Reaction: Unionists: The DUP was euphoric at Mr Jim Allister's retention of the Rev Ian Paisley's significant core vote.
Mr Allister derided the Ulster Unionists saying the days of "push-over unionism" had ended and vowed never to share power with Sinn Féin while its members were "allied to terror".
As Mr Jim Nicholson awaited the transfer of the DUP surplus and the eliminated Independent candidate, Mr John Gilliland, Mr Allister derided the Ulster Unionist performance. "The Ulster Unionist Party trails at half our vote," he said. Flanked by his wife and the Rev Ian Paisley, he added: "This, however, is not Jim Allister's victory. This is the victory of the unionist people of Northern Ireland because in this election there was a most trenchant and aggressive push by IRA/Sinn Féin to become the biggest party in this province by topping this poll."
"They failed," he said to DUP cheers. Referring to the strategy of seeking first preferences then transferring to the Ulster Unionists he said: "They failed because our strategy of win-win for unionism succeeded." Greeting the prospect of helping the election of a second unionist he said the message from the election was that unionism had spoken clearly.
Turning to the British government on the eve of renewed talks at Stormont he said: "Listen up Mr Blair. We're not going to settle for devolution with terror. We demand and, we will have, devolution without terror."
Turning to Sinn Féin, he said: "Listen up! You will never again enter an executive while you are allied to terror. He concluded with a cry used to effect at the DUP conference: "The days of push-over unionism have gone." Dr Paisley said his party, as in the Assembly elections last November, was cornering the unionist vote. His party was "on the march", he said.
"I promise you with all my heart and with all my soul that never again are we going to have terrorists in the government of Ulster," he said.
"Those in the minority had better awaken that a different day has dawned."
Mr Jim Nicholson summed up his day by stating: "The Ulster Unionists live to fight another day."
"Lots of our people stayed at home. They did not come out and vote for us." Asked why this was so he suggested they were "disillusioned". Turning to the scale of the DUP turnout, Mr Nicholson said: "I think you've got to look at this in light of the Assembly elections. The community has polarised. I blame the two governments for allowing this polarisation to take place."
He criticised London and Dublin over the implementation of the Good Friday agreement, saying: "The two so-called moderate parties in Northern Ireland have been passed out by parties on each side, on the extremes. We've got to ask the question, what did it do, what did it achieve?
"What have they done to ensure this didn't happen?"