The DUP and Sinn Féin have continued their political surge forward at the expense of the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP by each taking seats in the European Parliament election in Northern Ireland.
For the first time since European elections began in the North, the SDLP will have no representative in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The DUP candidate, Mr Jim Allister, was returned on the first count with over 175,000 votes, more than 38,000 votes over the quota, thus achieving his ambition to top the poll over Sinn Féin's Ms Bairbre de Brún, and maintaining the poll-topping tradition of DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley.
Ms de Brún was also elected on the first count, taking over 144,000 votes, more than 7,000 over the quota.
The Ulster Unionist candidate, Mr Jim Nicholson, was returned on the third count, but he required the surpluses of Mr Allister and the transfers of independent candidate Mr John Gilliland.
Both Sinn Féin and the DUP believe they will continue to make gains. Spokespersons for the two parties predicted that between them they could take 16 of the North's 18 seats, and possibly all 18, in the British general election which could be held early next summer. The DUP now holds six seats and Sinn Féin four.
Talks aimed at restoring devolution resume at Stormont today. The Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, said he believed a deal could yet be struck with the DUP, while Mr Allister insisted his party would only share power with the "pseudo-democrats" in Sinn Féin if the IRA went out of business.
The election was hugely disappointing for the SDLP, the only avowedly pro-Europe of the four main parties in Northern Ireland. Mr John Hume was at the King's Hall count in Belfast yesterday to see Sinn Féin's Ms de Brún take the seat which he held since 1979 and decided to vacate earlier this year.
The SDLP candidate, Mr Martin Morgan, won under 88,000 votes yesterday, which is 103,000 votes fewer than Mr Hume took in 1989.
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, accepted that there were lessons for the party in the result, but he had no intention of resigning.
He said the SDLP would organise a special conference this year to examine how to restructure the party to try to meet the challenge of the more efficient Sinn Féin political and electoral machine.
The results reinforced the essentially tribal nature of Northern politics, with 49 per cent of the electorate voting for the two unionist parties, and 42 per cent supporting Sinn Féin and the SDLP.
The election was disappointing for the three candidates not aligned to the main unionist and nationalist groupings, although independent candidate Mr Gilliland took over 36,000 votes.
