Sinn Fein Becomes Largest Party In Stormont, DUP Threatens To Stall Power-Sharing

Sinn Fein claimed a historic win for Northern Irish nationalists after final results of the assembly election were confirmed early Sunday morning.

• With 27 representatives, Sinn Fein becomes the largest party in Stormont and its leader Michelle O'Neill is the leading candidate to become First Minister.
• While the DUP came second at 25 seats, unionist parties still a higher combined number of seats than the nationalists.
• The key political aim of Sin Feinn is for Northern Ireland to secede from the UK and unite with the Republic of Ireland, but the British government has played down potential for a border poll.
• The UK, US and Ireland called for Northern Irish parties to re-establish a devolved administration, which operates under a system of power-sharing between unionists and nationalists.
• The Guardian reported that the DUP is planning to warn PM Johnson that it will stall power-sharing until Christmas as the party seeks to get rid of the Northern Ireland protocol.
• UK Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis will meet the leaders of Stormont's five main political parties today as he hopes to encourage them to form a power-sharing executive.