The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party secured the most votes in the local elections in Northern Ireland, according to the first results which show that the former political wing of the IRA is close to a historic victory.
In particular, Sinn Féin secured 29% of the vote against 21.3% for the Democratic Union Party (DUP) – which favors Northern Ireland’s stay in the UK – as reported by the British BBC and the Irish RTE after the count results from the 18 constituencies.
The DUP has warned, however, that its party will refuse to run in a local government with a prime minister from Sinn Féin unless London and Brussels make significant progress in negotiating Northern Ireland’s special customs status after Brexit.
“Until we make that progress, I have made it clear that I will not nominate ministers,” DUP chief Jeffrey Donaldson told Irish television, referring to the Northern Ireland Protocol governing post-Brexit trade.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
