:00:00. > :00:17.Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson has topped the poll in the European
:00:18. > :00:24.She polled 159,000 first preference votes.
:00:25. > :00:27.That's more than 3,000 votes over the quota.
:00:28. > :00:32.The announcement of the first preference vote share
:00:33. > :00:35.was made at the counting centre at the King's Hall in Belfast
:00:36. > :00:52.The number of first preference votes given for each candidate was as
:00:53. > :01:02.follows. Jim Allister, TUV, 75,800 and six votes. -- 75,806. Martina
:01:03. > :01:45.Anderson, Sinn Fein, 159,000. 159, 813 thousand. -- hundred
:01:46. > :02:00.59,813. Alex, SDLP, it is 1594. -- Alex Attwood, SDLP. Mark
:02:01. > :02:12.Brotherston, NI conservatives, 4144. Ross Brown, Green Party, 10,598.
:02:13. > :03:06.Diane Dodds, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, 131,000...
:03:07. > :03:40.131,163 votes. Anna Lo, Alliance Party, 44,432. Tina McKenzie, Aspire
:03:41. > :04:05.To Better, 5,000 five -- 1553. Jim Nicholson, Ulster Unionist Party,
:04:06. > :04:14.83,438. Henry Reilly, UKIP, 24,584 votes. Martina Anderson has reached
:04:15. > :04:22.the quota and is deemed elected. It has taken just over nine
:04:23. > :04:25.hours for the first preference BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson has been
:04:26. > :04:29.watching the day's events unfold. His report contains some
:04:30. > :04:38.flash photography. The celebrations began before all
:04:39. > :04:42.the votes had been counted. The official result had been -- and
:04:43. > :04:48.before the result had been announced. We are delighted with the
:04:49. > :04:53.level of very strong support, right across Northern Ireland. We have had
:04:54. > :04:58.a good campaign where we were in every part of Northern Ireland.
:04:59. > :05:03.Absolutely delighted and honoured at the number of people who have voted
:05:04. > :05:09.for myself and Sinn Fein. This is a truly historic day for our party.
:05:10. > :05:13.It was a long day for all of the political parties. For some, and
:05:14. > :05:24.anxious day. Almost ten hours of counting the votes and it's not over
:05:25. > :05:29.yet. At the weekend, the TUV councillor became the party's first
:05:30. > :05:38.elected in Belfast. She made strong remarks three years ago. She wasn't
:05:39. > :05:42.an elected representative, she was barely out of school. You accept
:05:43. > :05:47.that her comments were foolish? barely out of school. You accept
:05:48. > :05:54.a M I think many of us have made foolish comment at various times.
:05:55. > :05:58.The leader of NI21, Basil McCrea, didn't want to talk about his
:05:59. > :06:02.political future. I cannot say anything because I am
:06:03. > :06:07.instigating legal action. My lawyers have told me not to speak.
:06:08. > :06:10.It was a time of bitter and heated election campaigns, but it ended
:06:11. > :06:13.with a smile. Let's go to the Belfast central
:06:14. > :06:16.count centre for this election to Europe and join Mark Devenport,
:06:17. > :06:18.our Political Editor. How do you read
:06:19. > :06:29.the first preference figures? Sinn Fein will be very satisfied as
:06:30. > :06:36.the Paul Toppers, although in terms of share it is marginally down on
:06:37. > :06:42.the situation in 20 -- 2009. -- the top of the polls. They have
:06:43. > :06:48.recovered some of the ground that they lost to Jim Allister. Both the
:06:49. > :06:53.SDLP and UUP have actually decreased as a percentage share. The Ulster
:06:54. > :06:58.Unionists will be able to satisfy themselves that they would probably
:06:59. > :07:03.get that third seat. That third seat probably won't be in peril. Most Jim
:07:04. > :07:07.Allister's vote has decreased in terms of share, he will be very
:07:08. > :07:14.satisfied with 75,000 votes. You will be able to wield a greater
:07:15. > :07:21.influence in Stormont. Do you think it's a done deal that the MEPs who
:07:22. > :07:25.are existing will get it? I'm pretty convinced that when you look at the
:07:26. > :07:28.number of votes, there are more people who could give transfers to
:07:29. > :07:32.Jim Nicholson bank would give transfers to Alex Attwood. I think
:07:33. > :07:36.Jim Nicholson will get that third seat. But it might be a long evening
:07:37. > :07:42.of eliminations and transfers before we get to that point. We waited a
:07:43. > :07:46.long time for the first preference votes. When do you think the total
:07:47. > :07:53.count will reach a conclusion? I could not even hazard a guess. We
:07:54. > :07:56.could be going late into the night, I would have thought. Thank you.
:07:57. > :07:59.The biggest loser in both elections in the Republic has been Labour and
:08:00. > :08:02.that's led to the party leader Eamon Gilmore announcing his resignation.
:08:03. > :08:05.He will stay on as Tanaiste until a successor is appointed.
:08:06. > :08:09.Our Dublin Correspondent Shane Harrison has more on this.
:08:10. > :08:23.Donna, three years ago he led the Labour Party to its greatest general
:08:24. > :08:29.election triumph with a 19% share of the vote. He went into a coalition
:08:30. > :08:32.with the Niguel and implemented a bailout programme designed to save
:08:33. > :08:40.the Republic from bankruptcy. -- with singer Gayle. In this year's
:08:41. > :08:46.European elections, Labour's share of the vote fell to just 7%. Eamon
:08:47. > :08:50.Gilmore announced his resignation saying he deeply regretted the loss
:08:51. > :08:52.of so many Labour representatives. Where we have had successes,
:08:53. > :09:00.of so many Labour representatives. be glad. Where we have fallen short,
:09:01. > :09:04.we mustn't doubt. Where new problems are rising, we must find solutions.
:09:05. > :09:09.We must and we will continue to build the country -- puts the
:09:10. > :09:15.country and the needs of the Irish people first. We must here, he'd and
:09:16. > :09:28.act on the clear message we received on Friday. -- keyed. If the Labour
:09:29. > :09:33.position leaves the coalition on shaky ground, where does that leave
:09:34. > :09:38.Sinn Fein? It will probably become more Independent and assertive in
:09:39. > :09:42.government. The reality is, the Republic's finances are such that 2
:09:43. > :09:48.billion euros needs to be taken out of the economy in this year's
:09:49. > :09:53.budget. That requires further taxation and public spending cuts.
:09:54. > :09:59.Sinn Fein will hoover up its vote as it has in this year's European
:10:00. > :10:02.elections. Labour is on course to take a seat in each of the three
:10:03. > :10:07.European consistencies -- constituencies in the Republic.
:10:08. > :10:12.The gardai have arrested five men over the discovery of a bomb.
:10:13. > :10:15.Yes, they arrested the men north of Dundalk in County Louth late last
:10:16. > :10:22.night. They are said to be known in dissident republicans. They found a
:10:23. > :10:27.cage inside a car containing bomb component parts. That bomb was
:10:28. > :10:30.believed to be brave -- being brought into Northern Ireland.
:10:31. > :10:32.Thank you. A man has appeared
:10:33. > :10:35.in court charged with threatening to kill a man during an alleged racist
:10:36. > :10:38.attack near Lisburn. Appearing at the city's
:10:39. > :10:40.Magistrates Court was 22-year-old Thomas David Finn, from Linencourt,
:10:41. > :10:42.Linenhall Street in Armagh. He is alleged to have attacked
:10:43. > :10:49.his victim, who is black, along the He is also charged with having
:10:50. > :10:52.a stick with intent He was remanded in custody and
:10:53. > :11:16.is due in court again next week. Some heavy downpours today and we
:11:17. > :11:21.can expect some more in the evening. The Met office has issued a weather
:11:22. > :11:28.warning for it showers will stop mainly across Fermanagh and Tyrone.
:11:29. > :11:33.Tonight, it is going to turn dry for us all. Temperatures around eight or
:11:34. > :11:36.9 degrees. Some mist and cloud for tomorrow morning, so a murky start.
:11:37. > :11:41.The cloud will stay with us but there will be some brighter spells.
:11:42. > :11:45.It's going to be a much better outlook than today with fewer
:11:46. > :11:51.showers. That fog lifting slowly and the cloud remaining stub to break
:11:52. > :11:56.up. Into the afternoon, there will be some brighter weather. It's a
:11:57. > :12:02.decent picture across Ireland. Plenty of dry weather to enjoy. In
:12:03. > :12:06.England and many areas of Wales, we have more rain to come and some of
:12:07. > :12:08.that will be heavy. Scattered showers for western Scotland,
:12:09. > :12:15.brighter and sunnier towards the east. Temperatures will be around
:12:16. > :12:19.the need to high teens for us all. In Northern Ireland, a few showers
:12:20. > :12:26.out there tomorrow afternoon. Towards the West, 18 degrees in
:12:27. > :12:32.Fermanagh. A bit on the cooler side on the coast. On Wednesday, staying
:12:33. > :12:37.fairly unsettled. It won't be raining all day, there will be dry
:12:38. > :12:39.weather, but feeling a bit cooler. For the rest of the week, it will
:12:40. > :12:45.stay unsettled. can also keep in contact with
:12:46. > :12:50.us via Facebook and Twitter.