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The BBC News NI website will have all the latest news on the resignation of NI First Minister leader Arlene Foster.

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Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor

The fact political careers are judged on their ending rather than their beginning is unfortunate for Arlene Foster, says BBC News NI's political editor Enda McClafferty.

"Arlene Foster’s electoral success for the DUP increased their numbers in the assembly to 38," he says.

"When you consider the party is now sitting on 28 in the assembly, it shows you how far that has fallen away.

"It also has to be said she faced many challenges, not least her own stewardship of the RHI scheme and the fallout from that.

"We know, of course, what happened in terms of Brexit, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the Irish Sea border."

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams extends his best wishes to the outgoing first minister.

Mr Adams, who led his party from 1983 to 2018, wrote "Ádh mór Arlene" on Twitter, which translates to "good luck Arlene".

BBC News NI political reporter Jayne McCormack says she understands there will still be a NI Executive meeting tomorrow, which Arlene Foster will attend.

Arlene Foster has endured a turbulent time as DUP leader and the fall-out from Brexit - which the party supported - has put particular pressure on the party's top brass as it faces having to weather the storm caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, which imposed a border down the Irish Sea.

In her resignation statement, Mrs Foster says Northern Ireland has been destabilised by the protocol.

Speaking of "highs and lows" of the past five-and-a-half years as DUP leader, she says: "The protocol being foisted upon Northern Ireland against the will of unionists has served to destabilise Northern Ireland in more recent times."

She also referred to the "untold harm" of devolution and the RHI inquiry.

Image source, Pacemaker

But there were also "high points".

They include the 2016 Assembly election and the DUP's "best ever" Westminster result the following year, and the Troubles pension.

The opinions of grassroots unionists "are being ignored", says the chairwoman of the Ulster Bands Forum.

Speaking to BBC News NI earlier, Valerie Quinn, from Coleraine, says the DUP needs "root and branch reform" and not just a change of leadership.

"The biggest problem I can see with the DUP is that they have become 'big house unionists', exactly what they accused the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) of being so many years ago," she says.

Brian Dougherty, a community worker in unionist areas of Londonderry says, like Valerie, he has voted DUP in the past.

He said there was a "certain sense at the moment that the DUP is kind of lacking direction".

Mr Dougherty says he was involved in carrying out research of unionist and loyalist households in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.

About 300 households, he says, were asked for their opinions of political unionism and only 19% of respondents said they thought it was doing a good or a very good job.

Read more here.

Image source, Pacemaker

Health Minister Robin Swann says the “the internal machinations of the DUP over their leadership will be up to the party to deal with”.

But he says he recognises the challenges Arlene Foster has faced, particularly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) representative said that anyone who has led a party, held a ministerial role, or held both roles at the same time, “will realise that there are large personal sacrifices”.

As lockdown restrictions ease in Northern Ireland, the health minister said: “There’s still a long way to go and I hope we still have a collective government and a five-party executive to take those decisions and make those announcements and supports for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Former NI justice minister Claire Sugden says Arlene Foster's toughest role was "leading the DUP".

Writing on social media, she says she "worked well with Arlene" and "knew a different character behind the scenes".

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs tweets that while they bring "different perspectives to some issues", the DUP leader has "worked sincerely, tirelessly" in her role as party leader and first minister.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says Arlene Foster served "with courage, conviction and a big heart for Northern Ireland".

He thanks her for her service to the party, people and country, and wishes the Foster family well for the future.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon writes on social media that she may have "political differences" with Arlene Foster but it was clear that the DUP leader "was passionate about her constituents and Northern Ireland".

"I have no doubt this will be a difficult time for Arlene and her family," adds the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) deputy leader.

Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey says that "on a human level, it's uncomfortable to see a politician forced out in this manner and I wish Arlene Foster well for the future".

"However, Arlene Foster leaves behind a chequered political legacy that will include the scandal of RHI and blindly following the ultra Brexiteers of the ERG (European Research Group)," she says, in a statement.

"The DUP has a responsibility to ensure a smooth transition and political stability at this time.

"The Covid crisis remains and the consequences of Brexit, which the DUP backed, are only starting to be felt."

Arlene Foster "fell out of favour and she has paid a price for that", says Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister.

"That will be hard and difficult for her to come to terms with," he tells BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

"As politicians you need to be hard-skinned and I am sure she will pick up and I wish her all the best in picking up and moving on with her life."

Image source, Pacemaker

Mr Allister says he wants to work with whoever succeeds Mrs Foster to "maximise the anti-protocol vote" in the next assembly election.

He also says he wants to "assist in the restoration of the union to the place it should be in".

Urging the next DUP leader to avoid "riding two horses", he says, "they cannot say they are opposing the protocol while implementing it".

Tánaiste (Ireland's deputy PM) Leo Varadkar says he was "very sorry" to hear that Arlene Foster was stepping down.

The pair had worked together for 10 years, he adds, initially when both were tourism ministers working on north-south projects such as the Rugby World Cup.

He says this relationship continued "in more difficult times during Brexit" when they were Taoiseach (Irish PM) and first minister.

Image source, Pacemaker

“I really want to wish her the very best in her future life and whatever she decides to do," Mr Varadkar continues.

“Her closing statement today really resonated with me – this understanding we must have that people in Northern Ireland are Irish, British, Northern Irish, or a mixture of all these things, and that we have to be generous to each other and understand each other.”

In a video statement, First Minister Arlene Foster says "it has been the privilege of my life to serve the people of Northern Ireland as their first minister and to represent my home constituency of Fermanagh/South Tyrone".

Former DUP MLA and minister Nelson McCausland says issues have been building up in the party "for a considerable period of time".

"There has been, I think, disquiet, as far back as the 2019 Westminster election which was a difficult time for the DUP," he tells Evening Extra.

"What has really transformed things over the past while has just been the coming together of a whole series of issues which have deepened resentment within the unionist community."

Image source, Pacemaker

Mr McCausland cites the reaction to the Bobby Storey funeral and nationalist calls for a border poll among the reasons which have concerned unionists.

He says it is now "an opportunity to rebuild the party".

The DUP's Sammy Wilson says "the time has come to move on" from Arlene Foster's leadership of the party.

Explaining that she had served both party and Northern Ireland "very well", the East Antrim MP says pressure had been building for some time.

He says the first minister has been "carrying the can for things which were beyond her control in the Covid restrictions" and has been the "lightning rod for criticism of the difficulties the assembly had".

Image source, Pacemaker

"We have to move on," he tells BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

"Maybe a new leader will not be able to escape from some of the unfair criticism which has been attached to Arlene on this.

"Whoever we choose has a huge task ahead of them and we need to unite around that."

Mr Wilson also says he will not confirm whether or not he signed a letter of no confidence, describing it as an "internal thing for the party".

"I don't believe that we need to wash our internal affairs in public," he adds.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald says "unionism is at a crossroads".

In a statement, she acknowledges Arlene Foster's work alongside Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and the Northern Ireland Executive through the Covid-19 pandemic.

She says Sinn Féin will work with the new leader with "generosity and respect".

Image source, Pacemaker

"The inbuilt unionist majority is now a thing of the past," she says.

"Progressive social changes such as marriage equality are happening.

"Brexit and Covid-19 are also driving the politics of change.

"There is no going back."

Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin says he wishes Arlene Foster "the very best for the future" and believes she will "continue to make an important contribution to public life".

As the first female first minister and DUP leader, he says Mrs Foster "sent a strong message to women about what can be achieved in and through politics".

Image source, Pacemaker

Reflecting on the difficulties facing governments on both sides of the border during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Martin also pays tribute to Arlene Foster's "role in guiding Northern Ireland through this challenging period".

"I have had a positive working relationship with Arlene in a variety of roles over the years," his statement reads.

"In particular I valued the constructive engagement, notwithstanding our differences, we have had in our respective roles as taoiseach and first minister."

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood sends his good wishes to Arlene Foster on social media but says "regardless of personnel changes - the fundamental problems haven't changed, and neither have the solutions".

He says the next leader of the DUP must "reflect on how we work together to unite our communities".