Sinn Fein replaces DUP as largest party in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon

Jumping from ten seats to 15, Sinn Fein leapfrogged the DUP to become the largest party on the council for the first time.

Those additional five seats for Sinn Fein were the result of a vote share increase of 8.4% to 30.4%.

There was some consolation for the DUP in that, although no longer the largest party, the party’s respresentation on the council has increased from 11 seats to 13 with a 28.6% share of the vote (up 0.7%).

The marathon count process began at Banbridge Leisure Centre on Friday morning and concluded after 3am on Saturday.

On completion, the counted ballot papers revealed that behind the 15 seats for Sinn Fein and the 13 for the DUP, the UUP returned six councillors and Alliance four.

The remaining three of the 41 seats were shared between the TUV, SDLP and one independent.

Among the newly-elected Sinn Fein members was Mary O’Dowd (Lurgan) – wife of the party’s Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd.

The sole independent candidate to be elected was returning councillor Paul Berry representing the Cusher District Electoral Area (DEA).

Cllr Berry is a former DUP MLA for Newry and Armagh.

One of the biggest setbacks for the UUP on the night was the loss of Jill McCauley who has been a councillor for seven years.

Mrs McCauley, who operates a dairy farm near Rathfriland with husband Robert, represented the Banbridge DEA and is also the current Ulster Unionist chairperson.

She described the election outcome as a “bitterly disappointing” day.

Another key UUP loss was Councillor Sam Nicholson in Armagh. Mr Nicholson had been an elected representative for nine years and is the son of the party’s former MEP Jim Nicholson.

In a farewell message on social media on Saturday morning, Mr Nicholson said: “Yesterday politics, and in particular unionism within the ABC area, had a bad day.

"Yes, some were rightly celebrating as they increased their seat number and others were commiserating, but keep in mind this has not been a victory for unionism in Northern Ireland – but it is maybe a wake up call!

"But for sure there is much work to be done.”

It was business as usual in the Lagan River DEA with all five sitting councillors being returned – Mark Baxter, Paul Rankin and Tim McClelland for the DUP, Jessica Johnston of Alliance and the UUP’s Kyle Savage.

Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had travelled from Lisburn to Banbridge in time to join the DUP trio as they celebrated their return to the council.

In the Cusher DEA, Keith Ratcliffe of the TUV was elected and becomes his party’s first ever representative on ABC council.

In Portadown, UUP councillor and former mayor Julie Flaherty was re-elected in the Portadown DEA.

She was joined by newly-elected Sinn Fein representative Clare McConville-Walker, sitting SF councillor Paul Duffy and three DUP members Kyle Moutray, Alan Mulholland and Lavelle McIlwrath.

Cllr Flaherty’s unsuccessful running mate Zoe McCullough, tweeted her disappointment on Saturday morning, saying the election campaign had been a “tough gig”.

She said: “interesting to see the vote patterns and who actually did get elected. Let’s hope they work as hard as the people who were sitting and lost seats.”