What they said
"We are not any longer going to be pushed around as if we were some sort of poor children needing help. We're just as good as any Welshman or any South African and we are entitled to have freedom. Our forefathers fought for it, our fathers fought for it, we have fought for it, and we're going to have our birthright . . . We'll not talk to Sinn Féin until they talk to the [ British] government and forswear their alliance with terror."
- DUP leader Ian Paisley
"For all politicians on the doorstep I think the message has been very clear - it's time to stop the messing about. There has to be powersharing and I think Ian Paisley knows that . . . I expect the two governments to stick to their declaration and, if they don't, then clearly both governments will be a laughing-stock."
- Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin's chief negotiator
"We need an executive, but whether or not we will get one will depend on how far the DUP push their tendency for date-defying politics . . .
"The terms for going into powersharing indicate they will do it for one term only, and while we want to look forward positively, we should not be naive."
- Mark Durkan, SDLP leader
"[ Voters] have sent out a clear message that they see there's an alternative to sectarianism and segregation . . . It sends out a positive message.
"We are people who are concerned about making the Assembly work, and people have responded to that message."
- Naomi Long, Alliance Party deputy leader, who outpolled UUP leader Sir Reg Empey
"The Ulster Unionists will be in any administration and will be a constructive force for change." - UUP leader Sir Reg Empey
"The people have spoken and they have said, 'get on with it', and that's what Ian Paisley has to do."
- Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams
"I'm not naturally affiliated with either the orange or green traditions here and so my home is left-of-centre social politics . . .
"Chinese people waited for up to 40 years before they felt comfortable enough to vote, simply because they could never identify with anybody . . ."They know someone will now be responding to their voice."
- Hong Kong-born Anna Lo, newly elected Alliance Party member for South Belfast
"Wham, bam and it was won!"
- Iris Robinson, wife of DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson, in Strangford as she was returned as the constituency's first Assembly member
"We wanted to hold David [ Ervine's] percentage but we surpassed that. No matter what happens the rest of the day, it is a victory for the PUP . . . I know that if David was still with us, he'd be ecstatic. He'd have said: 'Well done DP'." - PUP leader Dawn Purvis
"Michelle Gildernew needs to get her priorities right. Is she supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland or not? Which is it?"
- DUP MLA Arlene Foster, speaking in response to Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew, who said that if she saw armed dissident republicans she would not report them to the PSNI