It's certainly looking like a good election for Alliance.

An emotional party leader Naomi Long begins her declaration speech with a tribute to her family, and in particular her father-in-law, who passed away just days ago, who she dedicates her win to.

"It has been a rollercoaster of a week for us as a family and as I said yesterday I want to dedicate this win to my father-in-law," she says.

"I think all of us who stand in politics know that we could not do it without the support of our families."

The cross-community Alliance Party places itself in the centre of Northern Ireland politics, distinct from the two traditional tribes of unionism and nationalism.

It supports policies such as integrated education - where Catholica and Protestant children are educated together - and reform of the Stormont institutions.

"People took massive risks in this election in order to deliver better and deliver more for Northern Ireland and it paid off.

"I'm hugely proud of what Alliance have achieved but I'm also hugely blessed to be leading a party of the calibre of Alliance with people who are so dedicated, so committed and so selfless in their service".

Patsy McGlone retains his seat for the SDLP in Mid Ulster on the eighth count.

He completes the five-member team in the constituency.

The former deputy party leader has been an MLA for the area since 2003.

Mid Ulster's team of MLAs are:

• Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin)
• Keith Buchanan (DUP)
• Emma Sheerin (Sinn Féin)
• Linda Dillon (Sinn Féin)
• Patsy McGlone (SDLP)

Image source, Julian Fowler/Twitter

The final seats for Belfast East are declared with the DUP's David Brooks and UUP's Andy Allen elected on the 11th count.

It means Alliance and the DUP both have two seats in the constituency.

Alliance had the largest share of first preferences votes in the constituency with 32.4%.

The final results are:

• Naomi Long (APNI)
• Joanne Bunting (DUP)
• David Brooks (DUP)
• Peter McReynolds (APNI)
• Andy Allen (UUP)

Gerry Carroll has managed to hold on to the seat he first won back in 2016 in Belfast West.

Looking ecstatic with the result, he thanks everyone involved in his election campaign and lays out what his party's priorities will be.

"It is disgraceful at the time of a cost of living crisis, the workers who kept society going through Covid are having to fight to get a decent pay offer," he says.

"Any incoming executive must deal with pay of workers as an absolute priority from day one."

Some good news for the DUP in Belfast North as Phillip Brett is elected.

This is Mr Brett's first time running in the Stormont elections, having been a councillor for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council since 2013.

He joins Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly and Carál Ní Chuilín who were deemed elected on Friday.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald says "the future is bright for all of us" as she urged unionists “not to be afraid”.

The party leader was speaking at the Magherafelt count centre, where she welcomed her party’s election results.

“It’s clear that our vote has surged, we have had a very positive and successful campaign and we look forward now to getting back to work,” she said, adding that she was well aware that people are struggling badly with the cost of living crisis.

Ms McDonald said there was a colletive responsibility to get government "up and running quickly”.

"This is not a time for theatrics, this is not a time for playing games this is the time for grown up sensible partnership politics, that’s what people want," she said.

"The idea, at a time of a cost of living crisis, that people would stand on the sidelines and allow people to struggle, and struggle badly for us is unthinkable, so we would appeal to everybody to take stock."

Alliance look set to take a second seat in North Down, with it coming down to a battle between the party's Connie Egan and the Green Party's Rachel Woods.

Ms Egan is more than two thousand votes clear with the 10th round of counting underway.

South Down now has a full roster of MLAs.

The DUP's Diane Forsythe and SDLP's Colin McGrath have both been elected on the sixth count.

Colin McGrath will be returning to Stormont, having been an MLA for the constituency since 2016.

But, this will be Diane Forsythe's first time on the Stormont benches, after she was selected to replace former Health Minister Jim Wells by the party.

The MLAs for South Down are:

• Sinéad Ennis (Sinn Féin)
• Cathy Mason (Sinn Féin)
• Diane Forsythe (DUP)
• Colin McGrath (SDLP)
• Patrick Brown (Alliance)

It still looks like Sinn Féin is set to become Northern Ireland's biggest party.

So could this be the first step towards Northern Ireland holding a vote on Irish unification (also known as a border poll), potentially resulting in it leaving the UK and becoming one country with the Republic of Ireland - which is Sinn Féin's ultimate goal?

Well, its not quite that simple.

The Northern Ireland Act 1998, external - which followed the signing of the Good Friday peace Agreement - stated that Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom and "shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a poll.

It also stated that the Northern Ireland secretary should hold a poll if it appeared likely that a majority of people wanted a united Ireland.

Successive opinion polls suggest that is not yet the case, with the most recent, published in April, external, putting support at about a third.

While party leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Friday night her party was on the cusp of securing the post of first minister, she said planning for a unity referendum would come within a "five-year framework".

A relieved Doug Beattie takes to the podium in Magherafelt.

The Ulster Unionist leader says his "heart is still pumping" after his battle to retain his seat.

He goes on to thank everyone involved in his election campaign, giving special mention to those involved in allowing the election to happen.

Mr Beattie also says he has no plan to change course after the party failed to see a growth in its support.

"We can all work together, we should all work together, and I will not be derailed, I will not change course. I will continue to promote positive, confident, optimistic unionism," he says.

On course for a historic result, Sinn Féin's deputy leader Michelle O'Neill says the election result "ushers in a new era".

In her declaration speech in Magherafelt, she says today represents a "very significant moment of change".

"It is a defining moment for our politics and for our people," she says.

"Today ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine our relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality and on the basis of social justice.

"Irrespective of political, religious or social backgrounds, my commitments is to make politics work."

We're heading into the final hours of counts at Titanic Exhibition Centre, Magherafelt and Jordanstown, so what's been happening?

Image source, Darran Marshall/Twitter

More than two-thirds of Stormont's blue benches have been filled, and 10 of Northern Ireland's constituencies have been fully declared.

Sinn Féin, which is set to be the largest party on the hill, is on 21 seats.

Alliance is on a roll, and set to be the third-largest party with 15 MLAs.

Patricia O'Lynn in North Antrim has made history as the constituency's first female MLA, and first Alliance MLA.

In Upper Bann, Eóin Tennyson clinched the final seat.

Patricia O'Lynn's election in North Antrim means the DUP has lost veteran MLA, Mervyn Storey.

But Stephen Dunne claimed a seat in North Down and Paul Frew held onto his seat North Antrim.

UUP leader Doug Beattie retained his seat in Upper Bann, with all eyes for the party now on Foyle to see if Ryan McCready will oust the DUP's Gary Middleton.

In Belfast North, it's a close call between Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon of the SDLP and Alliance's Nuala McAllister.

If Sinn Féin can win 26 seats then that will confirm it as the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

If it reaches that total then the DUP will be unable to overtake it based on the other counts currently taking place.

We have 21 seats out of 90 still to declare:

• Two in Belfast East
• Three in Belfast North
• Three in Belfast West
• Three in East Londonderry
• Three in Fermanagh and South Tyrone
• Three in Foyle
• Two North Down
• Two in South Down

David Wilson
BBC News NI

Alliance's Eóin Tennyson has taken the final seat in Upper Bann.

He was the last to be elected on the eighth count.

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd, who topped the poll, says the people of Upper Bann have sent a "clear message that they want power sharing to work".

Diane Dodds of the DUP tells supporters had been a "good solid support for the DUP in Upper Bann".

Leader of the UUP Doug Beattie says unionism "needs to change course, be more positive and more optimistic".

The final results are:

• John O’Dowd (Sinn Féin)
• Jonathan Buckley (DUP)
• Diane Dodds (DUP)
• Doug Beattie (UUP)
• Eóin Tennyson (APNI)

David Wilson
BBC News NI

It had looked like a result was imminent but following the surplus distribution of the DUP's newly elected candidate Alan Robinson, it is very close between Alliance's Chris McCaw and Cara Hunter of the SDLP.

So close that it is understood the Alliance candidate has asked for the votes to be counted again.

Sinn Féin's leader Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill have arrived in Magherafelt.

Ms McDonald says it has been a "defining election" for the party.

Addressing the gathered scrum of journalists, she says is "looking forward to Michelle's declaration".

Michelle O'Neill says it has been a "hugely positive campaign, and I am really grateful to everybody who has come out and supported all of the Sinn Féin candidates".

"A fantastic team of MLAs has now returned and we will be turning up on day one to deliver on the things that we committed to throughout the whole of the campaign," she says.

"It has just been absolutely a powerful campaign."

Mark Devenport
Former BBC News NI Political Editor

In the late 1980s, when I first arrived in Belfast as a young reporter, Sinn Féin were routinely described on the BBC airwaves as "the political wing of the IRA".

Sinn Féin wasn't coy about its relationship with the IRA.

If you asked Gerry Adams or Martin McGuinness to denounce an IRA bombing or shooting, they were likely to tell you they didn't engage in "the politics of condemnation".

Image source, PA Media

If you had told me back then that, 41 years to the day that IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands died in prison, the voters would be elevating Sinn Féin to the top spot as Northern Ireland's biggest party, I would have been sceptical, to say the least.

Read more analysis from Mark on the significance of the Stormont election result here.