ONE of the most striking achievements in the election was the 7,731 votes polled by the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition a group formed only last month.
Although it won only 1.03 per cent of the total vote, it was enough to earn the new party ninth place overall, an automatic two delegates from the regional list, and a place at the all party talks table.
The six week old party achieved the same number of seats in the forum as the two fringe Loyalist parties - the UDP and the PUP.
Throughout the campaign, many of the NIWC's supporters were prepared to admit privately that their only realistic chance of forum representation was by finishing as one of the 10 largest parties and qualifying for two seats on the regional "top up" list. The party's 7,731 votes were sufficient to earn ninth place.
Its two delegates will be Ms Monica McWilliams and Ms Pearl Sagar, respectively Catholic and Protestant.
At the Newry Armagh count, one candidate, Ms Sheila Fairon, spoke about the impact the Women's Coalition had made on the mainstream.
"I spoke to someone who had been a party worker for 40 years and had never been asked to stand. This time around she was.
The coalition performed best in South Belfast, where it polled 947 votes. Its overall vote was larger than that of Labour, which finished 10th and also qualified for two seats on the regional list system. Parties which finished behind them included the Greens, the Conservatives and the Workers' Party.
The chairwoman of the National Women's Council of Ireland, Ms Noreen Byrne, congratulated the Women's Coalition on its "historic" success. Ms Byrne expressed delight that the coalition's message had reached the electorate and that it had won two seats against difficult odds.
"All the politicians face a daunting task in the forum and negotiations. It is a task that men and women must share since the outcome will be crucial for everyone," she saids.