The DUP's Mr Jim Allister and Sinn Féin's Ms Bairbre de Brún have been elected to the European Parliament following results from the first count in the Northern Ireland constituency.
Mr Allister polled a 32 per cent share of the vote (175,761) while Ms de Brún received just over 26 per cent (144,541).
The destination of the final seat appears far less certain, with UUP candidate Mr Jim Nicholson a narrow favourite to take the seat vacated by former SDLP leader Mr John Hume.
This would mean the SDLP candidate Mr Martin Morgan, with 3,000 less votes than his DUP counterpart, would lose out with serious implications for the leader of the SDLP, Mr Mark Durkan.
Of the other three candidates, Independent Mr John Gilliland polled strongly with 36,270 votes. His transfers are expected to have a significant impact on the destination of the final seat.
The turnout was just under 52 per cent, 8 per cent less than the turnout in the Republic of 59.7 per cent.