Counting continues in local election
Three quarters of the seats have already been filled with big increases for some of the smaller parties
Last updated 4th May 2019
Day two of the local election count is underway
There are 462 seats up for grabs across the 11 council areas.
As counting began again on Saturday morning 318 had already been filled.
It was a celebration of the smaller parties yesterday - with The Alliance Party, The Green Party and People Before Profit gaining a number of important seats.
It was a difficult day for the UUP though. The party lost a number of seats across the province.
The DUP are leading the way with over 80 councillors elected so far.
Speaking at the Antrim and Newtownabbey count, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said he was very happy with his party's performance, saying its vote had increased.
"Certainly here in Antrim and Newtownabbey, across all of the DEAs, our vote has gone up and we have again further consolidated our position as the party of unionism, I think that is very, very clear both here, in greater Belfast and west of the Bann, we have had some really good results, we have had a very, very good day,'' he said.
"I am delighted with some of our results west of the Bann, we are taking extra new seats in places where we haven't done before, and pleased that a lot of our sitting councillors have been returned, but we have also got some very good fresh blood coming through, young people here in Macedon, we have a young councillor Dean McCullough who is going to be a real asset in the council along with experienced hands, and I am delighted to see them all do so well.''
The DUP's first openly gay candidate was also elected yesterday.
Alison Bennington was propelled onto Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to represent the pro-union and Christian party and praised her supporters' "good, hard work and good teamwork''.
The DUP's founder, the late Rev Ian Paisley once led a campaign to, in his words, Save Ulster from Sodomy and prevent the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Sidelined former DUP health minister Jim Wells has said his former leader would be "aghast'', but her victory was greeted by cheers and hugs from her supporters at a leisure centre near Belfast.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said Miss Bennington winning a seat and the party's policy on same-sex marriage were two separate issues.
The son of a prison officer shot dead by dissident republicans in 2012 was also elected for the DUP.
Kyle Black's father David died following a motorway drive-by shooting.
It was a slow start for Sinn Fein. But at the end of play on Friday night they were looking strong with 74 seats - just a few behind the DUP.
Sinn Fein's deputy leader Michelle O'Neill said: "For us it is about a platform and a stronger mandate in which to enter into the talks next week and we will do so with a good heart and trying to find a way forward.
"Certainly the message I heard loud and clear on the doors was that the people want the assembly and the executive to work but they want it to work right and work for them.''
Speaking about her party's excellent results, Alliance leader Naomi Long said: "I think people reached a point in this election where they thought it cannot get any worse, if I change my vote how much worse could it be and they have decided to give it a go.''
Ms Long said: "People came to the polls this time aware that a vacuum politically will be filled by violence inevitably in Northern Ireland, it is an unfortunate reality of our circumstances.
"People very much want to see that kind of shared future that we want to build and that shared present that Lyra actually lived in her own life.
"It has inspired people to come out and vote maybe with a bit more hope and a little less fear.''
One seat which will be closely watched on Saturday is the one being contested by Barry McElduff.
The former Sinn Fein MP resigned after angering relatives of 10 Protestants shot dead in a sectarian massacre.
Mr McElduff is standing for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in the local government poll.
He stepped down last year after an outcry prompted by him posting a video of himself balancing a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head.
It was put on his Twitter account on the anniversary of the Kingsmills atrocity.
The elections come just days ahead of a fresh bid to restore Stormont's powersharing institutions. Talks will begin on Tuesday following the shooting dead of journalist Lyra McKee, 29, by dissident republicans in Londonderry.