Sinn Fein is heading for a historic victory in Northern Ireland elections

Belfast-Sana

Sinn Fein, the nationalist pro-reunification party that appears poised for a historic victory in local elections, has announced that Northern Ireland is entering a new era.

With the counting of electoral cards in the elections that was organized two days ago to select 90 representatives in the National Assembly, partial results show a slight advance for Sinn Fein over its rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, which supports unity under the British crown.

"Today we enter a new era...it is a defining moment for our policies and our people," Sinn Fein party leader Michelle O'Neill said upon the release of the full results of the elections in her constituency, noting that she will adopt a leadership style that engages all parties to ensure diversity, rights and equality for those who have been excluded They have been subjected to discriminatory treatment and have been ignored in the past.

"The people have said their word and our party will live up to the responsibility," O'Neill added, expressing hope that others will be like this.

O'Neill emphasized that the first priority should be tackling the cost of living in the United Kingdom, referring to the ongoing debate over the reunification of Ireland a century after the annexation of Northern Ireland to British rule.

Sinn Fein's victory in the elections means that its leader will be the head of the local government in which the 1998 peace agreement stipulates that nationalists and unionists share power.

It is the first time in a hundred years that Sinn Fein has topped the former political front of the Irish Republican Army in an election in the province, which has seen tensions over Brexit.

In turn, the leader of the Unionist Party, Jeffrey Donaldson, conceded defeat, and said in a statement to Sky News, "It appears that Sinn Féin will be the most representative party."

But talks to form a new government appear complicated and portend total political paralysis, as unionists refuse to participate in any government without amending the trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In turn, the prominent leader of the Unionist Party, Edwin Potts, warned that negotiations, with some luck, could take weeks or perhaps months, while the British Minister in charge of Provincial Affairs, Brandon Lewis, is expected to arrive in Belfast.

Uncertainty again clouded Northern Ireland in February after the resignation of the Democratic Unionist Prime Minister Paul Geffan, in protest of the province's post-Brexit status.

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