Alliance Party surges as Sinn Féin leads pack

1. Sinn Féin has received the most first-preference votes
2. DUP vote has dropped dramatically while Alliance party has made big gains
3. Final seats will not be decided until later
4. The DUP and Sinn Féin are vying for the most seats. That comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister
5. The office of the first and deputy first minister is an equal one, but the allocation of titles is symbolically important
6. A unionist party has always been the largest in the assembly, and previously the parliament, since NI's formation in 1921

That's a wrap for tonight...

That's all for tonight from the BBC News NI live page coverage of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.

Four constituencies have concluded their counts – Newry and Armagh, East Antrim, South Antrim and Lagan Valley.

With 47 of 90 seats now declared, the count will pick up again at 09:00.

We will be back again in the morning to do it all over again as we find out who will fill the remaining seats.

Thank you for following along and please join us tomorrow.

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David Honeyford elected in Lagan Valley

David Honeyford has been elected for the Alliance Party, completing the count in Lagan Valley.

He joins his party colleague Sorcha Eastwood, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Paul Givan of the DUP and Robbie Butler of the UUP to make up the constituency's five MLAs.

It is the first time Alliance has won two seats in the constituency.

The SDLP's Pat Catney, who won his seat in 2017, lost out to Mr Honeyford at the final stage.

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Dad to the rescue for Alliance hopeful

Taking a break from the count proved problematic for Alliance's Peter McReynolds.

He's hoping to join party leader as an MLA for Belfast East, replacing outgoing Alliance assembly member Chris Lyttle.

Former DUP spad says party campaign 'too negative'

The former DUP special adviser Lee Reynolds has criticised the party's focus on a possible border poll during the campaign.

"It pushed the campaign too negative," he told the BBC.

"There's always been debates inside the DUP about the balance between positivity and negativity.

"I think maybe with a few of the personnel changes, they were probably left with some of the people that always preferred the negativity.

"I think the campaign went too far on the negativity."

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Newry and Armagh all wrapped up

Sinn Féin's Liz Kimmins, the DUP's Willian Irwin and the SDLP's Justin McNulty have all been deemed elected in Newry and Armagh.

They were all elected on the fifth count, meaning it is the third constituency to return all five MLAs.

The MLAs are:

• Conor Murphy (Sinn Féin)
• Cathal Boylan (Sinn Féin)
• Liz Kimmins (Sinn Féin)
• William Irwin (DUP)
• Justin McNulty (SDLP)

Forty-six of the 90 seats have now been declared.

The winners and losers of day one

Enda McClafferty

BBC News NI political editor

As the first day of counting draws to a close where are we?

The die has been cast now because we know the winners and losers of this particular process.

We know Sinn Féin are the big winners and will be returned as the largest party at Stormont.

The Alliance Party surge is continuing as well - the party came into the election the fifth largest party at Stormont and will be coming out the other side in third place.

The DUP's percentage vote has fallen, but the party may well escape with just losing two to three seats which was much better perhaps than many of the pollsters had predicted.

The TUV is also a winner and saw its percentage vote increase, but it's not quite clear yet whether the party will be able to tag on any extra seats.

The big loser is the SDLP - their vote has dropped and will be well below 10%.

The Ulster Unionists will probably stand still with 10 seats or so.

DUP's Trevor Clarke elected to South Antrim

All five MLAs have now been returned for South Antrim after the DUP's Trevor Clarke claimed the final seat.

South Antrim's make-up remains the same, returning two DUP MLAs and an MLA each from Sinn Féin, Alliance and the UUP.

The MLAs are:

• Declan Kearney (Sinn Féin)
• John Blair (Alliance)
• Pam Cameron (DUP)
• Steve Aiken (UUP)
• Trevor Clarke (DUP)

Stephen Walker/Twitter

Paul Givan hopes Sir Jeffrey will lead the party from Stormont

The DUP's Paul Givan, who held his Lagan Valley seat, says he is delighted with his party's performance in his constituency.

However his party's first preference vote is down overall in Northern Ireland and he says it's been a difficult election.

He says he takes comfort in the fact that "across the pro-union vote there is a 30,000 majority."

"That sadly has gone across three parties and we need to see how to maximum the number of unionist seats to reflect the unionist votes," he says.

"We need to work together across the unionist family," he says and adds that work must be done on increasing votes in the 'other' category - and appeal to voters who have cast their votes with Alliance or the Greens.

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His party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson shared a platform with TUV leader Jim Allister at anti-protocol rallies.

The TUV has increased its vote, Mr Givan says at his party's expense.

But what will Sir Jeffrey do? Stay as an MLA for Lagan Valley and resign his Westminster seat or stay at Westminster and put someone else into Lagan Valley in his place?

Mr Givan says his party leader wants to lead from Stormont.

"I hope that he is there to do that role - he is our leader and the leader of the DUP has to be at Stormont," he adds.

Matthew O'Toole back at Stormont

The SDLP's Matthew O’Toole has been elected in Belfast South.

He has taken the third seat, joining Deirdre Hargey of Sinn Féin and Edwin Poots of the DUP.

The declaration of his seat is the last of the day from the Titanic Exhibition Centre.

The count has wrapped up for the day and we will be back at 09:00 tomorrow for the remainder of the declarations for the four Belfast constituencies, south Down and Strangford.

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Matthew O'Toole has been elected in Belfast South

The wait continues in South Belfast

How things stand

As counting winds down for the night, here's the state of play.

Pacemaker

Forty of the 90 seats have currently been declared, and it's been a good day for Sinn Féin.

They have secured the largest first preference vote share - 29% - and has got 16 MLAs so far.

Pacemaker

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson topped the poll in Lagan Valley with 12,626 first preference votes.

The party currently has 10 MLAs elected.

The "Alliance surge" has seen two MLAs elected in East Antrim for the first time.

Sorcha Eastwood also won in Lagan Valley.

The party has won an extra 44,000 votes compared to five years ago.

In Upper Bann, UUP leader Doug Beattie is still waiting to see whether he'll be returned to the assembly.

However, Robin Swann topped the poll in North Antrim with 9,530 first preference votes.

The SDLP currently has one MLA elected, with the TUV's Jim Allister returning to the Stormont backbenches.

12 constituencies have suspended counts for the night.

• Strangford
• Upper Bann
• East Londonderry
• North Antrim
• South Antrim
• West Tyrone
• Fermanagh and South Tyrone
• North Down
• Mid Ulster
• Belfast West
• Belfast East
• Belfast North

Counts will restart tomorrow morning.

John O'Dowd elected

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd has been elected in Upper Bann, the first person to gain a seat there at this election.

The count has been suspended for the night and will resume in the morning.

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John O'Dowd smiles after retaining his seat in Upper Bann

TUV's Jim Allister elected in North Antrim

TUV leader Jim Allister will be back in Stormont after being elected on the fifth count.

He is the only TUV MLA elected so far.

Counting for North Antrim has now been suspended and is due to continue tomorrow morning.

'I think it's going to be a very good election for the Alliance Party'

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long is a good spirits at the Jordanstown count centre - and with good reason - her party has increased its first preference vote by about 44,000 to 116,681.

"We have had a really positive day. We are still in contention for a number of seats and I think it's going to be a very good election for the Alliance Party.

“We are still positive about Lagan Valley - it takes a long time in terms of votes and STV and seeing how the transfers go but it’s possible we will take a second seat in Lagan Valley," she tells the BBC's Stephen Walker.

As for East Antrim she is "optimistic".

"There is a real opportunity for us to take those two seats we are trying to get - you have to wait and see how the votes shake out."

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At this stage she says she thinks her party can take at least three, and doesn't rule out more than that.

Where have her party's votes come from?

"Ultimately they came from people who believed that by voting Alliance they would get positive, progressive politics and they would get people committed to delivery and would be able to start to move beyond managing division towards focusing on delivery," she says.

“That's what we sold as an election manifesto and that's what we want to deliver. That’s where our votes have come from - people who are sick of the stop-go nature of our politics," she adds.

'I'm sorry Chris isn't here for this'

Following his victory, Edwin Poots spoke about his former colleague Christopher Stalford.

He reached the quota on the fifth count in South Belfast.

Mr Poots replaced his friend Mr Stalford as assembly member for Belfast South after he died suddenly in February at the age of 39.

'I'm sorry Chris isn't here for this'

Unionist vote split to blame for lost seats - Sammy WIlson

The DUP's Sammy Wilson says he's disappointed by the way the day is going.

The East Antrim MP says some lost seats were expected and some were not.

"We can't control how the vote in the nationalist community has split - with the SDLP plummeting has given an advantage to Sinn Féin, and I don't think it's a good day for Northern Ireland but we have to live with the outcome the electorate has given us," he tells the BBC.

He says the Sinn Féin surge tells a story on two sides.

"On the nationalist side, voters have coalesced around Sinn Féin and that's why the SDLP vote has fallen whereas on the unionist side people still believe it's ok to indulge their egos and pursue their selfish agenda and have been happy to see the vote fragmented," he says.

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"If you actually look at it it in terms of total votes there are more unionist votes than nationalist votes but, the way the vote has broken down, it gives the appearance that Sinn Féin and nationalists are more dominant than they are," he adds.

Is that a clear swipe at the TUV's Jim Allister?

"We warned throughout the election that a vote for the TUV would not prevent Sinn Féin but could help them instead," says Mr Wilson.

DUP's David Hilditch clinches final seat in East Antrim

And then there were five - David Hilditch of the DUP takes the final seat in East Antrim.

East Antrim is the first constituency to return its five MLAs.

The MLAs are:

• Gordon Lyons (DUP)
• John Stewart (UUP)
• David Hilditch (DUP)
• Stewart Dickson (Alliance)
• Danny Donnelly (Alliance)

Stephen Walker/Twitter

'We're ready with our sleeves rolled up to work'

Two Alliance candidates have been elected in East Antrim in the fifth count.

Stewart Dickson is back again in a seat he has held since 2011. He will be joined on the benches by his running mate Danny Donnelly, who has gained a seat in the constituency.

Mr Dickson said: "Danny and I will be ready to work, but I've a message for others, if you don't want the job, don't bother turning up on Monday."

'We're ready with our sleeves rolled up to work'

DUP's Maurice Bradley elected in East Londonderry

Davy Wilson

BBC News NI

Maurice Bradley has been elected in East Londonderry amid cheers of delight and hugs from well-wishers.

It took six stages of counting and is the last action of the night in East Londonderry.

Counting is now suspended for the night.

It’s been a long day for the candidates and count centre staff at Magherafelt.

Two constituencies have now paused counting until tomorrow.

Edwin Poots wins seat in South Belfast

Former DUP leader Edwin Poots has been elected in South Belfast.

He reached the quota on the fifth count, having picked up 7,211 first preference votes.

The quota for the constituency is 7,824.