:51. > :23:57.the table. Here is the interesting thing about that. She wonder if that

:23:58. > :24:00.says something about a young person's commitment to politics or a

:24:01. > :24:07.young person's view of what politics has to offer and where politics is

:24:08. > :24:12.going here at the moment. Well, first of all, I think the school is

:24:13. > :24:17.lucky to have Cat because she's a really good teacher and as a former

:24:18. > :24:20.Education Minister looking at raising standards and tackling

:24:21. > :24:24.underachievement I know that is Cat's goal in a disadvantaged area.

:24:25. > :24:26.In terms of young people and politics, of course young people

:24:27. > :24:30.raise questions but look at the number of young people that have put

:24:31. > :24:33.themselves forward. That don't know what's going to happen next week or

:24:34. > :24:39.the week after. You take the point, she was in the Assembly for a matter

:24:40. > :24:41.of months, she had an opportunity to get her feet under the table. People

:24:42. > :24:45.thought she had something to offer and she was there, got a feel of it

:24:46. > :24:49.and decided you know what, I am not going to bother, I will go back to

:24:50. > :24:53.teaching. That sends out a negative message about politics. Well, yeah,

:24:54. > :24:58.but politics doesn't have to be for life. I think that we have to

:24:59. > :25:02.change... Often it's for more than eight months. We have to dhang the

:25:03. > :25:07.way we think about things. If you go into a job and don't like the job,

:25:08. > :25:15.then you change it. People should be entitled to. But look at Megan

:25:16. > :25:18.Fearon, she's 25 years of age and in her third - won two elections and

:25:19. > :25:22.was co-opted in one. There are young people who stayed on and young women

:25:23. > :25:29.who stayed on. Politics is a tougher game for women than men, I don't

:25:30. > :25:32.care what anyone says. Loads of other, Elisha McCallion, Sinead,

:25:33. > :25:36.Nichola Mallon, all the different women that have gone forward again.

:25:37. > :25:41.I think what we have to do is make it a better place for women and men.

:25:42. > :25:45.Also you doint have to stay there for life as I know. Yes, you bailed

:25:46. > :25:50.out a relatively young age it has to be said. A lot were surprised you

:25:51. > :25:53.decided to go. Well, yeah, I have probably a different view. I have

:25:54. > :25:59.done different things from being a professional tennis player, to being

:26:00. > :26:05.an act srifs in the third world to a human rights activist, 14 years in

:26:06. > :26:08.poll tishgs, four terms. You are not going to go back to being a senior

:26:09. > :26:11.tour tennis player. I am probably old for that now. It's good to have

:26:12. > :26:18.change and to have younger people in. I am glad I could use my

:26:19. > :26:24.experience to get a younger woman like Sinead in and in in style. We

:26:25. > :26:29.are going to look at pictures of Arlene Foster leaving the count

:26:30. > :26:32.centre in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone. There she is heading out in

:26:33. > :26:37.the dark. Seems to have dried up down there in that part of the

:26:38. > :26:43.world. She's getting into her Land Rover there. She has a fair bit of

:26:44. > :26:46.security around her. She's heading off. She chose not to speak to the

:26:47. > :26:53.BBC on this occasion. With any luck we will catch a word with her

:26:54. > :26:58.tomorrow. There is Maurice Morrow who was unsuccessful. Arlene Foster

:26:59. > :27:03.referred to Lord Morrow as her mentor. Difficult for him. I suppose

:27:04. > :27:09.a bit of a mixed night for Arlene Foster. She will be genuinely

:27:10. > :27:13.personally dispointed he is not back. When you run as a candidate

:27:14. > :27:19.the thing that's worse than losing your own seat is watching your

:27:20. > :27:22.running mate go out because actually particularly if you have done well

:27:23. > :27:26.as Arlene did in terms of topping the poll, to see the person you ran

:27:27. > :27:30.with, your colleague who supported you, to see them go out, it's a very

:27:31. > :27:33.painful experience. I am fortunate enough while I was here I saw my

:27:34. > :27:39.running mate flash up on the screen as elect. I am relieved about that

:27:40. > :27:45.because Chris polled really strongly and I am delighted to see Chris

:27:46. > :27:49.Lytlle back in. We were delighted last time to get two Alliance people

:27:50. > :27:52.elected we didn't get the third. It's gutting when that happens

:27:53. > :27:55.because you desperately want to see the whole team over the line and

:27:56. > :27:58.it's very difficult and it's hard when you see it happen to somebody

:27:59. > :28:05.else, it's easier to deal with in some ways when it is yourself. OK.

:28:06. > :28:11.Let's talk to Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist from North Antrim.

:28:12. > :28:16.He joins us from the count there in Ballymena. You have been returned.

:28:17. > :28:21.The second candidate in North Antrim to be returned. First of all,

:28:22. > :28:24.congratulations to you on a personal basis because a lot of people said

:28:25. > :28:28.that you might have a bit of a struggle to hang on to a seat there

:28:29. > :28:36.but you have done it and done it comfortably. Well, I think that was

:28:37. > :28:41.what the local papers were having, when you were talking to David

:28:42. > :28:49.McIlveen the other night, describing me as the underdog. I have increased

:28:50. > :28:53.my vote from May from 4400 to over 6,000 so a 36% increase in the

:28:54. > :28:56.Ulster Unionist vote is a great recommendation for the work that we

:28:57. > :29:03.have been doing here. Just to be clear, the other candidate, is it

:29:04. > :29:09.the case that the DUP will get two home in Paul Frew and will Philip

:29:10. > :29:13.Logan lose out? It's looking like that at this moment. That seems to

:29:14. > :29:20.be the lie of the land into the last stage here. Let me ask you about

:29:21. > :29:24.your party. It's been a miserable night, according to Mike Nesbitt.

:29:25. > :29:27.You will know that he has in rather dramatic fashion called a news

:29:28. > :29:32.conference in East Belfast and announced that he is standing down

:29:33. > :29:37.as leader of the Ulster Unionist party. He can not in all honesty, he

:29:38. > :29:42.says, criticise other unionist leaders and then not deliver himself

:29:43. > :29:48.in terms of what he had said the Ulster Unionist party would achieve.

:29:49. > :29:53.Are you surprised, disappointed at his decision? I suppose one of the

:29:54. > :29:56.first things Mike did as leader was appoint me Chief Whip and what I

:29:57. > :30:01.have come to know from working with the man, if he commits himself to

:30:02. > :30:04.something he sees it threw and Mike always said his measure of

:30:05. > :30:08.leadership will be about what he achieves and how he achieves it. In

:30:09. > :30:13.his comments today and the reasons that he has stood down I think it

:30:14. > :30:20.shows the leadership quality of Mike Nesbitt. He's taken that personal

:30:21. > :30:23.stand, what he has committed to he didn't achieve in this election and

:30:24. > :30:26.he is standing by his word and that's what I found out about Mike

:30:27. > :30:30.Nesbitt, he is a man of his word and he will honour that. Here is the bad

:30:31. > :30:33.news for you, I spoke to Doug Beattie, who was successful in Upper

:30:34. > :30:36.Bann and asked if his name would be in the frame for the leadership

:30:37. > :30:41.whenever Mike Nesbitt finally stands down and he said absolutely not. The

:30:42. > :30:45.man for the job is Robin Swann in North Antrim. He is the man I think

:30:46. > :30:51.at this stage I would back for it. Are you up for it? Well, look, I

:30:52. > :30:55.don't know, I know Doug maybe told the BBC that, I don't know if he

:30:56. > :30:58.spoke to my wife yet, that's where a lot of the decisions have to be made

:30:59. > :31:03.for me first of all. We are a Democratic Party. We are going into

:31:04. > :31:07.our AGM in a few weeks. How that falls out, I think will be decided

:31:08. > :31:09.by the party officers. We are a party that represents one member,

:31:10. > :31:14.one vote and it's down to the membership of our party who will

:31:15. > :31:19.lead us, it's the done by MLAs or MPs or by a council, it's done by

:31:20. > :31:25.the membership. It's not been a great night. Danny Kennedy is out.

:31:26. > :31:30.Joanne Dobson is out. Philip Smith is out. Sandra Overend is

:31:31. > :31:32.struggling. Those are big names, significant figures within your

:31:33. > :31:39.party at Stormont who are not going to play a part next week or next

:31:40. > :31:42.month. Well, the names you mentioned, I think maybe, and they

:31:43. > :31:45.are a loss to the Ulster Unionist Assembly team, they're also a loss

:31:46. > :31:53.to the Northern Ireland Assembly because some names you mentioned

:31:54. > :31:56.there, Joanne Dobson and her organ donation bill, the work Danny

:31:57. > :32:01.Kennedy did, they're big losses to the Assembly. It's something we have

:32:02. > :32:04.seen from the reduction to five seats and the increased quotas, as

:32:05. > :32:09.well. I think the loss of those unionist seats are down to an

:32:10. > :32:11.increased Sinn Fein vote and that's what we are seeing across Northern

:32:12. > :32:16.Ireland. I think one of the things you are not balancing that with is

:32:17. > :32:20.the success we have had in John Stewart and taking a Sinn Fein seat

:32:21. > :32:23.in East Antrim. OK, thank you very much indeed. Have

:32:24. > :32:26.a word with your wife and let us know if she says you are allowed to

:32:27. > :32:30.put your name forward for the leadership in due course. We would

:32:31. > :32:34.be interested in having a conversation with you about that.

:32:35. > :32:38.I want to hear Alex's thoughts in a second, before that I want to go

:32:39. > :32:43.over to Tara at the Titanic exhibition centre to hear what is

:32:44. > :32:47.happening there. It's getting late in the night. What

:32:48. > :32:57.is the mood It is fair to say that all of the

:32:58. > :33:02.politicians and party workers are exhausted at this stage because they

:33:03. > :33:07.have had a long day yesterday and a very long couple of weeks, two

:33:08. > :33:13.elected with me and one hopeful. Clare Bailey from the Green Party

:33:14. > :33:18.and Paula Bradley from the DUP. Chris, congratulations. Are you

:33:19. > :33:25.pleased with the Alliance vote? It is a good day. Delighted to have

:33:26. > :33:29.such assault -- strong showing of support, one and two in East Belfast

:33:30. > :33:34.and that is a huge privilege to serve East Belfast and we are

:33:35. > :33:39.delighted they want to see a united community, they want effectiveness

:33:40. > :33:44.and power-sharing government and that is what myself and Naomi Long

:33:45. > :33:48.will be working to achieve. Looking at some of the pictures of the

:33:49. > :33:54.announcement. What can you say to those people who voted for Alliance?

:33:55. > :34:00.I asked Naomi Long about the possibility of nonexecutive seat but

:34:01. > :34:05.do you think it is time to stay as opposition and consolidate that

:34:06. > :34:09.position? We need to see the final numbers and we have clear issues

:34:10. > :34:17.that we will assess whether or not to take any position or to continue

:34:18. > :34:22.to hold the Executive to account. We have had strong leadership from

:34:23. > :34:26.individual MLAs on integrated education, health and other issues

:34:27. > :34:30.and we think we will be an effective party with the strong mandate we

:34:31. > :34:35.have been given. Will there be different decisions to be made next

:34:36. > :34:39.time around? There will be constituencies you will look at,

:34:40. > :34:45.perhaps in Strangford putting up two candidates? We talk to the Alliance

:34:46. > :34:51.all the time about this breakthrough and breaking away from East? Naomi

:34:52. > :34:56.Long had a very clear aim to build the base across Northern Ireland and

:34:57. > :35:01.we have had strong performances, in South Down, Patrick Brown was close

:35:02. > :35:07.to securing a seat and we have had a very good turnout today, our biggest

:35:08. > :35:13.vote across Northern Ireland in 30 years, our biggest ever Assembly

:35:14. > :35:17.result in South Belfast. We have some capable candidates across

:35:18. > :35:19.Northern Ireland and are very mobilised membership with good

:35:20. > :35:27.support from people in the community. Clare Bailey, you are

:35:28. > :35:31.hopeful to get through? Yes and I am thrilled because I was only elected

:35:32. > :35:36.back in May for the first time so it has been a short period I have held

:35:37. > :35:41.the office. To see the increase in the vote this time around has been

:35:42. > :35:48.heartening and Steven Agnew is looking very solid in North Down. A

:35:49. > :35:50.good day for the Green Party, we have increased first preference

:35:51. > :35:55.votes and we are looking likely to hold onto both seats. Going around

:35:56. > :36:00.the doors, what was that down to? People Before Profit have only one

:36:01. > :36:07.and from their point of view you want to hold onto two, what is the

:36:08. > :36:13.difference? Are the people younger, the younger demographic? We appeal

:36:14. > :36:18.across the board. We have younger activists in the party in terms of

:36:19. > :36:21.membership but when we're on the door is canvassing and speaking to

:36:22. > :36:28.people, it is our response right across and we started this time at

:36:29. > :36:31.the Belfast City Centre of South Belfast and worked our way right

:36:32. > :36:38.through the constituency into four wins, getting carried off, so it

:36:39. > :36:44.comes from everywhere. We will see that in the transfers we get after

:36:45. > :36:48.the first preferences. We are very transfer friendly, people like to

:36:49. > :36:53.give us some support and once we have earned their trust we will see

:36:54. > :37:01.that they usually stick with us. Paula, congratulations, the first in

:37:02. > :37:06.North Belfast. Absolutely, I am delighted to be the first in North

:37:07. > :37:11.Belfast and the first unionist in the entire Belfast constituency.

:37:12. > :37:15.After last, we had to wait such a long time to get to the stage. It is

:37:16. > :37:22.bittersweet personally because of what happened to Nelson McCausland?

:37:23. > :37:26.Yes, there is no doubt about that, we will miss him greatly as part of

:37:27. > :37:31.the MLA team, he will always be there for advice because he is a

:37:32. > :37:36.mine of knowledge but that has taken the shine off. On the other side,

:37:37. > :37:42.our vote has held in North Belfast, my personal vote has increased so

:37:43. > :37:49.that is a positive or so. Talking to yourself and Diane Dodds about

:37:50. > :37:54.transfers and Mike Nesbitt has resigned as party leader, but some

:37:55. > :37:56.of those transfers that did go elsewhere in North Belfast,

:37:57. > :38:03.potentially they have cost Nelson his seat? We need to look at those

:38:04. > :38:07.figures in greater detail. But I know by looking at the entire

:38:08. > :38:12.province, some of those transfers have hurt the DUP greatly from the

:38:13. > :38:17.Ulster Unionist Party. In North Belfast I know that quite a

:38:18. > :38:22.proportion of Robert Foster's transfers went to the Alliance Party

:38:23. > :38:28.and the SDLP. Chris will not complain! No, he will not! In terms

:38:29. > :38:33.of the overall picture for the DUP, what is your hope for an Executive

:38:34. > :38:38.and the Assembly running again, given the stalemate over Arlene

:38:39. > :38:42.Foster? My hope, and I went to the doors and what I said was I want to

:38:43. > :38:47.be back at work, doing the job I enjoy, I want to be back as part of

:38:48. > :38:52.the ruling of Northern Ireland and I hope whenever we go back we will be

:38:53. > :38:57.part of those negotiations, to get things back, up and running again.

:38:58. > :39:03.Whether that will happen, I do not know but I have to be positive. Has

:39:04. > :39:08.this been nerve-racking for you? I asked the others as well, in terms

:39:09. > :39:14.of a personal level, you are the MLA, you have been a mLA for quite a

:39:15. > :39:22.long time, were you thinking about the future? Absolutely. You take

:39:23. > :39:27.nothing for granted in this job. We have mortgages and children to look

:39:28. > :39:32.after, things that everyone else in society has and it is emotionally

:39:33. > :39:38.draining. Absolutely emotionally dreading. I very much look forward

:39:39. > :39:44.to a very quiet weekend! The same question to both of you... Sleepless

:39:45. > :39:47.nights? I am extremely tired but you take great encouragement from the

:39:48. > :39:50.people who give you their vote and they want you to get on with the job

:39:51. > :39:54.at the Assembly, it is huge privilege we have as a result of

:39:55. > :39:57.this and I am looking forward to getting back and working on the

:39:58. > :40:03.issues people want to see us working on. Are you keeping fingers crossed?

:40:04. > :40:07.Yes, indeed. And I think the energy that comes from the campaign, with

:40:08. > :40:14.everybody rallying behind you and supporting you and in South Belfast

:40:15. > :40:19.we had support from across the island, the Green Party in Scotland,

:40:20. > :40:24.Dublin, Glasgow, they came here to support us and you get energy from

:40:25. > :40:30.that. Thank you, all three of you. Back to Mark. Interesting to see

:40:31. > :40:37.some smiling around the table, people happy. Naomi Long happy to

:40:38. > :40:43.see Chris Lyttle home and dry. The final result for Mid Ulster, Patsy

:40:44. > :40:48.McGlone has taken the fifth seat at the expense of the Ulster Unionist

:40:49. > :40:55.Party's Sandra Overend, she sighed and Patsy McGlone is safe. He was

:40:56. > :41:01.predicting that 40 minutes ago. I want to talk to Fionnuala about a

:41:02. > :41:07.couple of things, about how you read the Sinn Fein and the SDLP result.

:41:08. > :41:13.Is Sinn Fein's result as good as some people are suggesting and the

:41:14. > :41:22.SDLP vote as bad? Sinn Fein's is as good and the SDLP's not as bad. Sinn

:41:23. > :41:25.Fein is masked by the DUP result, which is better than some people

:41:26. > :41:31.thought, it was always going to be very good, they have had more than

:41:32. > :41:36.the odd bad reverse and Arlene Foster clearly has not recovered her

:41:37. > :41:43.equilibria with you guys but Sinn Fein's result has coasted past in

:41:44. > :41:49.the midst of that. Those various trios of successes, which are quite

:41:50. > :41:54.remarkable. Because they are hard to like and so bumptious in so many

:41:55. > :42:00.ways, it is hard for us to give them credit for this. Having said that, I

:42:01. > :42:08.think they got away with murder, oops, must not say that! They got

:42:09. > :42:12.away with some fraud, on a big skill in West Belfast, going out to get

:42:13. > :42:16.People Before Profit on the Brexit issue. By not exerting themselves

:42:17. > :42:24.one bed or spending very much money to combat Brexit. They have knocked

:42:25. > :42:27.People Before Profit back? Eamonn McCann will not keep his seat in

:42:28. > :42:36.Foyle and Gerry Carroll has not done as well. They came out punching, I

:42:37. > :42:40.have to watch my verbs... They came out in strength, saturating

:42:41. > :42:43.doorsteps in West Belfast, to knock the stuffing out of People Before

:42:44. > :42:48.Profit and they did that mainly on the Brexit issue and that was such a

:42:49. > :42:54.fraud because they were not exercised on Brexit, they were like

:42:55. > :42:58.Jeremy Corbyn, and the other fraudulent, of these are fraud in

:42:59. > :43:03.any sense that you need to worry, they would say it is not defamatory,

:43:04. > :43:09.it was on the public enquiry issue... They will bang on about the

:43:10. > :43:14.public enquiry that will examine all of these issues and adjudicate and

:43:15. > :43:18.find the truth. They opposed the public enquiry to the very last

:43:19. > :43:26.minute. You mean smoke and mirrors when you say fraud? More smoke than

:43:27. > :43:29.anything else. And they got away with it because Arlene Foster

:43:30. > :43:34.brought out the vote by being obnoxious and because they mustered

:43:35. > :43:41.themselves and went all for it, hell for leather, and did very well. It

:43:42. > :43:45.is fair to say that Sinn Fein did support the public enquiry quite

:43:46. > :43:50.late on and Mairtin O'Muilleoir but that in place but not long before

:43:51. > :43:54.they were against it? They took their sweet time and we still do not

:43:55. > :43:59.know why. The SDLP did not have as bad a time as they could have and

:44:00. > :44:05.they deserve that, they deserved to have done better because they fought

:44:06. > :44:09.a very good fight in many ways. And it was sad and ironic in some way to

:44:10. > :44:16.see them fighting the good fight with young candidates, having looked

:44:17. > :44:20.grizzled for so long and we mocked them for saying we deserve better

:44:21. > :44:23.than this. They pulled themselves together and they had very good

:44:24. > :44:28.young candidates and Colum Eastwood find his feet and his voice in the

:44:29. > :44:32.last debate he was very good and I have not been impressed by him

:44:33. > :44:37.before that at all. I could see he was a nice fellow, he looked well

:44:38. > :44:42.and sound good but not strong. And partly because problem remains for

:44:43. > :44:48.them, what I therefore? What is their selling point? Nichola

:44:49. > :44:53.Mallon... A very good performer but what are their selling? And they

:44:54. > :45:00.have to find a place to stand, something to be. They went for

:45:01. > :45:05.opposition and that was a mistake. I think. And I can see where they do

:45:06. > :45:09.that, they would dam declared dead and they did not. And they went for

:45:10. > :45:16.that with Mike Nesbitt and he blew it. That is not to say that if he

:45:17. > :45:20.did not blow it it would have worked well, it probably would not have and

:45:21. > :45:24.it was doubtful if he could have sold that to the Ulster Unionists, a

:45:25. > :45:31.party that is unreadable and barely exists as a party. Naomi Long, very

:45:32. > :45:36.quickly, what about where the Alliance Party will be once we get

:45:37. > :45:40.through these talks, if Stormont gets up and running? If you are

:45:41. > :45:45.entitled to a position in the Executive, would you take that? In

:45:46. > :45:51.theory, yes, but in the right count of Executive. What does that mean?

:45:52. > :45:55.We spilled the site in detail last time, we said that if the parties in

:45:56. > :45:58.the Executive were willing to do with getting rid of the petition of

:45:59. > :46:03.concern, in terms of limitations on when it could be used, dealing with

:46:04. > :46:07.integrated education and doing something about that, dealing with

:46:08. > :46:14.division and reinvesting that so we set those five things out clearly.

:46:15. > :46:18.That has not changed? They have not because those things have unpacked

:46:19. > :46:21.this Executive, the scandals were around money being channelled into

:46:22. > :46:26.paramilitary organisations through the Executive, if you look at RHI,

:46:27. > :46:29.the lack of openness and transparency and accountability so

:46:30. > :46:34.all of the issues we were raising... In fact, the anger you see from Sinn

:46:35. > :46:39.Fein in many ways stems from the fact that DUP arrogance was built on

:46:40. > :46:43.the back that they could wipe everybody else out with the petition

:46:44. > :46:46.of concern and for that reason, they will have to be addressed and we

:46:47. > :46:53.will have to see an attitude change. Very quickly, would you be

:46:54. > :46:58.optimistic, and you have listened to a lot of people have said in 12

:46:59. > :47:02.hours, would you be optimistic, seriously, but at the end of this,

:47:03. > :47:06.in weeks or months, the DUP and Sinn Fein, both parties having done

:47:07. > :47:10.pretty well, we'll be able to get things together to work in an

:47:11. > :47:14.Executive, perhaps with the support of the Alliance Party and start

:47:15. > :47:15.moving things forward? Are you optimistic they can back themselves

:47:16. > :47:28.out of the corners they have We have seen them do remarkable

:47:29. > :47:32.u-turns in the past. You mentioned the public inquiry, you could smell

:47:33. > :47:35.the burning rubber as they were making u-turns in the last week to

:47:36. > :47:39.grasp the issue of the public inquiry. When people say it's not

:47:40. > :47:42.going to happen, it's never going to happen, it's a meaningless exercise

:47:43. > :47:46.because five minutes later they're saying the opposite. I think we need

:47:47. > :47:50.to actually park what has been said in the election campaign, accept

:47:51. > :47:53.that some of that was about electioneering and start to move

:47:54. > :47:56.forward. I have to say I hope the DUP have listened carefully to what

:47:57. > :48:00.happened because Sinn Fein did mobilise their vote, no question

:48:01. > :48:05.about that. They did the work on the ground in West Belfast, but the

:48:06. > :48:08.biggest recruiting agent for Sinn Fein in this election was Arlene

:48:09. > :48:13.Foster. Every time she spoke, every time she acted she added fuel to the

:48:14. > :48:17.fire and made it much more easy for Sinn Fein to gain ground in this

:48:18. > :48:20.election than it would have been had she taken a different approach to

:48:21. > :48:24.the election. I think it has backfired tremendously on them and I

:48:25. > :48:28.would reckon there will be more than a few DUP people sitting at home

:48:29. > :48:31.this evening wondering if they could not have handled RHI better and

:48:32. > :48:35.avoided this election altogether. John, I will come to you in a

:48:36. > :48:41.moment. I want to test the waters in some of our count centres and talk

:48:42. > :48:55.first of all to Julian O'Neill in the Lagan Valley. What's happening?

:48:56. > :48:59.Well, I think we are about to get what will be the final declaration

:49:00. > :49:04.for South Down, Mark. I can hear it now. I haven't got the figures but I

:49:05. > :49:10.believe that Colin McGrath of the SDLP has taken the 5th and final

:49:11. > :49:21.seat. That means that there will be two SDLP MLAs elected in South Down

:49:22. > :49:27.with two Sinn Fein MLAs, Sinead Ennis and kriz Hazzard and Jim Wells

:49:28. > :49:32.of the DUP making it five in total. The loser in South Down was Harold

:49:33. > :49:37.McKee of the Ulster Unionists. I hear applause which tells me there

:49:38. > :49:41.is also going to be some action in Lagan Valley, we are one MLA across

:49:42. > :49:46.the line. I am hearing that count, even though one is just across the

:49:47. > :49:50.line, will conclude tonight so a lot of activity in Lagan valley very

:49:51. > :49:58.soon. Thank you very much.

:49:59. > :50:02.Let's hear from Julian Fowler keeping abreast of developments in

:50:03. > :50:06.Omagh. Yes, Fermanagh South Tyrone have

:50:07. > :50:11.packed up and the West Tyrone counters are also going home. Still

:50:12. > :50:22.waiting for the final declaration and the final tally there, but we

:50:23. > :50:28.are expecting three Sinn Fein, to be elected with the DUP's Tom Buchanan

:50:29. > :50:34.and the SDLP's Daniel McCrossan picking up a final seat too. Ulster

:50:35. > :50:41.Unionists will have dropped their seat. Previously held by Ross Hussey

:50:42. > :50:50.who wasn't standing this time, replaced by a new candidate, Alicia

:50:51. > :50:58.Clarke. It looks like they're down one here. Thank you very much.

:50:59. > :51:01.Appreciate that. Let's hear from David Maxwell in

:51:02. > :51:09.Belfast for us at the four Belfast counts at the Titanic Exhibition

:51:10. > :51:13.Centre. Any news? Well, no new news. Nine candidates elected so far. 11

:51:14. > :51:18.still to go. We are halfway through. We expect the rest to come in

:51:19. > :51:23.quickly, especially with regards to East Belfast and North Belfast. Two

:51:24. > :51:26.to eliminate in East Belfast and one to eliminate in North Belfast before

:51:27. > :51:30.we expect to be able to complete those counts. We have been told this

:51:31. > :51:36.count will go on into the night and will be completed tonight. Still

:51:37. > :51:41.interesting stories to be told here. The last seat battle in East Belfast

:51:42. > :51:47.will likely be between Robin Newton, the former Speaker and David

:51:48. > :51:53.Douglas, we expect John Kyle's transfers to decide that and they

:51:54. > :51:59.will be redistributed soon. In South Belfast, again that's fascinating

:52:00. > :52:02.for the last two seats it's going to come down to between Emma

:52:03. > :52:07.Little-Pengelly, Chris Stalford and the Green Party's Clare Bailey. I

:52:08. > :52:12.spoke to Clare, she's confident she can be returned in South Belfast.

:52:13. > :52:16.But the fact remains that Michael Henderson, the UUP's candidate, when

:52:17. > :52:19.he is eliminated, he has 4,000 votes, they'll transfer at full

:52:20. > :52:23.value. They're likely to go to the DUP candidates, so the DUP could

:52:24. > :52:26.potentially return both Emma Little-Pengelly and Christopher

:52:27. > :52:31.Stalford in South Belfast. So, we wait to see that result. Could be

:52:32. > :52:35.dramatic indeed. South Belfast shaping up to be very interesting.

:52:36. > :52:37.Clare Bailey will be hugely disappointed if she doesn't retain

:52:38. > :52:42.that seat. David, thank you very much. Let's go to Bangor, the North

:52:43. > :52:48.Down and Strangford counts happening there. Steven Walker is there. Any

:52:49. > :52:53.white smoke? Yes, here is some figures I would like to share with

:52:54. > :52:59.you. Philip Smith from the Ulster Unionists was eliminated, his votes

:53:00. > :53:08.have been transferred. 934 from Philip Smith have gone to the SDLP's

:53:09. > :53:12.Joe Boyle. 910 to Peter Weir. Joe Boyle is 62 votes ahead, although

:53:13. > :53:17.when they transfer Michelle McIlveen's surplus it looks as if

:53:18. > :53:22.Peter Weir will get other the line. In the final stages here and also in

:53:23. > :53:27.the final stages of North Down. I have been speaking to Steven AgNew

:53:28. > :53:30.Of the Green Party. He hopes there will be a declaration by midnight.

:53:31. > :53:38.The problem is he didn't specify which day.

:53:39. > :53:42.Let's hope it's midnight tonight and not midnight tomorrow. I will not be

:53:43. > :53:49.here at midnight tomorrow, that's for sure. The Green Party scrapping

:53:50. > :53:53.for both of those seats, to be fair, Stephen Agnew is going to get that

:53:54. > :54:01.seat in North Down, but maybe not for a while. Two counts in Foyle.

:54:02. > :54:06.They're both really interesting. Yes, Mark, that's right. The count

:54:07. > :54:09.is continuing apace here in the Foyle Arena for East Londonderry and

:54:10. > :54:16.Foyle. East Londonderry is getting very interesting, more about that in

:54:17. > :54:20.a moment. Clare Sugden, the outgoing justice Minister, has tweeted she's

:54:21. > :54:25.been elected but nothing official yet. We are set to get some

:54:26. > :54:28.announcement at 10pm, so perhaps confirmation of that. Nothing

:54:29. > :54:34.official. It's looking like the DUP could lose a seat down from three to

:54:35. > :54:41.two. The caveat is always that it has to play out. It really is down

:54:42. > :54:49.to the wire. Sinn Fein should retain their existing seat. It's that last

:54:50. > :54:59.seat that's proving very interesting and a great tussle with Sinn Fein

:55:00. > :55:04.with Cathal OhOisin. He could be in the running for a second seat for

:55:05. > :55:09.Sinn Fein. He is battling for that last seat with John Dallat, that

:55:10. > :55:12.veteran SDLP member. He came back to fight this election, brought back by

:55:13. > :55:17.the party. At one stage about two hours ago on the radio he conceded

:55:18. > :55:23.and said that he wouldn't get elected. But there is life there

:55:24. > :55:27.yet, he says. He said a few moments ago that he had written his

:55:28. > :55:33.political obituary too early. All to play for in East Londonderry.

:55:34. > :55:37.You see, the old PR system is a tricky one. Just when you think

:55:38. > :55:42.somebody's down and out, they bounce back up off the canvas again. Thank

:55:43. > :55:48.you very much. Let's talk to Ita in Newtownabbey

:55:49. > :55:54.where counting is completed in the East Antrim and south Antrim

:55:55. > :55:58.constituencies. Yes, indeed. The declarations are just being done

:55:59. > :56:02.here behind me. South Antrim, a battle Royal for those last two

:56:03. > :56:07.seats. Three DUP candidates were slugging it out between the two of

:56:08. > :56:12.them, between themselves. The two successful new MLAs are Paul Girvan

:56:13. > :56:21.and Pam Cameron. Trevor Clarke lost on his seat. South Antrim now is one

:56:22. > :56:25.Sinn Fein, one Ulster Unionist, one Alliance, and two DUP. Two hours

:56:26. > :56:30.earlier it all finished in the East Antrim constituency. The first four

:56:31. > :56:36.announced were all sitting MLAs, Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs begs,

:56:37. > :56:40.alliance Stewart Dickson, the DUP's David Hilditch and Gordon Lyons.

:56:41. > :56:45.Then a surprise, on a day with little good news for the Ulster

:56:46. > :56:50.Unionist party, UUP councillor John Stewart took the last seat there,

:56:51. > :56:55.making it two in East Antrim for the Ulster Unionists. Sinn Fein's Oliver

:56:56. > :56:59.McMullan lost his seat and the DUP dropped down from three to two. So

:57:00. > :57:04.south and East Antrim all done and dusted here at the Valley Leisure

:57:05. > :57:08.Centre. Thank you very much. All done and dusted as well in

:57:09. > :57:13.Banbridge. What's the situation for Upper Bann

:57:14. > :57:18.and Newry and ash mar? Yeah, that's right. We are packing up here in

:57:19. > :57:23.Banbridge. We have had the final declaration from Upper Bann in the

:57:24. > :57:28.last couple of minutes. It finished two DUP, one UUP, one Sinn Fein and

:57:29. > :57:32.one SDLP. That's Dolores Kelly who is delighted to have won back a seat

:57:33. > :57:38.she lost to Sinn Fein back in May 2016. There was a nice moment there

:57:39. > :57:42.in the wrapping up speeches where the candidates give their thanks,

:57:43. > :57:47.Doug Beattie, the Ulster Unionist candidate dedicated his victory to

:57:48. > :57:52.his grandson Cameron who died around the time of the May 2016 election

:57:53. > :57:55.and that was very warmly received by everyone in the room. Turning to

:57:56. > :58:01.Newry and Armagh. It wrapped sometime ago. The big story was the

:58:02. > :58:11.loss of the seat by Danny Kennedy. He said that his seat had been

:58:12. > :58:14.washed away in the away -- we were the last count centre to wrap up

:58:15. > :58:18.last time around. This time we are one of the first for which we will

:58:19. > :58:24.be eternally grateful. Absolutely. Thank you very much.

:58:25. > :58:28.Let's get a look at the state of the parties now with Mark Simpson.

:58:29. > :58:34.It is starting to get really interesting. Around two-thirds of

:58:35. > :58:39.the seats are now filled. The largest party is still Sinn Fein.

:58:40. > :58:43.23 seats. How close are the DUP? Well, they've got 17 at the moment.

:58:44. > :58:47.They got 38 last time. They want at least 30 this time. They look

:58:48. > :58:51.unlikely to get it. What about the other parties? The

:58:52. > :58:55.Ulster Unionists have only nine seats. That's why Mike Nesbitt has

:58:56. > :59:00.quit. On the other side of the chamber, over there, we can see the

:59:01. > :59:04.SDLP have seven seats so far. Speaking of seven seats, the

:59:05. > :59:09.Alliance Party, in contrast, have had a good day, they've seven seats.

:59:10. > :59:13.They only got eight last time. Two more other seats to tell you about,

:59:14. > :59:18.Gerry Carroll from People Before Profit has been returned to Stormont

:59:19. > :59:21.from West Belfast. And the independent Clare Sugdeen is back.

:59:22. > :59:26.Those are the scores on the doors at the moment. All eyes on the front of

:59:27. > :59:32.the chamber to see if the DUP can overtake Sinn Fein or could it even

:59:33. > :59:39.be a draw? 28-28? We will have to wait and see. We will, thank you

:59:40. > :59:42.very much. A quick word from John, what do you make of where we are and

:59:43. > :59:46.particularly as far as the Ulster Unionists are concerned, there is

:59:47. > :59:52.good news and bad news? That's the one gain, the Ulster Unionists have

:59:53. > :59:57.had in East Antrim. It's the one bit of good news. The rest is pretty

:59:58. > :00:03.grim. Holding on to Fermanagh South Tyrone was good news at the expense

:00:04. > :00:08.of Lord Morrow, it's obviously difficult for any party losing

:00:09. > :00:11.people. But some of those seats, but losing across the board losing

:00:12. > :00:15.people like Danny Kennedy, a disaster. And their party leader, as

:00:16. > :00:19.well. We will come back and talk to you later. For now, thank you very

:00:20. > :00:24.much. That's it from us for now. We have had some shocks and surprises

:00:25. > :00:28.through the day. The biggest casualty, curiously wasn't someone

:00:29. > :00:33.who lost a seat, it was the Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt, he

:00:34. > :00:36.fell on his sword at 8pm this evening saying he failed to

:00:37. > :00:42.breakthrough and eat into the DUP vote. Despite the DUP success, the

:00:43. > :00:45.partied did lose big names, Lord Morrow and of course Nelson

:00:46. > :00:49.McCausland in North Belfast. Other big names taking a hit, the Ulster

:00:50. > :00:53.Unionist Danny Kennedy, mentioned there by John. People Before

:00:54. > :00:56.Profit's Eamonn McCann. He said he was out, might not be out but it

:00:57. > :01:00.looks like he is in a scrap for that last seat. And, of course, the

:01:01. > :01:08.SDLP's Alex Attwood in West Belfast. However, there was good news for

:01:09. > :01:11.Colum Eastwood with the political resurrection of Dolores Kelly. Sinn

:01:12. > :01:15.Fein and the DUP will be the two largest parties with Arlene Foster

:01:16. > :01:17.and Michelle O'Neill topping the poll in their own constituencies. We

:01:18. > :01:21.are back at 10. 30pm. For now, bye. but the vast majority of people

:01:22. > :01:27.in Northern Ireland Being a Muslim makes

:01:28. > :01:36.everything easier for me.