SDLP LEADER COLUM Eastwood has said his party is facing a “tough election” as suggested that nationalist voters swung to Sinn Féin to “send a message to the DUP” that a nationalist can be first minister. 

No results have yet been announced in Northern Ireland’s Assembly election but Sinn Fein is being predicted to be the largest party, something which would entitle them to nominate a first minister. 

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood at the count centre in Magherafelt, Derry, today. PA Images PA Images

No nationalist politicians has ever held the position previously in Northern Ireland and Sinn Féin leant heavily on this point during the campaign. 

The DUP and other unionist parties have declined to say they would participate in a power-sharing government with a Sinn Fein first minister and Eastwood said today that he feels this helped Sinn Fein and hurt his own party.  

Among the concerns for Eastwood’s party is that deputy leader Nichola Mallon might be at risk of losing her seat in North Belfast. 

“Sometimes in politics it’s just the tide is against you, it felt like that this time, particularly the last few days when the mood went to sending a message to the DUP that nationalists weren’t going to be locked out of any position,” Eastwood told the BBC. 

I think we ran a good campaign, it’s just sometimes you can be faced with an immovable object, which is a mood with a nationalism to make sure that nationalist was was allowed to be first minister. Even the idea of saying that infuriated people, that nationalists might be locked down to the first minister’s position. 

Sinn Féin representatives have argued that the main factor in the performance of the party was a “positive campaign”. 

Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill. PA PA

As Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill has arrived at the Magherafelt count centre, she said that it was “very early days”. 

“It’s been a really, really positive election campaign,” she told reporters.

Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew told the BBC that voters “wanted change”. 

 It was very heartening to be on the doors and I think that message of change resonated with people and not just with Sinn Fein voters.

Alliance surge

Early indications also suggest that the Alliance Party will see the biggest swing in its favour and are on course to significantly increase the eight seats they held in the 90-seat Assembly after the 2017 vote. 

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Alliance Party leader Naomi Long. PA PA

Arriving at the election count at Titanic Exhibition Centre, Alliance leader Naomi Long said it looks like a good day for her party.

It certainly looks like it has been a positive election for us but there is a long way to go before we have any results and as always, until it is actually there on the board and counted, I never take anything for granted. But yeah it looks like it has been a good day for Alliance.

She added: “We fought a positive campaign, we fought a campaign that was focused on what we could do if we could get a government up and running. That has to be the focus and I think people responded to it. There is precious little hope available for people at the minute, it has been a pretty grim couple of years and the politics has been pretty grim to match it. We just offered people hope that things could be better and that’s what we want to deliver on.”

Speaking on the BBC, Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry reamined coy about how many seats his party might win but said it would be “at least 10″ and that they “look in good shape in a number of other seats”. 

- With reporting by Press Association