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Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein and DUP top respective polls
But RHI falling out means Westminster direct rule looms large

SINN FEIN and the DUP looked set to clean up their respective sides of Northern Ireland’s sectarian divide as counting got under way in the snap election yesterday.

After the first round of voting in the single transferable vote election, republican Sinn Fein had taken 27.9 per cent and the Democratic Unionist Party 28.1 per cent.

But with the two erstwhile partners in the executive forswearing a return to a powersharing government, direct rule from Westminster loomed large.

  • CPI national executive member Kerry Fleck and Communist Party of Britain general secretary Rob Griffifths will speak at a public meeting at the Belfast Ramada Encore hotel at 7pm on March 24 public meeting in Belfast on winning unity for a people’s Brexit.
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