Browse content similar to 03/03/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The biggest election turnout since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
There's been a surge in support for Sinn Fein - | :00:18. | :00:19. | |
Thank you so much to the electorate who have come out in strong numbers. | :00:20. | :00:33. | |
The vote has been increased because people know that action had to be | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
taken. They have had their say. The DUP called very notion that home in | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
a backdrop of the heating scandal. People want the Executive band | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
running and the Assembly and Executive to work on issues that | :00:49. | :00:50. | |
matter to them. Its leader Naomi Long tops the poll | :00:51. | :00:59. | |
in East Belfast but there have been big-name losses for the SDLP and the | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
Ulster Unionists. It hurts a lot. It is disappointment. I have had the | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
honour to represent this constituency since 1998. Good | :01:09. | :01:18. | |
evening. As the counting continues this Assembly election has produced | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
an increase in support for Sinn Fein. The DUP has largely held its | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
place. Alliance also saw an increase | :01:27. | :01:28. | |
in its share of the vote, but it hasn't been such a good day | :01:29. | :01:30. | |
for the Ulster Unionists The first big shock of the day | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
was Alex Attwood, the long-standing SDLP Assembly member, | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
losing his seat in West Belfast. And late this afternoon | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
the Ulster Unionist Danny Kennedy, who also served as a Stormont | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
Minister, was eliminated More people went to | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
the polls this time round. 64.8% of the electorate voted - | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
that's up ten points In a moment we'll travel | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
round all of the count centres to get an update on what's happening | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
where you are. First Mark Simpson gives us | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
an overlook at the state Thank you. This is what it is all | :02:02. | :02:14. | |
about after all. Seats in the chamber. More than 30 have now been | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
filled so let's see how things are shaping up. The largest party so far | :02:19. | :02:26. | |
is... Sinn Fein. They have 16 seats. Around half of the seats filled so | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
far. If we move across the chamber and see how the DUP are getting on, | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
they are lagging behind at the moment with nine seats. They got 38 | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
last time. They want at least 30 this time. They have a long way to | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
go but they do have time to close the gap and overtake Sinn Fein. We | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
will see. What about the other parties? Fiddle to the back of the | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
chamber we see the Alliance Party, a good that's what we go. Four seats | :02:52. | :02:58. | |
with them, a good day so far. It is not so good for the unionist benches | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
with Mike Nesbitt, only three seats so far. If we look at the SDLP they | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
have only got two. I have just heard that has now increased to three. | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
Good news there for Colum Eastwood the SDLP leader. One more seat to | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
tell you about, Gerry Carroll from People Before Profit. He has been | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
returned to Stormont from West Belfast. Those are the scores so far | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
but it is early days. This was a football match it wouldn't even be | :03:29. | :03:30. | |
half-time. A long way to go. The counting will continue this | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
evening, but the final line-up of MLAs is not expected to be | :03:34. | :03:35. | |
confirmed until tomorrow afternoon. Our political correspondent | :03:36. | :03:37. | |
Enda McClafferty has been keeping a close eye on the winners | :03:38. | :03:40. | |
and losers so far. The party's gamble to call | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
the snap election paid off We have seen strong Republican women | :03:48. | :04:07. | |
elected here today. I think it is an amazing day and we are delighted. | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
Thank you so much to those who have come out in strong numbers. The | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
thought has increased because people know that action had to be taken. We | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
need to get down to business and deliver for all substance because we | :04:20. | :04:21. | |
believe in equality. Key to the party's success | :04:22. | :04:22. | |
was the big rise in turnout, up on average of 10% on the last | :04:23. | :04:24. | |
Assembly poll. But as Sinn Fein celebrated, | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
the SDLP lamented the end of an era in West Belfast - | :04:28. | :04:29. | |
once a party stronghold. Clearly and personally disappointed | :04:30. | :04:41. | |
but I am much more disappointed for the party in West Belfast. Much more | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
disappointed from the SDLP supporters in West Belfast. I feel | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
much more for the party and for people in the constituency than I do | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
for myself. Disappointing though this outcome has been, after so many | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
elections and actually so many close calls. | :05:00. | :05:00. | |
And the Ulster Unionists also lost a long serving stalwart | :05:01. | :05:02. | |
in its former minister Danny Kennedy. | :05:03. | :05:04. | |
Yes, it is disappointing, but these things happen in politics. As in | :05:05. | :05:14. | |
Powell said, more political careers end in tears. I think prefer | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
Stevenson when he was defeated, he was too tired to laugh and too old | :05:23. | :05:24. | |
to cry. Last year's success story had little | :05:25. | :05:25. | |
to celebrate this time, as Eamon McCann predicted | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
he is likely to lose his seat, As the campaign went on I didn't | :05:29. | :05:39. | |
really feel I was storming the Winter Palace. It felt more like | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
Custer's lust and because the parties in West Belfast through a | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
hell of a lot of resources against People Before Profit. And here is | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
another familiar face who may well be out of a job as we can. If I lose | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
my seat it was very much because we were trying to balance the | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
constituency. We took the view that that is a risk that it was worth | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
taking to maximise the number of DUP boats in the Assembly and to try to | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
maximise the DUP performance inside of us. -- UB votes. | :06:08. | :06:09. | |
But the DUP vote held in other places, and the party easily faced | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
down the challenge of their former minister Jonathan Bell. | :06:13. | :06:14. | |
When myself and myself -- Michelle McIlveen, very high totals in first | :06:15. | :06:23. | |
and second place. Peter Weir polled exceptionally well and we will have | :06:24. | :06:27. | |
to wait for the later stages but we remain hopeful of holding on for the | :06:28. | :06:35. | |
three seats. The Ulster Unionist Party failed to make gains and their | :06:36. | :06:36. | |
party leader wasn't for talking. No such worries for Alliance | :06:37. | :06:38. | |
as they remained on course We wanted to offer people a positive | :06:39. | :06:48. | |
alternative and that's what we did. We talked about what we would do | :06:49. | :06:51. | |
differently and try to re-establish the Assembly on a footing that would | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
be sustainable but also able to deliver for people and a deep people | :06:56. | :06:57. | |
responded and connected with that message. | :06:58. | :06:59. | |
Elsewhere it was a day of mixed fortunes for others. | :07:00. | :07:02. | |
The Green Party are on course to retain their two seats, | :07:03. | :07:04. | |
while once again the TUV has failed to increase its numbers. | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
But as the big two party's prepare for post-election | :07:08. | :07:09. | |
negotiations, there was no hint of a thaw in relations. | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
You remember the UDR? Ye are not the person that should be sitting | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
there... With respect... With all due respect to you... | :07:24. | :07:25. | |
The final make-up of the next Assembly will not be known | :07:26. | :07:28. | |
We have reporters at every one of the counting centres. | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
Let's start with the biggest centre in Belfast, and Tara Mills. | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
Well, Donna, you join me in our studio here at | :07:42. | :07:44. | |
the Titanic Exhibition Centre where 20 MLAs will be | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
elected across the four Belfast constituencies. | :07:49. | :07:50. | |
So, what are the big stories here so far? | :07:51. | :07:52. | |
Well, probably the biggest name to lose a seat is the SDLP's | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
The Alliance leader Naomi Long has been re-elected with an increased | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
As has Sinn Fein's Mairtin O'Muilleoir in South Belfast. | :08:01. | :08:08. | |
Counting continuing in North Belfast but no one has been collected there | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
yet. With me now is Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill and | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
the DUP's East Belfast and Pete Gavin Robinson. Michelle, a good day | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
for Sinn Fein, the gamble paid off? A good day for Sinn Fein and | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
equality and also for democracy. The turnout is up by 10% and that shows | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
that people are motivated to come out and vote. To take a stand | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
against anti-corruption and anti-Brexit and for an and respect | :08:36. | :08:38. | |
and integrity in the institutions. It has been a great result and we | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
are very grateful to the people who have come out and voted to return | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
eight strong Sinn Fein team. We know how to do for the future and how we | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
will conduct ourselves in the next three weeks. My negotiating team is | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
ready to go and get stuck into dealing with the outstanding issues | :08:54. | :08:56. | |
which we need to deal with because we have always said consistently | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
what we don't need is another agreement, we need implementation. | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
We are up for that and we will come at it with a political leadership | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
and a will to try and find a way forward. But you sit in the | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
Executive of Arlene Foster? While she has a shadow hanging over her no | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
one can sit with her and supporter in offices of deputy of First | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
Minister. That doesn't mean we can't find a way forward. That is over to | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
the DUP to decide how they want to conduct themselves. People are angry | :09:25. | :09:27. | |
and that has been borne out by the people who have come out to vote. | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
For me today when a look at some of our candidates elected, all great | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
people, but it has been a strong day for women. To see so many young | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
women topping the poll in all constituencies is a good message and | :09:40. | :09:41. | |
a good news story for women in politics and it | :09:42. | :09:54. | |
bodes well for the future. Gavin Robinson, clarify this point about | :09:55. | :09:56. | |
Arlene Foster, can you see a situation where she would step aside | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
and not nominators but Mr? She knows she has our backing. She knows she | :10:00. | :10:02. | |
has the backing of the people in her constituency and south Tyrone but | :10:03. | :10:04. | |
right across Northern Ireland where the vote has held up in | :10:05. | :10:06. | |
extraordinary circumstances. We would never have picked the | :10:07. | :10:08. | |
atmosphere we have had to fight the selection in but the percentage of | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
votes share is holding up right across the province of it is a good | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
thing. That means that people understood and respected the message | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
we were bringing to them. But for all the nice dog and platitudes you | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
get from Sinn Fein is a hard end agenda there -- might talk. The need | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
responsible but strong unionists but Arlene continues to have our backing | :10:29. | :10:31. | |
and she is the leader that we place our trust in and the people are | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
placed their trust and to carry that board. So we are guaranteed no | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
Executive? We are guaranteed negotiations, no doubt about that. | :10:41. | :10:43. | |
Whether they last three weeks or three months or six months there is | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
a period of sustained period where we have an absence of Assembly and | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
that is in no 1's interests. That is why people save the election was in | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
the selfish interests of Sinn Fein, not on the interest of Northern | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
Ireland, we don't want no budget for public services or a situation where | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
we cannot engage in Brexit discussions where we do not have | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
Assembly. But you are not ruling out Arlene Foster stabbings aside and | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
not becoming First Minister? We support Arlene Foster. Not only the | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
support of the party but the people. The percentage share right across | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
Northern Ireland has been remarkable in extraordinary circumstances. | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
Michelle O'Neill, you have got the people to come out and vote and | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
there is an increase across the board and increased turnout. Can you | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
guarantee of those people who have taken a chance on Sinn Fein but this | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
time, maybe didn't before, there will not be a return to direct rule | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
or is that secretly watch Sinn Fein want? Absolutely, we would never | :11:39. | :11:40. | |
want direct rule. It would fail again. We want to find forward. We | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
believe and institutions. Nobody worked harder than Martin McGuinness | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
to make the institutions work and we believe it is in the public interest | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
to held accountable ministers taking decisions but you can't have a | :11:54. | :11:56. | |
government that doesn't have equality and respect at its core and | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
that is not true to the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and | :12:01. | :12:03. | |
where the public don't have faith in the integrity of the people making | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
decisions so clearly we have a lot of work to do to deal with those | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
issues but we want to get in there and we ask for the mandate to try | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
and tackle the issues and get back in but we don't need a new agreement | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
so I think it is doable in the weeks if there is the right attitude. We | :12:18. | :12:20. | |
said consistently we are not referring to the status quo and we | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
mean it because we can't. It is not in the public interest. We have to | :12:28. | :12:29. | |
have equality in government. How would you describe the relationship | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
between Sinn Fein and the DUP, Gavin? Not only did Sinn Fein plunge | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
us into this crisis but they made the election period incredibly | :12:37. | :12:38. | |
difficult in the demands they put forward, the route crests that they | :12:39. | :12:45. | |
had is dressed up as latitudes. It is one-sided for justice, legacy, | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
language and one-sided on their future view of how Northern Ireland | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
should evolve. Three weeks I think is a tad optimistic. Still some work | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
to be done obviously but thank you both of you for joining us. Let's | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
find out what is happening in the other camp centres with Keiron | :13:03. | :13:10. | |
Tourish in Foyle. Yes, here at the Foyle arena the count is continuing | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
for East Londonderry and Foyle. The story of the day has been the | :13:15. | :13:17. | |
Impreza performance of Sinn Fein. For the first time ever the party | :13:18. | :13:24. | |
has outpolled the SDLP on first preference votes and who would have | :13:25. | :13:26. | |
ever thought that in a place that was once John Hume's backyard and a | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
Bastian and citadel of the SDLP? That has resulted in Sinn Fein | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
retaining the two receipts for Elisha McCallion who topped the poll | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
and the former hunger strike. Sinn Fein say that vindicates the stance | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
taken by Martin McGuinness. For the SDLP the leader: Colum Eastwood has | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
been re-elected in the last half-hour. He is expected to be | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
followed by Mark H Durkan. Who will be the big loser in Foyle? It looks | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
like it will be Eamon McCann from People Before Profit and it looks | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
like Gary Middleton the standard-bearer for the DUP will | :14:03. | :14:11. | |
retain his seat. Here in Bangor it has been a good day for the DUP. In | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
North Down and Strangford they've topped the poll in both | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
constituencies, took two seats in North Down and on course to take | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
three and Strangford. Strong votes for Alliance and the Greens but the | :14:26. | :14:28. | |
threat from Jonathan Bell never came in Strangford and it looks like the | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
DUP will take three there. They very disappointing day for the Ulster | :14:34. | :14:35. | |
Unionist. Although they took one seat in North Down it doesn't look | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
like they will take a second in Strangford putting pressure on Mike | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
Nesbitt. Now we go to, with Julian Fowler. A short time ago -- Omagh. | :14:44. | :14:52. | |
We had a recount in the second count at Fermanagh and Tyrone win the DUP | :14:53. | :14:54. | |
leader Arlene Foster was deemed elected. Although she topped the | :14:55. | :15:02. | |
poll with 8479 votes that left her 232 short on first preferences of | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
the quota. Part of the reason for the increased turnout had raised the | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
quota level on last year and although her personal vote dropped | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
on a year ago her party colleagues Lord Maurice Morrow, his vote | :15:16. | :15:17. | |
increased slightly. She spent much of her time here inside a conference | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
room away from the media and after she was deemed elected a short time | :15:24. | :15:26. | |
ago we requested an interview with her but she will not be speaking to | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
the BBC, we were told. The other story here is Sinn Fein. Michelle | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
Gildernew and Jemma Dolan on course for two seats. The former MLA Sean | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
Lynch could miss out. He is fighting for the last seat and it will come | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
down to SDLP transfers and whether they go to him with the Ulster | :15:47. | :15:49. | |
Unionist Rosemary Barton who is currently 500 ahead having done well | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
on second preference votes. In West Tyrone Sinn Fein pulled over 21,000 | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
votes for the first time. Barry Michael Duff and Michaela Boyle were | :16:01. | :16:05. | |
elected along with the DUP candidate Thomas Buchanan -- Thomas Buchanan. | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
The big story in Banbridge is the loss of Danny Kennedy for the Ulster | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
Unionist Party. And increased turnout of 10%, and pretty | :16:15. | :16:21. | |
impressive vote for Sinn Fein. Three seat at the party in the Newry and | :16:22. | :16:24. | |
Armagh 's constituency. Danny Kennedy said the seat had been | :16:25. | :16:27. | |
washed away in the rising tide of Sinn Fein. He was very gracious in | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
defeat. He was making no predictions of his own future, nor any undue | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
criticism of his party leader. He signed off quite nicely, you may | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
have heard earlier, I am too tired to love and I am too old to cry. | :16:42. | :16:48. | |
Over in Upper Bann -- laugh. It is stepping up an interesting battle. | :16:49. | :16:51. | |
Carla Lockhart has been elected and she has been joined by her running | :16:52. | :16:55. | |
mate Jonathan Buckley. John O'Dowd is safe for Sinn Fein and it looks | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
like Doug Beattie is good for the unionist party and Jo-Anne Dobson | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
could be because castle deep but Dolores Kelly is making positive | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
noises about her bid for that fifth and final seat. In Lisburn and it | :17:08. | :17:16. | |
has been a slow day as far as the Lagan Valley count is concerned. | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
Just one candidate passed the post so far, the DUP's Paul Givan who | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
topped the poll and was elected after the first count. The story | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
will be and it might not emerge until tonight or tomorrow but it is | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
whether the DUP can hold onto three seats. I expect Edwin Poots to be | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
elected at some point but Brenda Hale their third candidate could be | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
in a fifth seed battle with Jenny Palmer of the DUP. Trevor Lunn of | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
Alliance has pulled very well and almost doubled his vote in Lagan | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
Valley and will be elected. Things are slightly more advanced in | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
Southdown. Two Sinn Fein candidates over the line, Sinead Ennis and | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
Chris Hazzard also elected, Sinead Bradley of the SDLP. All eyes on the | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
fifth seat where once again Alliance is doing well and is in with a shout | :18:10. | :18:16. | |
but it will probably go to: McGrath of the SDLP, two receipts, Jim Wells | :18:17. | :18:23. | |
will probably also be elected there. And I am in Ballymena, two camps, | :18:24. | :18:28. | |
Mid Ulster a strongly Republican area and the vote was up 14% and | :18:29. | :18:32. | |
that seems to have helped Sinn Fein to keep all three MLAs including | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
Michelle O'Neill. Their vote has been up. Plus the single unionist | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
candidate, the DUP's Keith Buchanan. Four seats, one left. Patsy McGlone | :18:43. | :18:51. | |
of the SDLP versus Sandra Overend of the Ulster Unionist Party. We hear | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
that Patsy McGlone is quietly confident and it seems that Sandra | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
Overend is vulnerable here. At the moment they are redistributing the | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
votes of five more candidates. Different story in North Antrim, | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
very strong unionist seat. Still no result here. No candidate selected | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
after ten hours. We are onto the fifth stage of exclusions. The quota | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
is about 8000 and the closest of that at the moment is Sinn Fein's | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
Philip McGuigan. He is apparently celebrating on social media even | :19:22. | :19:28. | |
though he has not been elected yet. People in contention here, Phillip | :19:29. | :19:31. | |
Logan of the DUP and Robin Swann of the UUP. We think it might go to the | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
UUP. Jim Allister of the TUV seems pretty safe here. Here in | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
Newtownabbey it is the south and east and camps. Both turnouts were | :19:42. | :19:48. | |
up more than 10%. -- Antrim. Sinn Fein's Declan Kearney came out top | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
of the poll and he was first elected in unionist dominated constituency. | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
The Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken was next and the Alliance Party David | :19:59. | :20:02. | |
Ford says he is confident he will be next in line. No DUP MLAs so far but | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
there are three candidates are fighting it out for those final two | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
seats. In East Antrim, last time round it was three DUP, one UUP and | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
one Sinn Fein. And one Alliance. David Hilditch was elected first | :20:19. | :20:25. | |
just like last year. Next up was the Alliance's Stewart Dickson and the | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs. Sinn Fein's Oliver McMullan a little | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
vulnerable. He remains so. The remaining two seats are being fought | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
over by the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP. Ita Dungan ending our | :20:38. | :20:45. | |
round-up. Our Political Editor Mark Devenport is with me. The voters | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
have had their say. How do some things? Sinn Fein will be the | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
tonight. They have forced the election to the resignation of | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
Martin McGuinness and they will feel vindicated by putting on four | :20:59. | :21:01. | |
percentage points. They are the largest party in terms of the vote | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
share. The DUP has still achieve that. The DUP has gone down 1%. That | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
said, the DUP against the backdrop all the publicity about the | :21:12. | :21:14. | |
Renewable Heating Incentive will feel a real -- will lead to make | :21:15. | :21:17. | |
that the slip wasn't any bigger. They will feel may be a bit | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
emboldened that they have at least held onto the top spot. In regard to | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
the DUP, a lot of talk beforehand about their eligibility for the | :21:28. | :21:30. | |
petition of concern. We have a long way to go yet, but how vulnerable | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
are they on that? There are still a possibility they might lose out on | :21:36. | :21:37. | |
that if they were to only get 29 seats, they would not be able to | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
wield a petition of concern on their own because they need 30. That is | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
very much something we won't be able to probably answer until tomorrow | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
when we see how the final seats come through. Leaders are always under | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
pressure in an election, some more than others in the selection | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
according to the results? A lot of talk that Arlene Foster will be | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
under pressure because of the negative publicity but they think | :22:02. | :22:04. | |
the leaders of the most pressure with those of the official | :22:05. | :22:07. | |
opposition, particularly Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionists | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
because even though the vote share has basically maintain the status | :22:13. | :22:14. | |
quo, they have tattooed, one would have to ask if they can't fight back | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
against the DUP in the circumstances what circumstances can they close | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
the gap? They seem unable to do it. A disappointing election for both. | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
The SDLP also. The Alliance have held their own even though others | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
have lost seats. How surprised you at the departure of Danny Kennedy | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
the seniors and Alex Attwood of the SDLP? It seems symbolic of the | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
difficulties faced by the two opposition parties. We have to also | :22:41. | :22:43. | |
remember that part of this is maybe not been able to capitalise on the | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
situation they found themselves in, part of it is also the fact that we | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
are seeing a shrinking Assembly from 108 seats down to 90. They were | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
clinging on to some of the last few seats. They were to some extent of | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
honourable. When the final vote is counted and we take stock of all | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
this, any signs in the conversations you have heard today that this is | :23:04. | :23:07. | |
going to move on? That is the problem. At the moment, not really, | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
because we still have the DUP in Sinn Fein has the power brokers | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
here. No doubt the secretary of State James Brokenshire will push | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
them to enter talks as soon as possible probably on Monday but | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
there is still a stand-off particularly over the dozens of | :23:23. | :23:24. | |
other Arlene Foster will be nominated as First Minister. She | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
might say, look, we are still the largest party in boats, we will have | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
to see how the seeds of doubt, why should I stand aside? No obvious | :23:34. | :23:36. | |
sign over the next few weeks of them resolving that. Or the many other | :23:37. | :23:40. | |
issues of which they are at loggerheads. Thank you. | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
In other news - "significant quantities" of human remains have | :23:44. | :23:45. | |
been discovered at the site of a former mother and baby | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
As our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports, | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
the home in Tuam was one of ten institutions where it's believed | :23:53. | :23:54. | |
about 35,000 unmarried pregnant women were sent over | :23:55. | :23:56. | |
The Tuam home was one of ten institutions in the Republic and to | :23:57. | :24:11. | |
which an estimated 35,000 pregnant unmarried women were sent. It is | :24:12. | :24:16. | |
said that a child would die there every two weeks between the mid | :24:17. | :24:20. | |
1920s and the 1960s. The commission of investigation was set up to | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
examine allegations about the deaths of 800 babies there and also | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
concerned about the manner in which they were buried. Today in its | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
report it said that it found significant human remains in 17 of | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
the 20 underground chambers that it examined. It also said that the | :24:39. | :24:44. | |
ranges of age of death ranged between 35 feet oh weeks and between | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
two or three years. It says it was very shocked at the discovery. The | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
children's minister here said that what was uncovered was very | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
disturbing and very sad but not unexpected given what had been said | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
about what was going on there. She added facts now had replaced | :25:04. | :25:05. | |
speculation. A man wanted over the murder | :25:06. | :25:07. | |
of the prison officer David Black He was arrested yesterday | :25:08. | :25:10. | |
in County Donegal. Damien McLaughlin, who is originally | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
from County Tyrone, was due to stand trial last month for aiding | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
and abetting the murder of Mr Black in November 2012, | :25:18. | :25:19. | |
but he skipped bail. The 40-year-old was | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
remanded in custody. The biggest gas supplier | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
in Northern Ireland has Customers of SSE Airtricity | :25:30. | :25:31. | |
will see their bills go The company says the increase, | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
which comes into effect next month, will see an average household paying | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
an extra ?36 a year. It's blaming the rise | :25:44. | :25:46. | |
on global gas prices. The High Court has ruled | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
that the Northern Ireland Executive has failed in its legal obligation | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
to implement an Irish Mr Justice Maguire said | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
the Executive was in breach of pledges made | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
in the St Andrew's Agreement The case was brought to court | :26:05. | :26:06. | |
by the group Conradh na Gaeilge, who said plans to protect | :26:07. | :26:14. | |
and enhance the language must The Irish trio Andrew Trimble, Craig | :26:15. | :26:27. | |
Gilroy and Jared Payne have been named in the Ulster backline for it | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
tonight 's game against Bennett in Treviso at the Kingspan Stadium in | :26:33. | :26:35. | |
Belfast. Heavy rain led to a pitch inspection a short time ago but the | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
game is going ahead at 7:35pm. Live coverage is on BBC Two from 7:30pm. | :26:41. | :26:48. | |
Now the weather with Geoff Maskell. I promise no talk of politics in the | :26:49. | :26:55. | |
next couple of minutes but plenty of discussion of rain. The rain that | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
has been with us all day is staying because of a night and for that rain | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
the Met office has a severe weather warning for rain in place. That is | :27:05. | :27:07. | |
valid through until the middle of tomorrow. It has been very stubborn. | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
All driven by an area of low pressure gradually over the Irish | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
Sea. Gradually a distracting north of not quickly enough to ship this | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
rain so it stays with us overnight tonight. More mild than last night | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
because of all of that cloud, four or five Celsius. Saturday gets off | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
to a bit of a soggy start. The promise of something a bit better | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
later on in the day. As the centre of the low moves north gradually | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
will start to see the rain and cloud peeling back from the south-east | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
corner. The best chance of brightness across Strangford and the | :27:40. | :27:42. | |
Ards Peninsula. Through the day gradually the rain will be | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
increasingly confined along the north coast but still a pretty | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
miserable day. As we go overnight Saturday into Sunday we keep the | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
ring going. More showery in nature. A few more gaps between the showers | :27:56. | :27:58. | |
and hence temperatures drop away a bit more. A bit cooler than we see | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
overnight tonight. This is all driven by low pressure. Another | :28:04. | :28:09. | |
couple coming through. One on Monday and then another one on Tuesday. | :28:10. | :28:13. | |
They both bring plenty of rain with them. Sunday looking like the best | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
other days. Still some rain in the forecast but there will also be a | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
bit more brightness between the showers. At least the chance to get | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
out and do one or two bits between the showery rain. Dr Butler seven or | :28:28. | :28:35. | |
eight. Monday is a dry start but not long before the rain appears that | :28:36. | :28:38. | |
the next low-pressure system starts to work its way in. All in all it | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
is, I am afraid, rather soggy outlook for the next few days but at | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
least you can sit in tomorrow morning and watch the rest of the | :28:49. | :28:51. | |
election results because else would you be doing? Our late summary is at | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
10:30pm on BBC One and now we go back to the special election | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
programme, but from me, by | :29:01. | :29:01. |