NI Council election 2023: Sinn Féin on track for ‘important result’

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By Nuala McCann and Chris Andrews, BBC News, May 20, 2023, at 06:58 GMT

Updated 27 minutes ago

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Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou MacDonald in The Count at Belfast City Hall

Sinn Féin’s vice-chairman says it is on track to achieve an important result by becoming the largest party in Northern Ireland local government.

The party won the most seats so far with 131, compared to the 105 candidates returned in 2019.

Michelle O’Neill reiterated her call for Stormont’s institutions to be restored.

The DUP holds over 110 seats with 60 yet to be announced.

Stormont Council and the governing executive are not functioning due to protest by the DUP over post-Brexit trading rules.

Ms O’Neill said the Sinn Féin council campaign, which saw breakthroughs in Lisburn and Ballymena, was about “positive leadership, it was about taking back executive power, it’s about making politics work”.

DUP leader Sir Geoffrey Donaldson has said his party wants to bolster its vote for a mandate to seek changes to post-Brexit rules so it can return to Stormont.

“It is about ensuring that Northern Ireland’s ability to trade with the rest of the UK is not only respected, but protected by law, and restoring our place in the union,” he said.

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Sir Geoffrey Donaldson said his party’s vote had been good

Elsewhere, the Alliance Party has increased the number of council members and is now back over 50 members.

The party secured its first ever council seats in Ballyclar, Fermanagh and Limavady.

Re-election of the Council

It was a disappointing election so far for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP), who both lost out on aggregate seats.

Doug Petty, the union’s leader, said his party’s message was clear but it didn’t resonate.

He added, “It’s also clear that many unionists and pro-union people simply don’t get out to vote, so we have a real problem getting people out their doors.”

DDP leader Colum Eastwood said the election was a “reaffirmation of last year’s General Assembly election,” adding that he did not think he should stand down.

“I have no interest in titles or positions, but if I think the right course of action is to step down [as leader]I would do it in a heartbeat.”

To date, more than 377 out of 462 members have been elected.

In all, 807 candidates contested seats on the eleven local councils in Northern Ireland.

There were 1,380,372 people registered to vote and the turnout was 54%.

If recent elections have increased the number of allies, this time some are describing the results as a tsunami of Sinn Féin.

In Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, where counting ended overnight, Sinn Féin is now the biggest party for the first time.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) holds its position in many regions but appears likely to step back from being the largest party in local government.

The coalition, which was the big winner four years ago, has gained support in some areas but struggled in parts of the northwest.

UUP and SDLP pressed on with both parties losing some recognizable faces.

The Greens lost their second leader in 12 months, and the Progressive Unionist Party lost its seat in Belfast to the Traditional Unionist Vote (TUV).

People before winning also lost one of their 2019 wins and are facing more battles today.

As the shape of our eleven councils began to take shape, the political tectonic plates began to shift.

Speaking to BBC News NI, the coalition’s deputy leader, Stephen Fary, said the results so far may “slightly increase” the chances of a return to executive power.

“The TUV has not dealt blows to the DUP, I think the DUP probably has more room to maneuver,” he said.

“From our point of view the assembly should not be interrupted, we should go back.”

It was a mixed picture for other smaller parties in the 2023 Majlis elections.

PPP leader Billy Hutchinson, who was first elected as a member of the Belfast Assembly in 1997, lost his seat, while Mal O’Hara, leader of the Greens in Northern Ireland, was also absent.

In Derry and Strabane, People Before Profit and Aont gained seats on the council for the first time.

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