Editorial: As unionist hegemony ends, nationalism isn’t the only thing taking its place

The Assembly election results have left Sinn Féin as the largest party in the North, but the doubling of the Alliance’s support cannot be ignored

Michaell O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s leader in the North: the party received 250,000 first preference votes in the proportional voting system. Picture: Getty

Something fundamental is shifting in the North. Last week’s election for the Assembly and Executive showed Sinn Féin for the first time as the largest single political party. It received 250,000 first preference votes in the proportional voting system, some 66,000 ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), its closest rival. In the last Assembly election in 2017, by contrast the DUP beat Sinn Féin by 1,300.

The result provides conclusive evidence that the days ...