:00:00. > :00:00.look at the papers on the news channel. But
:00:00. > :00:09.Good evening. Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson has topped the poll in the
:00:10. > :00:13.European election and retained her seat. The counting is still going
:00:14. > :00:18.on, and will go until late night before they come back tomorrow
:00:19. > :00:21.morning at 9am. It was just before 6:30pm when the Chief Electoral
:00:22. > :00:32.Officer made the announcement of the first preference votes.
:00:33. > :00:36.The number of first preference votes given for each candidate was as
:00:37. > :00:59.follows. Jim Allister, Traditional Unionist Voice, 75,806. Martina
:01:00. > :01:20.Anderson, Sinn Fein, 159,000... Quiet please. 159,000 813. Alex
:01:21. > :01:36.Attwood, SDLP, 81,594. Mark Brotherston, NI conservatives, 4144.
:01:37. > :02:01.Ross Brown, Green Party, 10,598. Diane Dodds, Democratic Unionist
:02:02. > :02:19.Party, 131,000... 130. -- 131,163. Anna Lo, Alliance Party, 44,432.
:02:20. > :02:36.Tina McKenzie, -- Aspire To Better, 1553. Jim Nicholson, UUP, 83,004 --
:02:37. > :02:42.8438. Henry Reilly, UKIP, 24,500 and 84. Martina Anderson has reached the
:02:43. > :02:50.quota and esteemed elected. So let's look at the count figures
:02:51. > :02:55.in more detail. At stage one of the counts, Martina
:02:56. > :03:01.Anderson was elected, having passed the quota. Diane Dodds of the DUP
:03:02. > :03:07.was in second place. Mark Brotherston was eliminated. When it
:03:08. > :03:16.comes to the share of those first preferences, Sinn Fein are ahead on
:03:17. > :03:20.25.5%. The DUP or 29.9%. The other parties have a similar vote share.
:03:21. > :03:26.Compare that to last -- the last election, EP and Alliance have
:03:27. > :03:31.gained. Sinn Fein have a slight reduction. It took over nine hours
:03:32. > :03:35.for the first preference results to be confirmed. BBC Newsline's Mark
:03:36. > :03:39.Simpson has been looking back at events as they happened today Let's
:03:40. > :03:44.go to the King's Hall now. First to celebrate were the DUP.
:03:45. > :03:48.They were handing out the bouquets of flowers even before
:03:49. > :03:50.They were handing out the bouquets result have been announced. But top
:03:51. > :03:55.of the poll were Sinn Fein, making it a good day for the party on both
:03:56. > :03:58.sides of the border. Weather-mac absolutely delighted and really
:03:59. > :04:06.honoured at the number of people who have voted for myself. This is a
:04:07. > :04:10.truly historic day for our party. Second place with the DUP but they
:04:11. > :04:15.did increase their share of the vote. We are delighted with the
:04:16. > :04:19.level of very strong support right across Northern Ireland.
:04:20. > :04:22.level of very strong support right a good campaign where we were in
:04:23. > :04:27.every part of Northern Ireland 's full up the Alliance Party also
:04:28. > :04:34.increased their share of the vote. I'm so delighted, Anna, thank you.
:04:35. > :04:46.There was a strong performance from the DUP with Jim Allister pulling a
:04:47. > :04:53.large share of the vote. The counting isn't over yet. Not by
:04:54. > :05:05.a long way. At the weekends, the TUV's bunting became -- Joe bunting
:05:06. > :05:09.became the party's first MEP. Her party leader was asked about the
:05:10. > :05:14.comments she made on Facebook at the election counts. She wasn't an
:05:15. > :05:16.election result -- representative, she was barely out of school at that
:05:17. > :05:24.stage. I think many of us have made foolish
:05:25. > :05:28.comments at various times. The leader of NI 21, Basil McCrea, was
:05:29. > :05:32.that the count but did not want to talk about his political future.
:05:33. > :05:38.I cannot say anything because I'm instigating political action. When
:05:39. > :05:42.lawyers have told me not to speak. It was, at times, a bitter and
:05:43. > :05:53.heated election campaign, but it ended with a smile.
:05:54. > :05:59.Tara Mills is at the count centre. 13.5 hours of counselling and still
:06:00. > :06:02.no end in sight. What's happening here is unprecedented. There has
:06:03. > :06:07.been a lot of toing and froing going on about how and why the count will
:06:08. > :06:13.end. With me is our political correspondent. What are the options?
:06:14. > :06:16.Rapidly, the story of this election is becoming how long this count is
:06:17. > :06:24.taking to finalise. We are nowhere near an end. It has
:06:25. > :06:36.been over nine hours before we got the first counts. We have
:06:37. > :06:40.distributed Tina -- Martina was dash-macro Tina Anderson's surplus.
:06:41. > :06:43.They're going to come back in the morning and start all over again. It
:06:44. > :06:49.could be lunchtime, beyond lunchtime, before we know the final
:06:50. > :06:57.picture. It takes an extraordinarily long time. I asked the Chief
:06:58. > :07:01.electoral Officer White. It is the nature of the process.
:07:02. > :07:06.It is a manual process. It always takes a long time. I think it
:07:07. > :07:10.strengthens the case for a look at a lecture on enclosing and the
:07:11. > :07:18.introduction of a system that would have enabled us to complete this
:07:19. > :07:22.process simply in for five hours. We will be taking account of what the
:07:23. > :07:27.candidates say to me, but it becomes a time when it is and practical --
:07:28. > :07:32.impractical to continue to count. It could become a danger to people's
:07:33. > :07:37.health and safety. We have to take into account that people will have
:07:38. > :07:41.been working perhaps up to 24 hours. That is just not a reasonable ask of
:07:42. > :07:49.people. I will relive -- re-evaluate things at 11pm. Will there be any
:07:50. > :07:59.fallout from this? The fallout has already begun.
:08:00. > :08:06.Nigel Dodds's wife -- he says it's a travesty and questions must be
:08:07. > :08:11.asked. In the assembly election in 2011, there were three elections in
:08:12. > :08:15.one day and there was a critical report from the electoral
:08:16. > :08:17.commission. It's almost inevitable that there will be another
:08:18. > :08:22.investigation into what went wrong here, because frankly it is not
:08:23. > :08:25.acceptable. Candidates and the public should not be asked to wait
:08:26. > :08:31.for so long just to find out the results of an election. Thank you.
:08:32. > :08:38.We will bring you those results when they eventually do come out. For
:08:39. > :08:40.now, it's back to you. The biggest loser in the Republic's
:08:41. > :08:42.European and local elections The biggest loser in the Republic's
:08:43. > :08:45.been the Labour Party. Its leader Eamon Gilmore is stepping down. Our
:08:46. > :08:52.Dublin Correspondent Shane Harrison has more on that.
:08:53. > :08:58.Three years ago, Eamon Gilmore led the Labour Party to its greatest
:08:59. > :09:11.general election triumph with a 19% vote share. He went into coalition
:09:12. > :09:15.government with sinning gale. -- Labour's support collapsed - it
:09:16. > :09:22.seems he had little option. Labour's share of the vote slumped.
:09:23. > :09:30.Eamon Gilmore came under pressure to resign and he did so.
:09:31. > :09:34.A critical point for me in making my decision is that the party have to
:09:35. > :09:40.renew itself. It has a better chance of doing that with a newly. I think
:09:41. > :09:48.the future of the party needs a new voice at the microphone. Mr Gilmour
:09:49. > :09:51.will stay on as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for foreign
:09:52. > :09:56.affairs until his successor is appointed on July four.
:09:57. > :10:00.With Labour's supports collapsing, it seems he has little option.
:10:01. > :10:06.But what does that mean for the stability of the coalition? Ella M
:10:07. > :10:10.labour, with a newly jerk, is going to come under pressure to be more
:10:11. > :10:15.Independent and assertive under government.
:10:16. > :10:22.-- with a new leader. It needs to take 2 billion euros out of its
:10:23. > :10:28.budget. That means further spending cuts and rising taxes. There will be
:10:29. > :10:32.another general election in which it's quite likely that Sinn Fein
:10:33. > :10:40.will hoover up Labour's support. Labour isn't the only party that did
:10:41. > :10:45.badly. I recognise, of course, the
:10:46. > :10:48.challenges that families and individuals all over the country
:10:49. > :10:55.have in Ireland. The process has been wearing on them. People are
:10:56. > :10:57.saying it is time for us to see some return on our sacrifices. That is
:10:58. > :11:09.what the focus of government will be. The stronger the economy, the
:11:10. > :11:19.better the outlook. Within the last hour, Martina
:11:20. > :11:23.Anderson has been elected. Earlier today, Lynne Boylan from Dublin was
:11:24. > :11:30.also elected. The party is extremely confident that in the next few
:11:31. > :11:34.hours, or possibly tomorrow their candidates McCarthy will also be
:11:35. > :11:41.elected. Sinn Fein has had a very good election with local results
:11:42. > :11:49.trebling its vote share. It is now the single biggest party in Dublin.
:11:50. > :11:53.Thank you. In other news, two bodies have been
:11:54. > :11:56.found on an island, in Lough Sheelin in County Meath, in the month-long
:11:57. > :11:58.search for two Dublin men. 32-year-old Eoin O'Connor and
:11:59. > :12:01.Anthony Keegan, who's 33, were last seen in Cavan on the 22nd of April.
:12:02. > :12:05.Gardai suspect their disappearance was connected to the activities of
:12:06. > :12:07.an organised criminal gang. The Police have not yet confirmed the
:12:08. > :12:11.identities of the bodies. A man has appeared in court charged
:12:12. > :12:15.with threatening to kill a man during an alleged racist attack near
:12:16. > :12:16.Lisburn. Appearing at the city's Magistrates' Court was
:12:17. > :12:18.twenty-two-year-old Magistrates' Court was
:12:19. > :12:24.Finn, from Linencourt, Linenhall Street in Armagh. He is alleged to
:12:25. > :12:28.have attacked his victim along the Lagan Towpath on Saturday afternoon.
:12:29. > :12:31.He is also charged with having a stick with intent and assaulting a
:12:32. > :12:37.police office. He was remanded in custody and is due in court again
:12:38. > :12:41.next week. There's been a real buzz in Bangor
:12:42. > :12:46.with swarms of bees taking over parts of the seaside town. Just a
:12:47. > :12:50.few stragglers remained on a garden wall this evening, but earlier today
:12:51. > :12:56.this swarm, estimated to be made up of 15,000 bees, settled there.
:12:57. > :12:59.Nearby, a motorist got more than they bargained for when another
:13:00. > :13:03.swarm took over the front of the vehicle. It's thought they're
:13:04. > :13:06.looking for a new place to permanently settle, but are said to
:13:07. > :13:11.be harmless so long as you don't touch them. The weather is next with
:13:12. > :13:20.Barra Best. Rory McIlroy has moved up to number
:13:21. > :13:24.six in the world golf rankings following his victory at the PGA
:13:25. > :13:29.championship at Wentworth yesterday. It was his first win on the European
:13:30. > :13:34.Tour in a year and a half. Let's get the weather.
:13:35. > :13:42.An exciting evening for some of us with thunderstorms out there. But it
:13:43. > :13:46.will be a dry night for us all with temperatures dipping to around nine
:13:47. > :13:49.degrees. There will be some low cloud, mist and fog developing
:13:50. > :13:55.before tomorrow morning, so a marquee start. But it will be a much
:13:56. > :14:00.better day. A lot of cloud but it will be mainly dry. That cloud will
:14:01. > :14:03.be thick and stubborn to break up in the morning, but gradually it will
:14:04. > :14:09.brighten up. There will be spelt of sunshine at times. The best of any
:14:10. > :14:14.sunny spells to begin with, the further south you are. A decent
:14:15. > :14:18.start for Scotland but by the afternoon showers along the West
:14:19. > :14:23.Coast, brighter along the east. For many areas of England and Wales,
:14:24. > :14:30.unsettled with spells of heavy rain. Towards the south-east, temperatures
:14:31. > :14:35.of 16 or 17 degrees, and cooler further north. Tomorrow, there will
:14:36. > :14:41.be a few shattered -- scattered showers through the afternoon.
:14:42. > :14:46.Towards the West, temperatures of 17 or 18 degrees. Cooler towards the
:14:47. > :14:50.East Coast. Into Wednesday, it will stay unsettled with spells of rain
:14:51. > :14:54.at times. Not all the time, there will be some dry weather but it will
:14:55. > :14:58.be a cool day with temperatures at just 12 degrees. For the rest of the
:14:59. > :15:03.week, we do hold onto that unsettled weather. Some brighter weather to
:15:04. > :15:06.enjoy below as well. BBC Radio Ulster and News Online continue our
:15:07. > :15:07.election coverage. Our next