Antrim & Newtownabbey: Sinn Fein showing positive results in early stages with only four of six wards being counted today

In 2014 the party won three council seats in the whole borough.

In 2019 it was five.

And though it is still early days in the counting process, Sinn Fein at time of writing has four councillors elected now, with Rosie Kinnear and Michael Goodman polling in the high hundreds in Glengormley, giving them a reasonable chance of taking a seat each too.

Importantly, only Dunsilly, Antrim, Glengormley, and Ballyclare are being counted today; the other wards of Threemilewater and Macedon (which each have a Sinn Fein candidate standing) and Airport (which has two) will be counted tomorrow.

What’s more, one of the four areas being counted today – Ballyclare – is effectively a dead zone for the party, where it barely managed 80 first-preference votes.

Meanwhile the DUP have taken four seats at this stage, and the Alliance Party one.

However, much still hangs in the balance, and there could yet be a sea-change in direction. Stay tuned.

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