Local - Part 1 Vote 2014 Northern Ireland

Hello and welcome to Vote 2014. We are here on BBC One with full

coverage of the results as they come in for the new 11 super councils.

This evening, as you can see, counting is underway. It has been

going on for hours and our reporters are at all 11 count centres and they

will be bringing us the story. The new councils are starting to take

shape and over the course of the next year they will have a big

influence. That is because the current councillors will continue in

the 26 councils you are familiar with. The votes will elect

councillors to the new super councils and this is what they will

look like. They will will be bigger, but will operate in shadow form

before taking over from the old councils next April. We will explain

more later and to help us make sense of it, we are joined by our

analysts. Elections are about results and we will have all of them

here. Are staff are busy checking the numbers. Quite a few councillors

have been elected already. This is the current state of the parties.

The DUP have 34 seats, Sinn Fein 28, Ulster Unionist 27, the Alliance

Party has seven, Independents have three and the TUV have three seats.

Results are about winners and losers and we will hear about the

performance of the big parties and the well-known characters and we

will hear about those who are getting a taste of the electoral

battle for the first time. The newest party, N121, has had an

eventful first outing with the virtual civil war breaking out on

the E of polling. More on that later. With me are politicians,

party strategists and pundits to help us pick our way through the

emerging political landscape. I'd at the count centres, we will be

hearing from politicians and our reporters are queueing up to tell

their stories. Let us build a picture at some of the counts,

starting with the biggest, Belfast City Council, where Gareth Gordon

joins us. Here at the City Hall, we have elected ten councillors. Half

of those elected are members of Sinn Fein, including the Lord Mayor who

beat Clare Hanna of the SDLP in Balmoral by one vote. He was the

first person elected here. Among the others are elected is the husband of

my only long. She said that the expected meltdown of the Alliance

was not happening. Other selected include Billy Hutchinson and Jerry

Cala. He is from their people before profit and Alliance. He heckled the

UKIP leader Nigel Farage on his recent visit to Belfast. Here are

the count is underway for the new Dorset Strabane Council. The results

are coming in now. Four people have been elected so far. First elected

was Angela Dobbins from the SDLP followed by Sandra Duffy who topped

the poll for Sinn Fein. A former Mayor of the city has also been

elected and another Sinn Fein member. The story so far has been

the case that this is Independence Day in Dorset. Independents are

doing well. D Quigley, a community worker, wants to have a detox centre

for Dorset and he has got a lot of support. He is 62 votes off getting

elected. The SDLP look like the biggest losers. They were hoping to

get 13 seats, but the estimate has been lowered to ten. The top

political party will be Sinn Fein and they are on course for 16 seats.

Not much change in unionism, we expect the DUP to get eight seats.

It is a big day for the Independents, keep an eye on Gary

Donnelly, he is polling strongly. In the last few moments, Mark Durkan

told the BBC that this is a bad day for the SDLP in Dorset. Who would

have thought that, this was once the heartland of John Hume? Counting

continues here in Coleraine. It is all about change. The PUP polled

well, capturing the attention of many. Christopher McCourt from N121

was eliminated and he says his chances were torpedoed by the events

of the last 48 hours. He said he would be resigning from the party.

In Ballymoney, Charles Pappy O'Kane has been eliminated, he had been an

SDLP councillor, but he had router with his party and stood as an

Independent. His bulk-macro may stop other SDLP candidates from being

elected. The first Alliance councillor has been elected. The DUP

have three councillors elected already. Counting has been slow so

far. Four more areas to be counted tomorrow. Here in Lisburn and

Castlereagh, most of the staff have gone home, except for one area which

is continuing. They have gone through this like a hot knife

through butter. The DUP have ten seats, the Ulster Unionists have

four, Alliance have two, the SDLP one and the TUV one. Jeffrey

Donaldson says that his party are on course for the 20 seats which they

have targeted at the moment. Pat Catney of the SDLP was elected a

short time ago. He pepped the Sinn Fein candidate Mary Jane Quinn to

the post. Spare a thought for Alec Swann, he was excluded after missing

out by not .56 of a vote. Let us look at some of the details. We will

look at Belfast. Sinn Fein are topping the poll. We were expecting

them to be the biggest group. There have been various boundary changes,

but it does not change the overall position in Belfast. We are

expecting it to be at them as an interesting turn out with the Mayor.

You might not recognise those initials, that is people before

profit. -- People Before Profit Alliance. Let us look at Balmoral

DEA. It is interesting what happened. People Before Profit

Alliance have been in the picture. They did not too badly in the

Westminster election. -- do badly. Now they have managed to push

through and get a seat. Gerry Carroll at the expense of Jim

Atwood. The SDLP has shed seats. That will be a disappointing

results. Let us look at Balmoral. No surprise for who topped the poll.

The Mayor of Belfast topped the poll. He only beat Clare Hanna by

one vote. There is a story behind the one vote, because at one point,

batters had been made up of 100 votes. Then they got verified as the

count continued, but one of these batches contained 101 votes and they

discovered this during the course of the count and that was the one-vote

that made all the difference to Mairtin O Muilleoior. He got

through, Clare Hanna did respectably given that she is a had a running

mate. Let us move on to Dorset Strabane. There were problems for

the SDLP. It seems that the SDLP who were once dominant in this corner of

Northern Ireland, that is no longer the case. Independents are doing

well in Dorset, at the expense of the SDLP. Trailing down into that

DEA, that is one of the areas of change. Sinn Fein are likely to have

three councillors elected in that area. This has been one of the most

controversial areas. On this ballot paper was Jimmy Carr, not the

comedian, but an SDLP candidate and has a big controversy, because that

was an estimate -- an investigation into him. The SDLP withdrew support

for him. He has got 605 first preference votes. He was so annoyed

by the way the SDLP handle that, that he with true. It was going to

be difficult for the STL in. # grow with true. -- SDLP. I joined by a

selection of well-known political figures, Jeffrey Donaldson, Robbyn

Swan, Alex Mass gay and Stephen Farid. -- Alex Maskey. You think

you're well on your way to the target you have set for yourselves

in your stomping ground of Lisburn and Castlereagh? We are very pleased

with the results in Lisburn and Castlereagh. In all the areas, we

have come out on top. We are on course to be the largest party and

also we are in with a shout of taking control of back council. That

will repent on the results which have yet to come, -- that counsel.

The 21st seat is critical. You reckon you're on your way to your

target of 20. That would not give you overall control. It is

important, but 20 would give you effectively control. We are pleased

with the way we have been polling across all of the areas. We have

some new candidate standing and they have polled well. I think that

overall, on that counsel, unionism has come out quite strongly and in

fact, the turn-up -- turnout is up slightly. Alex Maskey are you

pleased with the way things are looking for Sinn Fein. Let us talk

about Balmoral. Mairtin O Muilleoior topped the poll, but I suppose he

did not have a running mate and he is the Lord Mayor. Did its apprise

you that he came out on top? Mairtin O Muilleoior has been doing a lot of

hard work. I think everyone has agreed, he has done a tremendous

job. He has been working hard in the constituency and I think what is

telling about this result, it was not that long ago we did not have a

seat at all in Balmoral. How did that come about? Did Sinn Fein get a

bigger vote out ordered people who were not natural Sinn Fein voters

express her preference for Mairtin O Muilleoior because they think of him

as a significant political figure? Obviously, the profile he had as

Lord Mayor would have helped, there is no doubt about that. Mairtin O

Muilleoior is part of Team Sinn Fein. We have been putting ourselves

forward to the electorate, saying we have a clear message that anti

austerity measures have to be introduced by all the parties. That

is coming across clearly. If you look at Mairtin O Muilleoior and all

of our candidates who have been elected so far and the number of

people who are sitting ready to be elected, it tells me that our vote

is consolidating, it is expanding in all those areas. Does it tell you

something about the power of social media? I want to make it clear,

Mairtin O Muilleoior has done a tremendous job. That is why we put

him forward. When you look at other party representatives, we have new

people, so people see Sinn Fein putting forward people who are

credible and hard working and we have a clear brand and a clear

message about equality, about anti-austerity and they see that

being driven across the island. People are voting for a party which

has a track record of standing on a clear message. Others who have lost

ground, or doing so because they do not know what they are standing for.

Stephen, is your party happy? Things are looking promising for us. There

has been a lot of speculation that this would be a difficult election.

Some of our best areas still have to count. Belfast is a symbolic counsel

for us. At this stage, it looks as though we will have eight seats on

the new council. Michael Long topped the poll in his DEA. What does that

tell us about the flags issue? We are growing in Belfast, it is a

good, strong area for us. It is a reflection of the fact Belfast is

very diverse, shared city. People have rallied to our cause because of

the constructive stance we have taken.

28 seats for the Ulster Unionist Party, relatively comfortable at

this early stage will stop we are very encouraged. It is the challenge

getting people out there to vote. We have had very encouraging results,

eight of our candidates elected to date who have topped the poll. John

Stewart in Caritas or East Antrim. Have you arrested your decline? We

have, we are on our way back. That is a production stop clear signs of

growth. -- that is a prediction. We will talk to you again. Let's

hear from some more of our reporters, thirsty Banbridge where

Maggie Taggart has the latest on a former big-name ODB.

I am at the Council which has been dubbed the ABC, Armagh Banbridge and

Craigavon. It is the biggest new council after Belfast, a G3

candidates fighting for 41 seats -- 83 handed it. Of the stories to

tell, the first person to be elected was a young man, Jonathan Buckley,

from the D U P, still a Queens University student, 22, he did his

dissertation for his finals this year. The now independent councillor

Paul Berry who is pleased he has increased his vote by 50% since last

time. A spanner in the works for the Ulster Unionist Party with the Army

Captain Doug Beattie who has done very well, but perhaps is posing a

threat to his running mate, who is struggling. He is a threat. All

sitting councillors so far, the one that have been elected, and we at

expecting this council to be Unionist dominated in the end.

Here in Fermanagh and Emma we have had six Sinn Fein councillors

elected, they are set to form the largest party on this new council.

The Ulster Unionist Party also done well, they have five councillors so

far topping the poll for the first time in mid to Rome. One Independent

has also been elected in and West. The race in the towns of Enniskillen

looks quite tight. 30 candidates vying for five seats. An

anti-fracking candidate has bowled very well, he will be looking for

transfers in order to get elected. The TUV have also polled very well

in Enniskillen, they were campaigning against the closure or

the amalgamation of the collegiate grammar school with the Royal School

and looks like they have picked up votes on that issue. The votes in

Goma and Enniskillen will not begin until tomorrow. -- Omagh.

Three quarters of the seats will go to Unionist candidates, it is the

exact breakdown that we are waiting to hear. There have been two UUP

candidates returned, one Sinn Fein, one DUP. Interesting story of the

afternoon, Timothy Gaston of the TUV topping the poll, Jim Allister, the

party leader, says that is an important psychological victory

because DUP consider it to be their Hartland and his running mate is not

very far short of achieving the equator and being elected there.

Also most of the interesting story seemed to have come from downside

this afternoon. Sinn Fein have returned Patrice Hardy, she must be

one of the youngest candidates, just 23-year-old schoolteacher. She has

been returned this afternoon, taking the seat from the first Sinn Fein

councillor in Ballymena. We are looking out for independents. None

so far, but early days. Where better to stage the stage for

super council ban in a super-sized sports arena. It is one of the

biggest of its type in Europe. We kicked off around lunchtime, we have

elected 23 new councillors to the 40 strong super council. Really from a

Unionist point of view probably the juiciest of the seven district is

Bokko Valley, . No surprises about the biggest party, Sinn Fein have

got 13 councillors elected, they are aiming for 18, making them the

biggest party by far, all the parties see fairly chipper. You see

the glass as half full, the GEP have got three elected, aiming for seven

seats. The Ulster Unionist Party they have stopped the rot. They have

got four elected again, they are hoping for six or seven seats. The

SDLP, they have got to elected so far, they are relying on quite a few

transfers, they are aiming for around six. The TUV came within XT

votes of getting a councillor elected, and we have had one

Independent Nationalist who topped the poll in Dungannon itself will

stop turnout has been high, particularly in rural areas will

stop 23 elected. 17 to go. We might get this cloud wrapped up by

midnight. -- this count. I am joined by Mark Duggan. Good

evening. -- Durcan. It was a bad day for the SDLP in

Derry. You are disappointed with your turnout, you have revised your

target downwards? I was asked if it was a bad day, a

disappointing day. First of all we appreciate the mandate that we still

have here today and obviously there were some difficulties but we still

have a strong mandate here in Derry. We also respect the votes other

people got, not least some strong campaigns by independent candidates

focused on strong local issues. People have the right to use a local

democratic election to channel and to challenge. That is what has

happened here so we respect that. We also have to hear the message from

the many people who didn't vote and the people who are telling us they

want voting because they are fed up, frustrated, they think Stormont

isn't delivering, they are not sure their boat is going to be any

different. We have to work hard on the problems that matter to them and

work with the other parties on the new council in doing that.

You reckon you end up with ten seats rather than the 13 year had been

hopeful of getting. . We are certainly not coming out with a

number of seats between the two councils. You must be disappointed,

if it is a tussle, that's always been a tussle between Sinn Fein and

the SDLP and the Northwest, it is John Higgins's all constituency you

are a former party leader, what does it say about the state of the SDLP

if Sinn Fein is edging ahead in the way you seem to be conceding it is?

The overall edging ahead is because of the new council constructs, the

boundary, it was going to be, they would have taken an absolute

landslide to create a situation with the SDLP would have been the largest

party on the council, that was meant to be impossible so we always knew

we wouldn't be, it is one of the reasons why the boundaries were

drawn the weight they were drawn, in our view. We still have a strong

mandate here, we need to concentrate on delivering on the issues that we

campaigned on and we worked on and we know people are frustrated by the

lack of delivery they see, particularly from Stormont people,

frustrated about what has happened in terms of the roads investment,

people are first rated about what is not happening in relation to

university expansion, people are very annoyed about the lack of the

development based on Project Kelvin with the enterprise centre going to

Coleraine. Those are the sort of issues we were hearing on the

doorsteps as reasons why people felt they had as much point in not

putting as voting and they were saying the fact we were as

frustrated as they were, didn't make that different. We just have to work

harder, respect those who voted for others, we absolutely respect and

appreciate those who voted for us and we also take the message from

those who didn't. What is this new council going to be

called? I don't want to get into this. I

know the working title is Derry City and Strabane district and people in

Derry won to see the name Derry City in that new council title. That is

what people want to see and no doubt people in Strabane wanted. The main

thing is make sure that people create a success and not spend their

time obsessing on its name. Let's have some of the facts and

figures, let's look at Lisburn and Castlereagh. One of the council

areas people are not that happy about, going together. Do PR and

ten. -- DUP on ten. They were always going to be dominant. This is a

horseshoe. The joke that has been made is Lisburn was given city

status and they will have to extend it to the full horseshoe so that

when you drive into Dundonald you will be entering the city of Lisburn

which will be a new experience for people around there. The Ulster

Unionist Party returned for. In the old castle Rabia Lyons was a growing

force but they are up against a strong Unionist group -- the old

Castlereagh, the alliance was a growing force. But that may benefit

in Belfast. Alliance has lost some of its key voting areas. It has

benefited over the other side of the border in Belfast.

Parts of Lisburn don't come out to vote, will that have any influence?

So far we have just seen the SDLP getting one person in there. A

publican from Belfast. Retired now, working for the SDLP full top quite

a close race between him and Sinn Fein. Let's look at Castlereagh

East. Some of the personalities here. Again for the TUV.

Lisburn and Castlereagh was one of the councils where on a good day

with the wind in their sales the DUP could have had an overall majority.

They haven't got the fourth seat, it has gone to the TUV. The Ulster

Unionist Party in there as well. Alliance could have been looking at

is separate seat as well. 40% of the old Castlereagh Council has gone

into Belfast. Pretty close that at this stage but

it is still early days. Another strong Unionist area with

the DUP in the legal stop Alliance holding up reasonably well. It was

always expected to be a strong Unionist Council.

TUV, seeing them do quite well full top --. We will have to see how this

translates into the European election, we would expect Jim

Allister to perform fairly well on the basis of these figures because

he is beginning to make inroads in a whole range of different areas.

TUV is the one party we are seeing consistently making gains but from a

small base, converting from a micro-party, into a small party for

stop let's have a look at one of the DEAs Baverstock there is a name that

comes up time and time again. Fraser has been around as long as

there has been politics in Northern Ireland. He has got a strong

personal boat. You can see it in the way is split between those two

parties in terms of his transfers. He was well ahead of the field. If

an election is a drama, some of these people have been involved in a

bit of a drama in the not too recent past. This is the area where we have

the ball -- the whole business about the reduced Shakespeare 's company

and a number of councillors taking against it. William Ball was one of

the main people who thought it was a bad thing that they should go on,

making a mockery of Christianity for stop the voters haven't punished

him, he has got elected their dog one of his colleagues in different

area, the former deputy mayor, has been put out. She was one of the

members of the DUP who thought we shouldn't be banning a play.

Fiercely, Gary Grattan stood for N121, he has been eliminated --

obviously. He did pretty well. But he admitted earlier today that he

first found out about the business of re-designation from someone he

was canvassing. That is the kind of chaos they were in. Thank you. Let

us go out and about and talk to Gregory Campbell from the DUP. He

joins us from Coleraine. That is in the heart of the new causeway Coast

council. -- Causeway. How do you think the new super council holds

together, it is the second largest? Do you think it will work? I think

all of the new councils are going to be a work in progress in the course

of the first year. I would imagine the first six months, new

councillors, who have not stood before we'll be finding their feet.

I think the phasing in period is a good idea. Let us get the count is

finished and give them time to work. I think people want to see slimmed

down governments. It is early days, we have a few returns for that

particular area. Three DUP councillors, is that correct? Yes.

Relatively comfortable with where you are? Yes, we have been adopting

vote management and that means we try and spread the votes. It means

that most of our candidates will not get elected until later counts, it

is about where we thought it would be and we are polling particularly

strongly in some areas. The PUP has done well in Coleraine. How do you

feel about that? Yes, that's candidate had stood as an

Independent before and polled well and with the change in boundaries,

bringing in large sections of what previously was Coleraine East, he

has polled well from those areas. He got 701st preference votes, but we

have over 2000. We are pleased with our performance -- 71st preference

votes. Thank you for joining us. We have been joined by the leader of

the SDLP. Good evening. We were talking to Mark Durkan who said he

was disappointed with the performance of the party in Derry.

You have informally revised your target down from 13 seats to ten in

Derry and Strabane. Are you disappointed? I do not fully have

the information. I am quite confident that overall bout we will

do well and I am satisfied with the SDLP performance and while we may

have a loss in one area, we could make it up and I am confident of an

extra seat in Strabane and an extra seat in Fermanagh and in Omagh. We

have had a big challenge, a lot of retirements, but we have a new

ticket of candidate and a strong ticket of women candidates and an

number of those people are coming through robustly and with

significantly increased votes, there are people like Laura Devlin, like

Stephanie Quigley in Coleraine and various other candidates. What about

the other side of the equation? Tim Attwood, who is an outgoing

councillor and very well known in west Belfast, we gather he is

struggling in Blackmountain? Tim Attwood will be elected. He will be

elected. He did not do as well as you had perhaps hoped he would? Were

you surprised by the performance of Gerry Carroll? Tim Attwood has

worked very hard. I am content with that. What is your assessment of

that situation? Orang outsider has come in and done extremely well,

seemingly out of nowhere -- a rank outsider. There is a lot of

discontent about jobs and the economy and the health service and

education. Basically, people are expressing that discontent. Is the

boat a protest vote? -- vote. It might well be. Welfare reform is

very difficult. We have taken a top line against welfare reform and we

will continue to do that. Sometimes, with our involvement in the City

Hall or Stormont, regardless of what we might do on welfare reform, you

are tarred with the brush of the establishment. You're confident that

Tim Attwood will take that seat? Gerry Carroll for People Before

Profit Alliance will also be in? I do not know who will lose a seat.

There are seven seats. Alex Maskey, what are your thoughts? Were use a

prized by the performance of Gerry Carroll? -- where you surprised.

Gerry Carroll has performed very well in previous elections. He has

done some work in the constituency. What is very clear within the

broader nationalist community, it appears to be given a strong mandate

to Sinn Fein, that is because we have been clear about the need for a

quality across the, we need to oppose welfare reform, other

Independents are being collected on similar stances. As Sinn Fein going

to lose a seat? We are in the mix for six seats. These last seats will

come down to small margins. You are in the mix for six and Gerry Carroll

has been elected and that would mean that Tim Attwood will not get that

seat, then? He may not get the seat, because we are in the mix for

six seats. We work the area and know the area and are from the area. We

have managed to be able to manage that successfully. The last seats

will come down to small margins. There is a clear message, the

electorate is telling us that they want the party to deliver a quality

and stop the cuts. Any party which is wavering on that agenda are

paying the price. Jeffrey Donaldson, what do you make of some

independence, some smaller parties, apparently at this early stage,

doing quite well? The bigger parties, because of transfer votes

can pick up votes at the end. Quite a lot of Independents are performing

well? Were you surprised to see Gerry Carroll win that seat? Given

that these are new councils, it is a new testing ground. There is a

larger electorate. There is the prospect of people coming from an

Independent background doing better, certainly on first counts,

where the bigger parties engage in vote management. They spread the

vote across three or four candidates. It is healthy for

democracy that we get Independent voices. The one thing that I would

say so far is that on the Unionist side, I think a clear message coming

across is that there are too many Unionist parties. The Unionist vote

is spreading to then. That is resulting in some areas,

particularly in the west of the Province, where we are losing out.

Stephen Farrow, North Down is your home turf and that is the absolute

home kingdom of the Independent -- Stephen Farry. This is a rough year.

We have had other collections: Siding. -- we have had other

elections alongside each other. Is it healthy for democracy? It is a

challenge to all of us. It is healthy, we have to listen to what

people are saying and reflect upon the message. There is frustration

about what is happening in the Assembly and after this election,

serious decisions will have to be taken to make progress on a whole

host of issues. Thank you. To our reporters in the count centres. We

join Ciara Riddell in the Valley Leisure Centre. We had our first

result just before 2pm and that was Nigel Kells from the DUP. He was

elected into Antrim. Since then, results have been coming in fast.

Four counts have been going on here and out of those, three have been

completed. We are waiting for two more seats in the last one. I heard

Mark Devenport say that the deputy mayor of Newtownabbey Council had

lost her seat. Brian Graham from Antrim and who was the deputy may

also lost his seat. There are winners as well. As Sinn Fein

councillor topped the poll in one area, but running colleague lost out

to BST LP. The Ulster Unionists have been polling well. -- SDLP. Alliance

are disappointed, they say that the boundaries have meant they have lost

out slightly and they think they might take five seats in total

rather than the six they were hoping for. Lots of winners and losers,

Fraser I knew, one of the oldest councillors from Newtownabbey and

Mervyn Ray have both been elected back in -- Fraser Agnew. Counting is

continuing. It will go on tomorrow. We had the distinction of being the

last council to get around to electing someone. That has all

changed and they are starting to come in. The most notable is Henry

Reilly from UKIP. He topped the poll in the Mourne area. Also elected in

that DEA was Willie Clarke from Sinn Fein, Sean Doran from Sinn Fein ads

in role Alan, Terry Andrews who was an Independent, has been elected --

Rowallane. Sinn Fein are expected to shade it against BST LP. That is not

to say that Unionists have nothing to fight for -- SDLP. I was talking

to Jim Wells from the DUP, he said that if Unionists can get nine

seats, that gives them a blocking mechanism which means that they

could delay and possibly stop decisions they do not like. The one

he quoted to me was the naming of a playpark after a dead IRA hunger

striker. Herein North Down, 12 of the 40 seats up for grabs have been

filled and the first councillors were elected here at around 3:30pm.

There has been a pretty low turnout, around 42% and that is down on what

it was during the last elections. No big surprises, the DUP is expected

to be the biggest party, Ulster Unionists and Alliance expected to

do well and the Green Party has secured the one seat it did have. It

is hoping to double its presence in the area by getting another seat. To

thank you very much indeed. Let's go back to Banbridge and that

story of a former DUP rising star. In the ABC constituency the second

councillor to be elected on first preferences was Paul Berry. A former

DUP and now Independent. How did you do? I doubled the vote which I have

been greatly humbled by. This has been a tremendous result for me. I

would like to thank the people for putting their trust in me.

What has it been like fighting without a party behind you?

I have done it before, it has been a very effective campaign. 5000 doors

canvassed, and as a result we have had a tremendous result.

Of those 5000, what were the main messages. Because it is a strong

Unionist constituency, close to 60% turnout, people want to see greater

Unionist corporation working together but the other thing was

especially from the community, the issue of the rates, people want to

see a differential on their doorstep, they want to see their

rates reduced. People will see the benefit of the governments merging

together. What you think about the turnout,

all apart from one is the Unionist? The main thing has been there is a

strong Unionist vote that has come out and transferrin has been across

the Unionist family which must be welcomed. I would continue to call

on that in the data. Good luck in your job in the new

council. It is likely to be Unionist

dominated, only ten of the 41 councillors.

I am joined by a the DUP leader David Ford in Belfast City Hall. Did

I say DUP leader? I beg your pardon. There is a lot of chat around the

table, some of these politicians can't keep quiet. I beg your pardon.

I am not sure if that was an ovation, or not. -- elevation. Are

you happy with where we are at the moment? Michael Long, Naomi Long's

husband winning a seat in Belfast. Was that the greater surprise or

not? It wasn't a great surprise, but it

was a great pleasure. People have been telling us for the last 15, 16

months the Alliance Party was finished in east Belfast and the

headline is a hold in east Belfast. Clearly this is that her position

was not supported, the name was toxic, are wrong and we are headed

for a good election here in Belfast. We have got eight seats, up to ten,

it is in some of the party suffering.

You are extrapolating from Michael Long's excess, the flags issue is

over and done with Mr Mark I am looking at successes of Alliance

candidate in east and south. Potentially success in north

Belfast. That is a clear sign of people in Belfast recognising the

good role Alliance has carried out, helping the city council make

sensible decisions and rewarding us. Barney Fitzpatrick is a store what

of the party in the new Causeway Coast and Glens super council, I'm

sure are pleased about that, but we gather a little bit of concern in

Antrim and due to nab the comment may be things not going just as well

for your party as you might have hoped -- Newton Abbey. When you

switch boundaries instead of having one area where we have no hope and

another where we make a seat, it could be two areas where we are

runner-up. That is no benefit. That is what happened when boundaries

changed and people have to get used to new areas but it is that kind of

change, after all, we were predicted we would only have 134 seats on the

basis of the current baggies last time so that is less than the 43 we

want -- current boundaries. In a rural area like coursework to stay

-- cause wake to see he has come through well. What is your target at

the moment? I went to your party manifesto launch, and you said the

predictions were that you would hold onto, you get about 34 seats, but

you told me you would retain the 43 seats you had under the old system.

As Naomi said earlier on there are some elections where you get the

balance and luck falls your way. And others where luck doesn't. It seems

today is one of those occasions where although a vote is held at

will luck hasn't fallen forest, and we are going to be a strengthened

party holding the balance of power in Belfast, with good representation

in another of other councils. That is the way polls work, sometimes you

do very well, sometimes you don't, but there is no doubt the strength

of Alliance has been rewarded in the stance we took for better governance

in Belfast and that is coming through strongly. We will leave it

there. Let's get a sense of where we are in

the overall picture. Almost half of the first preference votes are

written as more than a quarter of the councillors elected. Let's look

at some specific areas. Mid and East Antrim, this interesting story of

UKP. Very unexpected, they have won a seat in Carrick Castle, an

interesting place prone to going against the trend. I don't think any

of us saw that coming. They have doubled their representation, they,

along with the TUV, will be one of the parties that can count on that

incremental gain. Look at the personalities there in Carrick

Castle. The Independent councillor has been there a long time. To see

UKIP and there is interesting. Again, I hope this doesn't become a

continuing refrain, a good year for the DUP, we have seen some

candidates collected there, those last two seats will probably go to

them. A well-known figure already eliminated. While we are in the area

let's look at Bankside weathered TUV topped the poll.

A bit of a pitch emerging. Let's look at Newry, Morne and down. You

can see where the SDLP weren't very keen on the council organisation,

they have their citadel in Derry City Council, another area of

strength in town council but by joining together it will rain

nationalists, Sinn Fein will be the biggest party. Sitting on forces

ahead of the SDLP. UKIP featuring once again, rather less of a

surprise. This is as you were. That UKIP councillor is Henry Valley who

already held the seat. He did benefit from publicity of the back

of the European election, although one would have to say that he

already had a strong local following. 1964 first preference

votes, Laura Devlin is being presented by the SDLP as one of the

up-and-coming personalities, she has worked for Margaret Ritchie, the

local MP in Southdown, Willie Clarke has been there forever, and MLA,

Mayor. Harold McKee, one of those local politicians who has been

dubious about a national park in that area, he has taken the farmers

side so he has got in for the Ulster Unionist Party with the caveat we

are nowhere near finished, let's look at the share of first

preference votes party by party for the Independent candidates are

coming through. We have seen performances like People Before

Profit coming through in Belfast. And in usual aspect. Some of the

names that we thought might have featured like my 21 in terms of

getting the votes, yet these community candidates have cut

through -- NI 21. We can't really compare Mike with

like because they are new council areas but that is the change so far.

That probably doesn't flatter the SDLP, they are down below the other

parties. Probably in about the right ballpark.

Let's talk to the TUV leader, Jim Allister, who joins us now from

Barlinnie in, the new mid and East Antrim super council. -- Ballymena.

Three TUV councillors returned at this point and a suggestion that you

could end up in double figures, how does that sound? I would certainly

expect to end in double figures, a magnificent start in Ballymena,

right in the historic Paisley heartland of Burnside, the area so

central. What happened there to date? TUV topped the poll. The

second-highest unionist vote went to TUV. Two candidates returned in

Burnside. We will see candidate is returned tomorrow in Ballymena and

Carrickfergus, and in love. . We are making a strong foothold in this

area. And also good to see new candidates, and for any party

putting up new candidates in necessity is what we have been

doing. We have seen candidates elected where previously we haven't

had representation. The TUV is moving from being a micro

party into a minor party? You can be as pejorative as you

like, what it shows is more people than ever voting TUV and you will

see that more dramatically on Monday.

You are confident, without Monty Don too much about European elections,

but since you braise confident, without Monty Don too much about

European elections, but since your basic use your vote will hold up one

last time? We think we will have a credible

vote. I read some of the media saying the TUV would come out of

this election, it might have been the Belfast paragraph who told us we

would come out with two councillors across the whole of Northern Ireland

-- Belfast Telegraph stop as for Monday, it will take care of itself.

We have had a good campaign. We will see what the people say. I believe

the TUV vote will be very credible stop what is your prediction for the

final tally of TUV councillors? You said you would be comfortably into

double figures. With many of the votes still to take

place I am not in a position to do that. I have not been across all the

events so I will not go into that other than say I think we are laying

a good, firm foundation for future building and what we have started is

going very nicely. You are fairly confident, and I will

enjoy talking to you on Monday for stop will you be at the Kings Hall

for the count? You will be in fine form? Yes.

Thank you very much indeed. The TUV leader, Jim Allister, predicting he

will have double figures, comfortably, in terms of councillors

for the new super councils. We will see if that happens will stop that

is also it. We will take our leave from BBC One but you can join us

over on BBC Two in just a moment when our coverage continues. In the

meantime you can keep up-to-date online. Buy. -- goodbye.

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline. NI21 leader Basil McCrea

confirms he's fighting allegations of sexual