:00:30. > :00:36.Hello and welcome to Vote 2014. We are here on BBC One with full
:00:37. > :00:41.coverage of the results as they come in for the new 11 super councils.
:00:42. > :00:47.This evening, as you can see, counting is underway. It has been
:00:48. > :00:54.going on for hours and our reporters are at all 11 count centres and they
:00:55. > :00:56.will be bringing us the story. The new councils are starting to take
:00:57. > :01:01.shape and over the course of the next year they will have a big
:01:02. > :01:06.influence. That is because the current councillors will continue in
:01:07. > :01:09.the 26 councils you are familiar with. The votes will elect
:01:10. > :01:14.councillors to the new super councils and this is what they will
:01:15. > :01:19.look like. They will will be bigger, but will operate in shadow form
:01:20. > :01:24.before taking over from the old councils next April. We will explain
:01:25. > :01:47.more later and to help us make sense of it, we are joined by our
:01:48. > :01:50.analysts. Elections are about results and we will have all of them
:01:51. > :01:52.here. Are staff are busy checking the numbers. Quite a few councillors
:01:53. > :01:55.have been elected already. This is the current state of the parties.
:01:56. > :01:59.The DUP have 34 seats, Sinn Fein 28, Ulster Unionist 27, the Alliance
:02:00. > :02:04.Party has seven, Independents have three and the TUV have three seats.
:02:05. > :02:07.Results are about winners and losers and we will hear about the
:02:08. > :02:10.performance of the big parties and the well-known characters and we
:02:11. > :02:14.will hear about those who are getting a taste of the electoral
:02:15. > :02:20.battle for the first time. The newest party, N121, has had an
:02:21. > :02:25.eventful first outing with the virtual civil war breaking out on
:02:26. > :02:29.the E of polling. More on that later. With me are politicians,
:02:30. > :02:35.party strategists and pundits to help us pick our way through the
:02:36. > :02:40.emerging political landscape. I'd at the count centres, we will be
:02:41. > :02:44.hearing from politicians and our reporters are queueing up to tell
:02:45. > :02:46.their stories. Let us build a picture at some of the counts,
:02:47. > :02:56.starting with the biggest, Belfast City Council, where Gareth Gordon
:02:57. > :03:03.joins us. Here at the City Hall, we have elected ten councillors. Half
:03:04. > :03:07.of those elected are members of Sinn Fein, including the Lord Mayor who
:03:08. > :03:13.beat Clare Hanna of the SDLP in Balmoral by one vote. He was the
:03:14. > :03:26.first person elected here. Among the others are elected is the husband of
:03:27. > :03:32.my only long. She said that the expected meltdown of the Alliance
:03:33. > :03:47.was not happening. Other selected include Billy Hutchinson and Jerry
:03:48. > :03:51.Cala. He is from their people before profit and Alliance. He heckled the
:03:52. > :04:00.UKIP leader Nigel Farage on his recent visit to Belfast. Here are
:04:01. > :04:07.the count is underway for the new Dorset Strabane Council. The results
:04:08. > :04:13.are coming in now. Four people have been elected so far. First elected
:04:14. > :04:18.was Angela Dobbins from the SDLP followed by Sandra Duffy who topped
:04:19. > :04:24.the poll for Sinn Fein. A former Mayor of the city has also been
:04:25. > :04:31.elected and another Sinn Fein member. The story so far has been
:04:32. > :04:37.the case that this is Independence Day in Dorset. Independents are
:04:38. > :04:45.doing well. D Quigley, a community worker, wants to have a detox centre
:04:46. > :04:51.for Dorset and he has got a lot of support. He is 62 votes off getting
:04:52. > :04:56.elected. The SDLP look like the biggest losers. They were hoping to
:04:57. > :05:00.get 13 seats, but the estimate has been lowered to ten. The top
:05:01. > :05:07.political party will be Sinn Fein and they are on course for 16 seats.
:05:08. > :05:14.Not much change in unionism, we expect the DUP to get eight seats.
:05:15. > :05:23.It is a big day for the Independents, keep an eye on Gary
:05:24. > :05:30.Donnelly, he is polling strongly. In the last few moments, Mark Durkan
:05:31. > :05:37.told the BBC that this is a bad day for the SDLP in Dorset. Who would
:05:38. > :05:47.have thought that, this was once the heartland of John Hume? Counting
:05:48. > :05:51.continues here in Coleraine. It is all about change. The PUP polled
:05:52. > :06:05.well, capturing the attention of many. Christopher McCourt from N121
:06:06. > :06:10.was eliminated and he says his chances were torpedoed by the events
:06:11. > :06:16.of the last 48 hours. He said he would be resigning from the party.
:06:17. > :06:21.In Ballymoney, Charles Pappy O'Kane has been eliminated, he had been an
:06:22. > :06:27.SDLP councillor, but he had router with his party and stood as an
:06:28. > :06:31.Independent. His bulk-macro may stop other SDLP candidates from being
:06:32. > :06:38.elected. The first Alliance councillor has been elected. The DUP
:06:39. > :06:43.have three councillors elected already. Counting has been slow so
:06:44. > :06:50.far. Four more areas to be counted tomorrow. Here in Lisburn and
:06:51. > :06:56.Castlereagh, most of the staff have gone home, except for one area which
:06:57. > :07:03.is continuing. They have gone through this like a hot knife
:07:04. > :07:08.through butter. The DUP have ten seats, the Ulster Unionists have
:07:09. > :07:14.four, Alliance have two, the SDLP one and the TUV one. Jeffrey
:07:15. > :07:19.Donaldson says that his party are on course for the 20 seats which they
:07:20. > :07:27.have targeted at the moment. Pat Catney of the SDLP was elected a
:07:28. > :07:35.short time ago. He pepped the Sinn Fein candidate Mary Jane Quinn to
:07:36. > :07:44.the post. Spare a thought for Alec Swann, he was excluded after missing
:07:45. > :07:50.out by not .56 of a vote. Let us look at some of the details. We will
:07:51. > :07:56.look at Belfast. Sinn Fein are topping the poll. We were expecting
:07:57. > :08:00.them to be the biggest group. There have been various boundary changes,
:08:01. > :08:09.but it does not change the overall position in Belfast. We are
:08:10. > :08:19.expecting it to be at them as an interesting turn out with the Mayor.
:08:20. > :08:26.You might not recognise those initials, that is people before
:08:27. > :08:35.profit. -- People Before Profit Alliance. Let us look at Balmoral
:08:36. > :08:42.DEA. It is interesting what happened. People Before Profit
:08:43. > :08:51.Alliance have been in the picture. They did not too badly in the
:08:52. > :08:59.Westminster election. -- do badly. Now they have managed to push
:09:00. > :09:08.through and get a seat. Gerry Carroll at the expense of Jim
:09:09. > :09:15.Atwood. The SDLP has shed seats. That will be a disappointing
:09:16. > :09:21.results. Let us look at Balmoral. No surprise for who topped the poll.
:09:22. > :09:33.The Mayor of Belfast topped the poll. He only beat Clare Hanna by
:09:34. > :09:39.one vote. There is a story behind the one vote, because at one point,
:09:40. > :09:49.batters had been made up of 100 votes. Then they got verified as the
:09:50. > :09:53.count continued, but one of these batches contained 101 votes and they
:09:54. > :09:57.discovered this during the course of the count and that was the one-vote
:09:58. > :10:01.that made all the difference to Mairtin O Muilleoior. He got
:10:02. > :10:07.through, Clare Hanna did respectably given that she is a had a running
:10:08. > :10:13.mate. Let us move on to Dorset Strabane. There were problems for
:10:14. > :10:18.the SDLP. It seems that the SDLP who were once dominant in this corner of
:10:19. > :10:23.Northern Ireland, that is no longer the case. Independents are doing
:10:24. > :10:31.well in Dorset, at the expense of the SDLP. Trailing down into that
:10:32. > :10:37.DEA, that is one of the areas of change. Sinn Fein are likely to have
:10:38. > :10:46.three councillors elected in that area. This has been one of the most
:10:47. > :10:51.controversial areas. On this ballot paper was Jimmy Carr, not the
:10:52. > :10:58.comedian, but an SDLP candidate and has a big controversy, because that
:10:59. > :11:06.was an estimate -- an investigation into him. The SDLP withdrew support
:11:07. > :11:10.for him. He has got 605 first preference votes. He was so annoyed
:11:11. > :11:15.by the way the SDLP handle that, that he with true. It was going to
:11:16. > :11:32.be difficult for the STL in. # grow with true. -- SDLP. I joined by a
:11:33. > :11:38.selection of well-known political figures, Jeffrey Donaldson, Robbyn
:11:39. > :11:57.Swan, Alex Mass gay and Stephen Farid. -- Alex Maskey. You think
:11:58. > :12:03.you're well on your way to the target you have set for yourselves
:12:04. > :12:07.in your stomping ground of Lisburn and Castlereagh? We are very pleased
:12:08. > :12:12.with the results in Lisburn and Castlereagh. In all the areas, we
:12:13. > :12:16.have come out on top. We are on course to be the largest party and
:12:17. > :12:25.also we are in with a shout of taking control of back council. That
:12:26. > :12:31.will repent on the results which have yet to come, -- that counsel.
:12:32. > :12:34.The 21st seat is critical. You reckon you're on your way to your
:12:35. > :12:41.target of 20. That would not give you overall control. It is
:12:42. > :12:48.important, but 20 would give you effectively control. We are pleased
:12:49. > :12:52.with the way we have been polling across all of the areas. We have
:12:53. > :12:59.some new candidate standing and they have polled well. I think that
:13:00. > :13:05.overall, on that counsel, unionism has come out quite strongly and in
:13:06. > :13:11.fact, the turn-up -- turnout is up slightly. Alex Maskey are you
:13:12. > :13:19.pleased with the way things are looking for Sinn Fein. Let us talk
:13:20. > :13:24.about Balmoral. Mairtin O Muilleoior topped the poll, but I suppose he
:13:25. > :13:30.did not have a running mate and he is the Lord Mayor. Did its apprise
:13:31. > :13:35.you that he came out on top? Mairtin O Muilleoior has been doing a lot of
:13:36. > :13:42.hard work. I think everyone has agreed, he has done a tremendous
:13:43. > :13:45.job. He has been working hard in the constituency and I think what is
:13:46. > :13:51.telling about this result, it was not that long ago we did not have a
:13:52. > :13:57.seat at all in Balmoral. How did that come about? Did Sinn Fein get a
:13:58. > :14:03.bigger vote out ordered people who were not natural Sinn Fein voters
:14:04. > :14:10.express her preference for Mairtin O Muilleoior because they think of him
:14:11. > :14:15.as a significant political figure? Obviously, the profile he had as
:14:16. > :14:21.Lord Mayor would have helped, there is no doubt about that. Mairtin O
:14:22. > :14:29.Muilleoior is part of Team Sinn Fein. We have been putting ourselves
:14:30. > :14:33.forward to the electorate, saying we have a clear message that anti
:14:34. > :14:38.austerity measures have to be introduced by all the parties. That
:14:39. > :14:41.is coming across clearly. If you look at Mairtin O Muilleoior and all
:14:42. > :14:45.of our candidates who have been elected so far and the number of
:14:46. > :14:51.people who are sitting ready to be elected, it tells me that our vote
:14:52. > :14:55.is consolidating, it is expanding in all those areas. Does it tell you
:14:56. > :15:03.something about the power of social media? I want to make it clear,
:15:04. > :15:08.Mairtin O Muilleoior has done a tremendous job. That is why we put
:15:09. > :15:22.him forward. When you look at other party representatives, we have new
:15:23. > :15:26.people, so people see Sinn Fein putting forward people who are
:15:27. > :15:30.credible and hard working and we have a clear brand and a clear
:15:31. > :15:34.message about equality, about anti-austerity and they see that
:15:35. > :15:39.being driven across the island. People are voting for a party which
:15:40. > :15:48.has a track record of standing on a clear message. Others who have lost
:15:49. > :15:51.ground, or doing so because they do not know what they are standing for.
:15:52. > :15:57.Stephen, is your party happy? Things are looking promising for us. There
:15:58. > :16:06.has been a lot of speculation that this would be a difficult election.
:16:07. > :16:14.Some of our best areas still have to count. Belfast is a symbolic counsel
:16:15. > :16:21.for us. At this stage, it looks as though we will have eight seats on
:16:22. > :16:38.the new council. Michael Long topped the poll in his DEA. What does that
:16:39. > :16:43.tell us about the flags issue? We are growing in Belfast, it is a
:16:44. > :16:50.good, strong area for us. It is a reflection of the fact Belfast is
:16:51. > :16:55.very diverse, shared city. People have rallied to our cause because of
:16:56. > :16:59.the constructive stance we have taken.
:17:00. > :17:02.28 seats for the Ulster Unionist Party, relatively comfortable at
:17:03. > :17:16.this early stage will stop we are very encouraged. It is the challenge
:17:17. > :17:21.getting people out there to vote. We have had very encouraging results,
:17:22. > :17:32.eight of our candidates elected to date who have topped the poll. John
:17:33. > :17:38.Stewart in Caritas or East Antrim. Have you arrested your decline? We
:17:39. > :17:45.have, we are on our way back. That is a production stop clear signs of
:17:46. > :17:49.growth. -- that is a prediction. We will talk to you again. Let's
:17:50. > :17:55.hear from some more of our reporters, thirsty Banbridge where
:17:56. > :17:59.Maggie Taggart has the latest on a former big-name ODB.
:18:00. > :18:04.I am at the Council which has been dubbed the ABC, Armagh Banbridge and
:18:05. > :18:10.Craigavon. It is the biggest new council after Belfast, a G3
:18:11. > :18:18.candidates fighting for 41 seats -- 83 handed it. Of the stories to
:18:19. > :18:22.tell, the first person to be elected was a young man, Jonathan Buckley,
:18:23. > :18:25.from the D U P, still a Queens University student, 22, he did his
:18:26. > :18:32.dissertation for his finals this year. The now independent councillor
:18:33. > :18:37.Paul Berry who is pleased he has increased his vote by 50% since last
:18:38. > :18:40.time. A spanner in the works for the Ulster Unionist Party with the Army
:18:41. > :18:47.Captain Doug Beattie who has done very well, but perhaps is posing a
:18:48. > :18:54.threat to his running mate, who is struggling. He is a threat. All
:18:55. > :18:58.sitting councillors so far, the one that have been elected, and we at
:18:59. > :19:05.expecting this council to be Unionist dominated in the end.
:19:06. > :19:11.Here in Fermanagh and Emma we have had six Sinn Fein councillors
:19:12. > :19:14.elected, they are set to form the largest party on this new council.
:19:15. > :19:21.The Ulster Unionist Party also done well, they have five councillors so
:19:22. > :19:26.far topping the poll for the first time in mid to Rome. One Independent
:19:27. > :19:33.has also been elected in and West. The race in the towns of Enniskillen
:19:34. > :19:38.looks quite tight. 30 candidates vying for five seats. An
:19:39. > :19:43.anti-fracking candidate has bowled very well, he will be looking for
:19:44. > :19:48.transfers in order to get elected. The TUV have also polled very well
:19:49. > :19:50.in Enniskillen, they were campaigning against the closure or
:19:51. > :19:56.the amalgamation of the collegiate grammar school with the Royal School
:19:57. > :20:01.and looks like they have picked up votes on that issue. The votes in
:20:02. > :20:15.Goma and Enniskillen will not begin until tomorrow. -- Omagh.
:20:16. > :20:18.Three quarters of the seats will go to Unionist candidates, it is the
:20:19. > :20:24.exact breakdown that we are waiting to hear. There have been two UUP
:20:25. > :20:31.candidates returned, one Sinn Fein, one DUP. Interesting story of the
:20:32. > :20:39.afternoon, Timothy Gaston of the TUV topping the poll, Jim Allister, the
:20:40. > :20:44.party leader, says that is an important psychological victory
:20:45. > :20:50.because DUP consider it to be their Hartland and his running mate is not
:20:51. > :20:54.very far short of achieving the equator and being elected there.
:20:55. > :20:58.Also most of the interesting story seemed to have come from downside
:20:59. > :21:04.this afternoon. Sinn Fein have returned Patrice Hardy, she must be
:21:05. > :21:10.one of the youngest candidates, just 23-year-old schoolteacher. She has
:21:11. > :21:13.been returned this afternoon, taking the seat from the first Sinn Fein
:21:14. > :21:23.councillor in Ballymena. We are looking out for independents. None
:21:24. > :21:29.so far, but early days. Where better to stage the stage for
:21:30. > :21:35.super council ban in a super-sized sports arena. It is one of the
:21:36. > :21:41.biggest of its type in Europe. We kicked off around lunchtime, we have
:21:42. > :21:50.elected 23 new councillors to the 40 strong super council. Really from a
:21:51. > :22:01.Unionist point of view probably the juiciest of the seven district is
:22:02. > :22:07.Bokko Valley, . No surprises about the biggest party, Sinn Fein have
:22:08. > :22:11.got 13 councillors elected, they are aiming for 18, making them the
:22:12. > :22:17.biggest party by far, all the parties see fairly chipper. You see
:22:18. > :22:21.the glass as half full, the GEP have got three elected, aiming for seven
:22:22. > :22:24.seats. The Ulster Unionist Party they have stopped the rot. They have
:22:25. > :22:29.got four elected again, they are hoping for six or seven seats. The
:22:30. > :22:34.SDLP, they have got to elected so far, they are relying on quite a few
:22:35. > :22:38.transfers, they are aiming for around six. The TUV came within XT
:22:39. > :22:44.votes of getting a councillor elected, and we have had one
:22:45. > :22:49.Independent Nationalist who topped the poll in Dungannon itself will
:22:50. > :22:53.stop turnout has been high, particularly in rural areas will
:22:54. > :23:04.stop 23 elected. 17 to go. We might get this cloud wrapped up by
:23:05. > :23:15.midnight. -- this count. I am joined by Mark Duggan. Good
:23:16. > :23:21.evening. -- Durcan. It was a bad day for the SDLP in
:23:22. > :23:27.Derry. You are disappointed with your turnout, you have revised your
:23:28. > :23:35.target downwards? I was asked if it was a bad day, a
:23:36. > :23:38.disappointing day. First of all we appreciate the mandate that we still
:23:39. > :23:46.have here today and obviously there were some difficulties but we still
:23:47. > :23:50.have a strong mandate here in Derry. We also respect the votes other
:23:51. > :23:53.people got, not least some strong campaigns by independent candidates
:23:54. > :23:57.focused on strong local issues. People have the right to use a local
:23:58. > :24:02.democratic election to channel and to challenge. That is what has
:24:03. > :24:06.happened here so we respect that. We also have to hear the message from
:24:07. > :24:10.the many people who didn't vote and the people who are telling us they
:24:11. > :24:13.want voting because they are fed up, frustrated, they think Stormont
:24:14. > :24:17.isn't delivering, they are not sure their boat is going to be any
:24:18. > :24:20.different. We have to work hard on the problems that matter to them and
:24:21. > :24:33.work with the other parties on the new council in doing that.
:24:34. > :24:43.You reckon you end up with ten seats rather than the 13 year had been
:24:44. > :24:45.hopeful of getting. . We are certainly not coming out with a
:24:46. > :24:50.number of seats between the two councils. You must be disappointed,
:24:51. > :24:54.if it is a tussle, that's always been a tussle between Sinn Fein and
:24:55. > :25:02.the SDLP and the Northwest, it is John Higgins's all constituency you
:25:03. > :25:08.are a former party leader, what does it say about the state of the SDLP
:25:09. > :25:13.if Sinn Fein is edging ahead in the way you seem to be conceding it is?
:25:14. > :25:19.The overall edging ahead is because of the new council constructs, the
:25:20. > :25:22.boundary, it was going to be, they would have taken an absolute
:25:23. > :25:28.landslide to create a situation with the SDLP would have been the largest
:25:29. > :25:33.party on the council, that was meant to be impossible so we always knew
:25:34. > :25:35.we wouldn't be, it is one of the reasons why the boundaries were
:25:36. > :25:41.drawn the weight they were drawn, in our view. We still have a strong
:25:42. > :25:45.mandate here, we need to concentrate on delivering on the issues that we
:25:46. > :25:51.campaigned on and we worked on and we know people are frustrated by the
:25:52. > :25:54.lack of delivery they see, particularly from Stormont people,
:25:55. > :25:59.frustrated about what has happened in terms of the roads investment,
:26:00. > :26:01.people are first rated about what is not happening in relation to
:26:02. > :26:06.university expansion, people are very annoyed about the lack of the
:26:07. > :26:11.development based on Project Kelvin with the enterprise centre going to
:26:12. > :26:18.Coleraine. Those are the sort of issues we were hearing on the
:26:19. > :26:23.doorsteps as reasons why people felt they had as much point in not
:26:24. > :26:28.putting as voting and they were saying the fact we were as
:26:29. > :26:32.frustrated as they were, didn't make that different. We just have to work
:26:33. > :26:36.harder, respect those who voted for others, we absolutely respect and
:26:37. > :26:39.appreciate those who voted for us and we also take the message from
:26:40. > :26:43.those who didn't. What is this new council going to be
:26:44. > :26:52.called? I don't want to get into this. I
:26:53. > :26:56.know the working title is Derry City and Strabane district and people in
:26:57. > :27:01.Derry won to see the name Derry City in that new council title. That is
:27:02. > :27:08.what people want to see and no doubt people in Strabane wanted. The main
:27:09. > :27:14.thing is make sure that people create a success and not spend their
:27:15. > :27:17.time obsessing on its name. Let's have some of the facts and
:27:18. > :27:21.figures, let's look at Lisburn and Castlereagh. One of the council
:27:22. > :27:31.areas people are not that happy about, going together. Do PR and
:27:32. > :27:36.ten. -- DUP on ten. They were always going to be dominant. This is a
:27:37. > :27:44.horseshoe. The joke that has been made is Lisburn was given city
:27:45. > :27:46.status and they will have to extend it to the full horseshoe so that
:27:47. > :27:49.when you drive into Dundonald you will be entering the city of Lisburn
:27:50. > :27:57.which will be a new experience for people around there. The Ulster
:27:58. > :28:03.Unionist Party returned for. In the old castle Rabia Lyons was a growing
:28:04. > :28:06.force but they are up against a strong Unionist group -- the old
:28:07. > :28:15.Castlereagh, the alliance was a growing force. But that may benefit
:28:16. > :28:20.in Belfast. Alliance has lost some of its key voting areas. It has
:28:21. > :28:27.benefited over the other side of the border in Belfast.
:28:28. > :28:34.Parts of Lisburn don't come out to vote, will that have any influence?
:28:35. > :28:42.So far we have just seen the SDLP getting one person in there. A
:28:43. > :28:47.publican from Belfast. Retired now, working for the SDLP full top quite
:28:48. > :28:51.a close race between him and Sinn Fein. Let's look at Castlereagh
:28:52. > :28:59.East. Some of the personalities here. Again for the TUV.
:29:00. > :29:07.Lisburn and Castlereagh was one of the councils where on a good day
:29:08. > :29:19.with the wind in their sales the DUP could have had an overall majority.
:29:20. > :29:24.They haven't got the fourth seat, it has gone to the TUV. The Ulster
:29:25. > :29:34.Unionist Party in there as well. Alliance could have been looking at
:29:35. > :29:40.is separate seat as well. 40% of the old Castlereagh Council has gone
:29:41. > :29:43.into Belfast. Pretty close that at this stage but
:29:44. > :29:50.it is still early days. Another strong Unionist area with
:29:51. > :29:56.the DUP in the legal stop Alliance holding up reasonably well. It was
:29:57. > :30:05.always expected to be a strong Unionist Council.
:30:06. > :30:09.TUV, seeing them do quite well full top --. We will have to see how this
:30:10. > :30:12.translates into the European election, we would expect Jim
:30:13. > :30:16.Allister to perform fairly well on the basis of these figures because
:30:17. > :30:22.he is beginning to make inroads in a whole range of different areas.
:30:23. > :30:25.TUV is the one party we are seeing consistently making gains but from a
:30:26. > :30:34.small base, converting from a micro-party, into a small party for
:30:35. > :30:40.stop let's have a look at one of the DEAs Baverstock there is a name that
:30:41. > :30:43.comes up time and time again. Fraser has been around as long as
:30:44. > :30:48.there has been politics in Northern Ireland. He has got a strong
:30:49. > :30:53.personal boat. You can see it in the way is split between those two
:30:54. > :30:59.parties in terms of his transfers. He was well ahead of the field. If
:31:00. > :31:02.an election is a drama, some of these people have been involved in a
:31:03. > :31:07.bit of a drama in the not too recent past. This is the area where we have
:31:08. > :31:10.the ball -- the whole business about the reduced Shakespeare 's company
:31:11. > :31:17.and a number of councillors taking against it. William Ball was one of
:31:18. > :31:21.the main people who thought it was a bad thing that they should go on,
:31:22. > :31:24.making a mockery of Christianity for stop the voters haven't punished
:31:25. > :31:30.him, he has got elected their dog one of his colleagues in different
:31:31. > :31:34.area, the former deputy mayor, has been put out. She was one of the
:31:35. > :31:48.members of the DUP who thought we shouldn't be banning a play.
:31:49. > :31:58.Fiercely, Gary Grattan stood for N121, he has been eliminated --
:31:59. > :32:03.obviously. He did pretty well. But he admitted earlier today that he
:32:04. > :32:07.first found out about the business of re-designation from someone he
:32:08. > :32:15.was canvassing. That is the kind of chaos they were in. Thank you. Let
:32:16. > :32:23.us go out and about and talk to Gregory Campbell from the DUP. He
:32:24. > :32:36.joins us from Coleraine. That is in the heart of the new causeway Coast
:32:37. > :32:43.council. -- Causeway. How do you think the new super council holds
:32:44. > :32:51.together, it is the second largest? Do you think it will work? I think
:32:52. > :32:57.all of the new councils are going to be a work in progress in the course
:32:58. > :33:00.of the first year. I would imagine the first six months, new
:33:01. > :33:07.councillors, who have not stood before we'll be finding their feet.
:33:08. > :33:12.I think the phasing in period is a good idea. Let us get the count is
:33:13. > :33:19.finished and give them time to work. I think people want to see slimmed
:33:20. > :33:26.down governments. It is early days, we have a few returns for that
:33:27. > :33:33.particular area. Three DUP councillors, is that correct? Yes.
:33:34. > :33:41.Relatively comfortable with where you are? Yes, we have been adopting
:33:42. > :33:46.vote management and that means we try and spread the votes. It means
:33:47. > :33:51.that most of our candidates will not get elected until later counts, it
:33:52. > :33:58.is about where we thought it would be and we are polling particularly
:33:59. > :34:10.strongly in some areas. The PUP has done well in Coleraine. How do you
:34:11. > :34:13.feel about that? Yes, that's candidate had stood as an
:34:14. > :34:19.Independent before and polled well and with the change in boundaries,
:34:20. > :34:26.bringing in large sections of what previously was Coleraine East, he
:34:27. > :34:31.has polled well from those areas. He got 701st preference votes, but we
:34:32. > :34:41.have over 2000. We are pleased with our performance -- 71st preference
:34:42. > :34:50.votes. Thank you for joining us. We have been joined by the leader of
:34:51. > :34:54.the SDLP. Good evening. We were talking to Mark Durkan who said he
:34:55. > :35:00.was disappointed with the performance of the party in Derry.
:35:01. > :35:06.You have informally revised your target down from 13 seats to ten in
:35:07. > :35:16.Derry and Strabane. Are you disappointed? I do not fully have
:35:17. > :35:22.the information. I am quite confident that overall bout we will
:35:23. > :35:28.do well and I am satisfied with the SDLP performance and while we may
:35:29. > :35:34.have a loss in one area, we could make it up and I am confident of an
:35:35. > :35:50.extra seat in Strabane and an extra seat in Fermanagh and in Omagh. We
:35:51. > :35:54.have had a big challenge, a lot of retirements, but we have a new
:35:55. > :36:01.ticket of candidate and a strong ticket of women candidates and an
:36:02. > :36:06.number of those people are coming through robustly and with
:36:07. > :36:10.significantly increased votes, there are people like Laura Devlin, like
:36:11. > :36:17.Stephanie Quigley in Coleraine and various other candidates. What about
:36:18. > :36:22.the other side of the equation? Tim Attwood, who is an outgoing
:36:23. > :36:27.councillor and very well known in west Belfast, we gather he is
:36:28. > :36:37.struggling in Blackmountain? Tim Attwood will be elected. He will be
:36:38. > :36:44.elected. He did not do as well as you had perhaps hoped he would? Were
:36:45. > :36:52.you surprised by the performance of Gerry Carroll? Tim Attwood has
:36:53. > :37:00.worked very hard. I am content with that. What is your assessment of
:37:01. > :37:10.that situation? Orang outsider has come in and done extremely well,
:37:11. > :37:15.seemingly out of nowhere -- a rank outsider. There is a lot of
:37:16. > :37:20.discontent about jobs and the economy and the health service and
:37:21. > :37:30.education. Basically, people are expressing that discontent. Is the
:37:31. > :37:38.boat a protest vote? -- vote. It might well be. Welfare reform is
:37:39. > :37:46.very difficult. We have taken a top line against welfare reform and we
:37:47. > :37:50.will continue to do that. Sometimes, with our involvement in the City
:37:51. > :37:55.Hall or Stormont, regardless of what we might do on welfare reform, you
:37:56. > :38:01.are tarred with the brush of the establishment. You're confident that
:38:02. > :38:08.Tim Attwood will take that seat? Gerry Carroll for People Before
:38:09. > :38:15.Profit Alliance will also be in? I do not know who will lose a seat.
:38:16. > :38:21.There are seven seats. Alex Maskey, what are your thoughts? Were use a
:38:22. > :38:30.prized by the performance of Gerry Carroll? -- where you surprised.
:38:31. > :38:36.Gerry Carroll has performed very well in previous elections. He has
:38:37. > :38:42.done some work in the constituency. What is very clear within the
:38:43. > :38:47.broader nationalist community, it appears to be given a strong mandate
:38:48. > :38:54.to Sinn Fein, that is because we have been clear about the need for a
:38:55. > :38:58.quality across the, we need to oppose welfare reform, other
:38:59. > :39:09.Independents are being collected on similar stances. As Sinn Fein going
:39:10. > :39:16.to lose a seat? We are in the mix for six seats. These last seats will
:39:17. > :39:21.come down to small margins. You are in the mix for six and Gerry Carroll
:39:22. > :39:26.has been elected and that would mean that Tim Attwood will not get that
:39:27. > :39:33.seat, then? He may not get the seat, because we are in the mix for
:39:34. > :39:39.six seats. We work the area and know the area and are from the area. We
:39:40. > :39:44.have managed to be able to manage that successfully. The last seats
:39:45. > :39:48.will come down to small margins. There is a clear message, the
:39:49. > :39:54.electorate is telling us that they want the party to deliver a quality
:39:55. > :39:58.and stop the cuts. Any party which is wavering on that agenda are
:39:59. > :40:04.paying the price. Jeffrey Donaldson, what do you make of some
:40:05. > :40:14.independence, some smaller parties, apparently at this early stage,
:40:15. > :40:22.doing quite well? The bigger parties, because of transfer votes
:40:23. > :40:26.can pick up votes at the end. Quite a lot of Independents are performing
:40:27. > :40:32.well? Were you surprised to see Gerry Carroll win that seat? Given
:40:33. > :40:36.that these are new councils, it is a new testing ground. There is a
:40:37. > :40:39.larger electorate. There is the prospect of people coming from an
:40:40. > :40:45.Independent background doing better, certainly on first counts,
:40:46. > :40:50.where the bigger parties engage in vote management. They spread the
:40:51. > :40:54.vote across three or four candidates. It is healthy for
:40:55. > :41:02.democracy that we get Independent voices. The one thing that I would
:41:03. > :41:07.say so far is that on the Unionist side, I think a clear message coming
:41:08. > :41:12.across is that there are too many Unionist parties. The Unionist vote
:41:13. > :41:16.is spreading to then. That is resulting in some areas,
:41:17. > :41:23.particularly in the west of the Province, where we are losing out.
:41:24. > :41:33.Stephen Farrow, North Down is your home turf and that is the absolute
:41:34. > :41:42.home kingdom of the Independent -- Stephen Farry. This is a rough year.
:41:43. > :41:57.We have had other collections: Siding. -- we have had other
:41:58. > :42:02.elections alongside each other. Is it healthy for democracy? It is a
:42:03. > :42:07.challenge to all of us. It is healthy, we have to listen to what
:42:08. > :42:11.people are saying and reflect upon the message. There is frustration
:42:12. > :42:15.about what is happening in the Assembly and after this election,
:42:16. > :42:23.serious decisions will have to be taken to make progress on a whole
:42:24. > :42:30.host of issues. Thank you. To our reporters in the count centres. We
:42:31. > :42:42.join Ciara Riddell in the Valley Leisure Centre. We had our first
:42:43. > :42:47.result just before 2pm and that was Nigel Kells from the DUP. He was
:42:48. > :42:54.elected into Antrim. Since then, results have been coming in fast.
:42:55. > :42:58.Four counts have been going on here and out of those, three have been
:42:59. > :43:07.completed. We are waiting for two more seats in the last one. I heard
:43:08. > :43:12.Mark Devenport say that the deputy mayor of Newtownabbey Council had
:43:13. > :43:18.lost her seat. Brian Graham from Antrim and who was the deputy may
:43:19. > :43:25.also lost his seat. There are winners as well. As Sinn Fein
:43:26. > :43:32.councillor topped the poll in one area, but running colleague lost out
:43:33. > :43:42.to BST LP. The Ulster Unionists have been polling well. -- SDLP. Alliance
:43:43. > :43:46.are disappointed, they say that the boundaries have meant they have lost
:43:47. > :43:51.out slightly and they think they might take five seats in total
:43:52. > :43:57.rather than the six they were hoping for. Lots of winners and losers,
:43:58. > :44:02.Fraser I knew, one of the oldest councillors from Newtownabbey and
:44:03. > :44:21.Mervyn Ray have both been elected back in -- Fraser Agnew. Counting is
:44:22. > :44:25.continuing. It will go on tomorrow. We had the distinction of being the
:44:26. > :44:30.last council to get around to electing someone. That has all
:44:31. > :44:38.changed and they are starting to come in. The most notable is Henry
:44:39. > :44:49.Reilly from UKIP. He topped the poll in the Mourne area. Also elected in
:44:50. > :44:57.that DEA was Willie Clarke from Sinn Fein, Sean Doran from Sinn Fein ads
:44:58. > :45:15.in role Alan, Terry Andrews who was an Independent, has been elected --
:45:16. > :45:20.Rowallane. Sinn Fein are expected to shade it against BST LP. That is not
:45:21. > :45:27.to say that Unionists have nothing to fight for -- SDLP. I was talking
:45:28. > :45:31.to Jim Wells from the DUP, he said that if Unionists can get nine
:45:32. > :45:35.seats, that gives them a blocking mechanism which means that they
:45:36. > :45:42.could delay and possibly stop decisions they do not like. The one
:45:43. > :45:50.he quoted to me was the naming of a playpark after a dead IRA hunger
:45:51. > :45:55.striker. Herein North Down, 12 of the 40 seats up for grabs have been
:45:56. > :46:03.filled and the first councillors were elected here at around 3:30pm.
:46:04. > :46:09.There has been a pretty low turnout, around 42% and that is down on what
:46:10. > :46:14.it was during the last elections. No big surprises, the DUP is expected
:46:15. > :46:18.to be the biggest party, Ulster Unionists and Alliance expected to
:46:19. > :46:23.do well and the Green Party has secured the one seat it did have. It
:46:24. > :46:38.is hoping to double its presence in the area by getting another seat. To
:46:39. > :46:45.thank you very much indeed. Let's go back to Banbridge and that
:46:46. > :46:51.story of a former DUP rising star. In the ABC constituency the second
:46:52. > :46:57.councillor to be elected on first preferences was Paul Berry. A former
:46:58. > :47:02.DUP and now Independent. How did you do? I doubled the vote which I have
:47:03. > :47:06.been greatly humbled by. This has been a tremendous result for me. I
:47:07. > :47:10.would like to thank the people for putting their trust in me.
:47:11. > :47:14.What has it been like fighting without a party behind you?
:47:15. > :47:21.I have done it before, it has been a very effective campaign. 5000 doors
:47:22. > :47:23.canvassed, and as a result we have had a tremendous result.
:47:24. > :47:30.Of those 5000, what were the main messages. Because it is a strong
:47:31. > :47:35.Unionist constituency, close to 60% turnout, people want to see greater
:47:36. > :47:38.Unionist corporation working together but the other thing was
:47:39. > :47:41.especially from the community, the issue of the rates, people want to
:47:42. > :47:47.see a differential on their doorstep, they want to see their
:47:48. > :47:50.rates reduced. People will see the benefit of the governments merging
:47:51. > :47:58.together. What you think about the turnout,
:47:59. > :48:05.all apart from one is the Unionist? The main thing has been there is a
:48:06. > :48:09.strong Unionist vote that has come out and transferrin has been across
:48:10. > :48:16.the Unionist family which must be welcomed. I would continue to call
:48:17. > :48:21.on that in the data. Good luck in your job in the new
:48:22. > :48:23.council. It is likely to be Unionist
:48:24. > :48:31.dominated, only ten of the 41 councillors.
:48:32. > :48:46.I am joined by a the DUP leader David Ford in Belfast City Hall. Did
:48:47. > :48:50.I say DUP leader? I beg your pardon. There is a lot of chat around the
:48:51. > :48:53.table, some of these politicians can't keep quiet. I beg your pardon.
:48:54. > :49:03.I am not sure if that was an ovation, or not. -- elevation. Are
:49:04. > :49:08.you happy with where we are at the moment? Michael Long, Naomi Long's
:49:09. > :49:12.husband winning a seat in Belfast. Was that the greater surprise or
:49:13. > :49:16.not? It wasn't a great surprise, but it
:49:17. > :49:19.was a great pleasure. People have been telling us for the last 15, 16
:49:20. > :49:25.months the Alliance Party was finished in east Belfast and the
:49:26. > :49:28.headline is a hold in east Belfast. Clearly this is that her position
:49:29. > :49:33.was not supported, the name was toxic, are wrong and we are headed
:49:34. > :49:40.for a good election here in Belfast. We have got eight seats, up to ten,
:49:41. > :49:44.it is in some of the party suffering.
:49:45. > :49:50.You are extrapolating from Michael Long's excess, the flags issue is
:49:51. > :49:53.over and done with Mr Mark I am looking at successes of Alliance
:49:54. > :49:57.candidate in east and south. Potentially success in north
:49:58. > :50:03.Belfast. That is a clear sign of people in Belfast recognising the
:50:04. > :50:06.good role Alliance has carried out, helping the city council make
:50:07. > :50:13.sensible decisions and rewarding us. Barney Fitzpatrick is a store what
:50:14. > :50:17.of the party in the new Causeway Coast and Glens super council, I'm
:50:18. > :50:22.sure are pleased about that, but we gather a little bit of concern in
:50:23. > :50:27.Antrim and due to nab the comment may be things not going just as well
:50:28. > :50:35.for your party as you might have hoped -- Newton Abbey. When you
:50:36. > :50:38.switch boundaries instead of having one area where we have no hope and
:50:39. > :50:43.another where we make a seat, it could be two areas where we are
:50:44. > :50:46.runner-up. That is no benefit. That is what happened when boundaries
:50:47. > :50:51.changed and people have to get used to new areas but it is that kind of
:50:52. > :50:56.change, after all, we were predicted we would only have 134 seats on the
:50:57. > :51:01.basis of the current baggies last time so that is less than the 43 we
:51:02. > :51:12.want -- current boundaries. In a rural area like coursework to stay
:51:13. > :51:17.-- cause wake to see he has come through well. What is your target at
:51:18. > :51:24.the moment? I went to your party manifesto launch, and you said the
:51:25. > :51:32.predictions were that you would hold onto, you get about 34 seats, but
:51:33. > :51:37.you told me you would retain the 43 seats you had under the old system.
:51:38. > :51:42.As Naomi said earlier on there are some elections where you get the
:51:43. > :51:46.balance and luck falls your way. And others where luck doesn't. It seems
:51:47. > :51:50.today is one of those occasions where although a vote is held at
:51:51. > :51:55.will luck hasn't fallen forest, and we are going to be a strengthened
:51:56. > :51:59.party holding the balance of power in Belfast, with good representation
:52:00. > :52:04.in another of other councils. That is the way polls work, sometimes you
:52:05. > :52:08.do very well, sometimes you don't, but there is no doubt the strength
:52:09. > :52:11.of Alliance has been rewarded in the stance we took for better governance
:52:12. > :52:20.in Belfast and that is coming through strongly. We will leave it
:52:21. > :52:25.there. Let's get a sense of where we are in
:52:26. > :52:28.the overall picture. Almost half of the first preference votes are
:52:29. > :52:32.written as more than a quarter of the councillors elected. Let's look
:52:33. > :52:41.at some specific areas. Mid and East Antrim, this interesting story of
:52:42. > :52:46.UKP. Very unexpected, they have won a seat in Carrick Castle, an
:52:47. > :52:50.interesting place prone to going against the trend. I don't think any
:52:51. > :52:56.of us saw that coming. They have doubled their representation, they,
:52:57. > :53:03.along with the TUV, will be one of the parties that can count on that
:53:04. > :53:09.incremental gain. Look at the personalities there in Carrick
:53:10. > :53:16.Castle. The Independent councillor has been there a long time. To see
:53:17. > :53:22.UKIP and there is interesting. Again, I hope this doesn't become a
:53:23. > :53:25.continuing refrain, a good year for the DUP, we have seen some
:53:26. > :53:32.candidates collected there, those last two seats will probably go to
:53:33. > :53:39.them. A well-known figure already eliminated. While we are in the area
:53:40. > :53:50.let's look at Bankside weathered TUV topped the poll.
:53:51. > :53:59.A bit of a pitch emerging. Let's look at Newry, Morne and down. You
:54:00. > :54:02.can see where the SDLP weren't very keen on the council organisation,
:54:03. > :54:05.they have their citadel in Derry City Council, another area of
:54:06. > :54:10.strength in town council but by joining together it will rain
:54:11. > :54:18.nationalists, Sinn Fein will be the biggest party. Sitting on forces
:54:19. > :54:23.ahead of the SDLP. UKIP featuring once again, rather less of a
:54:24. > :54:28.surprise. This is as you were. That UKIP councillor is Henry Valley who
:54:29. > :54:32.already held the seat. He did benefit from publicity of the back
:54:33. > :54:35.of the European election, although one would have to say that he
:54:36. > :54:43.already had a strong local following. 1964 first preference
:54:44. > :54:49.votes, Laura Devlin is being presented by the SDLP as one of the
:54:50. > :54:56.up-and-coming personalities, she has worked for Margaret Ritchie, the
:54:57. > :55:03.local MP in Southdown, Willie Clarke has been there forever, and MLA,
:55:04. > :55:07.Mayor. Harold McKee, one of those local politicians who has been
:55:08. > :55:12.dubious about a national park in that area, he has taken the farmers
:55:13. > :55:14.side so he has got in for the Ulster Unionist Party with the caveat we
:55:15. > :55:17.are nowhere near finished, let's look at the share of first
:55:18. > :55:37.preference votes party by party for the Independent candidates are
:55:38. > :55:40.coming through. We have seen performances like People Before
:55:41. > :55:44.Profit coming through in Belfast. And in usual aspect. Some of the
:55:45. > :55:47.names that we thought might have featured like my 21 in terms of
:55:48. > :55:53.getting the votes, yet these community candidates have cut
:55:54. > :55:56.through -- NI 21. We can't really compare Mike with
:55:57. > :56:05.like because they are new council areas but that is the change so far.
:56:06. > :56:15.That probably doesn't flatter the SDLP, they are down below the other
:56:16. > :56:21.parties. Probably in about the right ballpark.
:56:22. > :56:26.Let's talk to the TUV leader, Jim Allister, who joins us now from
:56:27. > :56:35.Barlinnie in, the new mid and East Antrim super council. -- Ballymena.
:56:36. > :56:38.Three TUV councillors returned at this point and a suggestion that you
:56:39. > :56:46.could end up in double figures, how does that sound? I would certainly
:56:47. > :56:52.expect to end in double figures, a magnificent start in Ballymena,
:56:53. > :56:59.right in the historic Paisley heartland of Burnside, the area so
:57:00. > :57:07.central. What happened there to date? TUV topped the poll. The
:57:08. > :57:14.second-highest unionist vote went to TUV. Two candidates returned in
:57:15. > :57:23.Burnside. We will see candidate is returned tomorrow in Ballymena and
:57:24. > :57:28.Carrickfergus, and in love. . We are making a strong foothold in this
:57:29. > :57:36.area. And also good to see new candidates, and for any party
:57:37. > :57:40.putting up new candidates in necessity is what we have been
:57:41. > :57:44.doing. We have seen candidates elected where previously we haven't
:57:45. > :57:51.had representation. The TUV is moving from being a micro
:57:52. > :57:55.party into a minor party? You can be as pejorative as you
:57:56. > :57:59.like, what it shows is more people than ever voting TUV and you will
:58:00. > :58:04.see that more dramatically on Monday.
:58:05. > :58:06.You are confident, without Monty Don too much about European elections,
:58:07. > :58:08.but since you braise confident, without Monty Don too much about
:58:09. > :58:10.European elections, but since your basic use your vote will hold up one
:58:11. > :58:15.last time? We think we will have a credible
:58:16. > :58:19.vote. I read some of the media saying the TUV would come out of
:58:20. > :58:25.this election, it might have been the Belfast paragraph who told us we
:58:26. > :58:29.would come out with two councillors across the whole of Northern Ireland
:58:30. > :58:33.-- Belfast Telegraph stop as for Monday, it will take care of itself.
:58:34. > :58:39.We have had a good campaign. We will see what the people say. I believe
:58:40. > :58:45.the TUV vote will be very credible stop what is your prediction for the
:58:46. > :58:52.final tally of TUV councillors? You said you would be comfortably into
:58:53. > :58:57.double figures. With many of the votes still to take
:58:58. > :59:03.place I am not in a position to do that. I have not been across all the
:59:04. > :59:11.events so I will not go into that other than say I think we are laying
:59:12. > :59:16.a good, firm foundation for future building and what we have started is
:59:17. > :59:20.going very nicely. You are fairly confident, and I will
:59:21. > :59:23.enjoy talking to you on Monday for stop will you be at the Kings Hall
:59:24. > :59:31.for the count? You will be in fine form? Yes.
:59:32. > :59:34.Thank you very much indeed. The TUV leader, Jim Allister, predicting he
:59:35. > :59:40.will have double figures, comfortably, in terms of councillors
:59:41. > :59:48.for the new super councils. We will see if that happens will stop that
:59:49. > :59:51.is also it. We will take our leave from BBC One but you can join us
:59:52. > :59:54.over on BBC Two in just a moment when our coverage continues. In the
:59:55. > :00:05.meantime you can keep up-to-date online. Buy. -- goodbye.
:00:06. > :00:10.Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline. NI21 leader Basil McCrea
:00:11. > :00:12.confirms he's fighting allegations of sexual