Sinn Fein has become the largest party in local government in Northern Ireland for the first time after making large gains in the council elections.
Of the 462 seats across 11 councils, Sinn Fein won 144 seats, an increase of 39 from the last council election in 2019.
It overtook the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which won 122 seats, the same number as in 2019.
Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill said on Saturday that the results are “momentous.”
The Irish nationalist party—which used to be the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA)—will be the largest party in six local government areas, including Belfast, while the DUP will have the largest representation in five councils….