Sinn Féin's leader Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill are expected at Magherafelt's count centre shortly.

Activists have gathered to celebrate the party's performance, with it on track to become the largest in Stormont.

With 66 of 90 seats declared, it has taken 21 seats, matching its result from 2017 but having seen its share of the vote increase. And there are more seats still to come for Sinn Féin.

You may have noticed that BBC Northern Ireland's live TV and radio coverage of the Stormont election has paused for some sports action.

It is Saturday afternoon after all and there is a little matter of the Irish Cup Final to be decided.

However, our digital coverage of the election is continuing and when there is a declaration in any constituency, we'll stream video footage of the announcement live on our website.

Just click on the green "play" button at the top of this page.

Patricia O'Lynn from Alliance says she is "absolutely elated" after winning the fifth and final seat in North Antrim.

It is a breakthrough result for the party as it is the first time they have claimed a Stormont seat in the electoral area which has traditionally been a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stronghold.

She is also the first woman to represent the constituency at Stormont.

Her election will come as a shock to unionism as it meant the veteran DUP assembly member and former minister Mervyn Storey lost the seat he had held since 2003.

Ms O'Lynn told BBC that Alliance in North Antrim were a "party of history makers and history breakers".

"I think people have come out to vote Alliance because they know that we are workers and not wasters and they know that we won't waste a single vote that was given to us," she says.

"That we have a mandate of hope rather than fear and that we want to deliver for all the people of Northern Ireland and especially North Antrim, which has disproportionally been a constituency ruled by fear for the entirety of Northern Ireland's history."

See the full results for North Antrim here.

Lewis Goodall
Newsnight policy editor

Let's have a walk through where we have been in Northern Ireland since the Stormont executive was first created back in 1998.

There has been continuity and change in that time. Continuity in the sense that you always have those two major blocs - the nationalist and the unionist - but they have been represented by different forces over that time.

If you go back to 1998, you had the Ulster Unionist Party, who tended to come out on top and be the primary vehicle for unionism, and the SDLP were the primary vehicle for nationalism.

But almost from the get go, that inverted, and you saw a rejection of those two more moderate groupings in favour of their counterparts - the unionist DUP and nationalist Sinn Féin - who were always close to each other.

Today, the DUP have fallen way back, Sinn Féin will be on top, and the non-sectarian Alliance Party, who have always skirted along the bottom, have leapfrogged into third place.

It is not that the primary vehicles have changed so much, but their respective popularity has done so, due to the fragmentation of the DUP vote and the rise of what could become the crucial component going forward - the Alliance Party.

Image source, PA Media

The Alliance Party, a cross-community group which does not designate as either unionist or nationalist, are having a good election, currently up five seats on the last ballot.

One of its newest elected members, Peter McReynolds, describes the count as "a rollercoaster of a day", with "the best results we've ever had".

Asked how many more seats his party could win, McReynolds says: "I don't know where we can stop.

"The Alliance Party is for everyone. Northern Ireland is full of people who just want their politicians to get to work and to deliver for them on a daily basis."

Asked about the DUP's opposition to the protocol, he admits the agreement is "an imperfect solution", but he puts the blame at the unionist party "seeking a hard Brexit", adding: "We need to try and make it work to make Northern Ireland work."

So what about a border poll? McReynolds remains tight-lipped on his views, saying: "Until it is put down in front of the people there is no point in having the discussion.

"Let's work on the here and now."

Sinn Féin’s Órlaithí Flynn has been elected in Belfast West, with Paul Doherty of the SDLP eliminated on the seventh count.

Ms Flynn joins her Sinn Féin colleague Danny Baker, who was elected on first preference votes.

The party have a further two candidates, Pat Sheehan and Aisling Reilly, battling it out for the remaining three seats, with the DUP's Frank McCoubrey and People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll also in contention.

In Belfast East, the Alliance Party has secured a second seat with Peter McReynolds elected on the ninth count.

He joins party leader Naomi Long and Joanne Bunting from the DUP.

David Wilson
BBC News NI

The pace has picked up at the Magherafelt count centre, with a spate of early afternoon results.

One more constituency being counted here, West Tyrone, has now declared its five assembly members.

That’s two down with five to go.

Among those crossing the line here today have been high-profile DUP member Diane Dodds and UUP leader Doug Beattie.

There’s a sense of hope, or maybe wishful thinking, the remaining constituencies will declare this afternoon - with one exception, Foyle.

Depending on who you talk to at the count centre, expected declaration estimates for that constituency range from late afternoon, to much, much later on. So we could be in for a long wait.

Sinn Féin’s Declan McAleer (above) has taken the fifth and final seat in West Tyrone.

There were huge cheers at the Magherafelt count centre when he joined his Sinn Féin colleagues, Nicola Brogan, who was elected on first preference votes, and Maolíosa McHugh, elected at stage 6.

We now have a final result in West Tyrone, with the constituency returning the same five assembly members.

The final results are:

• Nicola Brogan (Sinn Féin)
• Maolíosa McHugh (Sinn Féin)
• Tom Buchanan (DUP)
• Daniel McCrossan (SDLP)
• Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin)

UUP leader Doug Beattie has been elected in Upper Bann.

He secured the fourth seat in the constituency on the seventh count.

Mr Beattie joins Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd, and the DUP’s Jonathan Buckley and Diane Dodds.

Mr O’Dowd’s surplus is currently being transferred, with his Sinn Féin colleague Liam Mackle 600 votes behind the Alliance Party’s Eoin Tennyson.

Image source, Press Association

It has been a tough day for the Green Party, losing both of its assembly members including leader Clare Bailey.

It bucks a broader trend - while the Green Party saw increased success across Great Britain in the council elections, its sister party in Northern Ireland will now not be represented in the assembly.

Speaking to Radio Ulster, Ms Bailey says her party members “can hold [their] heads high” and that the party had managed to bring forward legislation during its time in the assembly.

"I think we are looking at the five-party block being solidified," she says.

"This is the same five parties that have been in the executive for decades now, and voices outside of that are being really squeezed at the minute."

She says her party's struggle may have been down party to people wanting to "give the DUP a bit of a bloody nose" and the success of Alliance.

Ms Bailey adds she will be "paying close attention” to other party's green policies.

It might be all smiles here from the Ulster Unionist former leader Mike Nesbitt, but he had to wait nearly two days for confirmation he would be returned in Strangford.

Yesterday morning, he conceded that he was under pressure to retain the seat he's held for 11 years - but after several rounds of counting, he made it across the line.

"Unpredictable, tortuous, brutal" - that's how he described the single-transferable vote system to our reporter Ciara Colhoun.

Want to know more about how that system works? Here's more on just that: What is Northern Ireland's voting system?

The DUP's Mervyn Storey has lost his seat in North Antrim, with Patricia O'Lynn (above) from the Alliance Party securing the constituency's fourth seat.

Storey is a major figure in the party, having served twice as a minister. He's held a seat in North Antrim for 19 years.

O'Lynn's election is a historic moment - she is the first woman to take a seat in the constituency.

The final results in North Antrim are now known. Those elected are:

• Robin Swann (UUP)
• Philip McGuigan (Sinn Féin)
• Jim Allister (TUV)
• Paul Frew (DUP)
• Patricia O'Lynn (Alliance)

It looks like another win for Alliance, with Patrick Brown (above, getting a hug from his party leader Naomi Long) set to pick up a seat at the fifth count in South Down.

Elsewhere in the county, the DUP's Stephen Dunne (below) has been elected in North Down at the seventh count.

While we wait for the results to be finalised, it's clear that the next big question will be the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive and appointment of a first and deputy first minister - and questions remain over whether the DUP will take part, as it continues to protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says he will make it clear whether he is going back to Stormont or staying at Westminster next week.

Speaking to BBC NI's Mark Carruthers, he says he is committed to leading the DUP into those political institutions but "the choreography of all of that we will work out".

"The party officers will sit down, we will consider what we need to do now to get the action that is required from the government, I will be making my decision clear on all of that early next week."

His comments came after he is challenged by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly to return to Stormont and accept a Sinn Féin first minister if they get the numbers.

“This is about democracy,” Mr Kelly says. “They call themselves the Democratic Unionist Party, the hint is in the first word.”

• Read more about the Brexit border problem here.

Sir Jeffrey responds that the DUP will accept the outcome of the election.

"However our position remains that we need to remove the long shadow of the protocol that is inhibiting our ability to operate and function properly within the political institutions, and the sooner that happens, the sooner we’ll be in a position to move forward," he says.

“We have a mandate, we want to exercise that mandate but part of that mandate is that we need to get the protocol issues sorted out, we need to see that Irish Sea border removed.”

Alliance has taken a second seat in Strangford, dashing the TUV's hopes of doubling its number of representatives in the assembly.

Former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has also taken a seat in the constituency at the ninth count.

Reporting from the count centre, BBC News NI's Robbie Meredith says Alliance's Nick Mathison benefitted from transfers from Conor Houston of the SDLP - something which put him past the TUV's Stephen Cooper.

"There are only a couple of hundred votes in it... Alliance are cock-a-hoop," he says.

It'll be bitterly disappointing news for the TUV, who have only had one assembly member elected - leader Jim Allister - despite its overall share of first preference votes jumping by more than five percentage points.

However, the TUV may be requesting a recount - so watch this space.

Grainne Connolly
BBC News NI

Alan Graham is the election agent for the DUP’s North Down candidates Stephen Dunne and Jennifer Gilmour.

But some may remember him as the farmer from Bangor who told world famous singer Rihanna to “cover up” while she was filming a music video on his land.

The controversy happened over ten years ago, after Graham let the singer to record her video in his grain field.

Image source, Pacemaker

Recounting what happened in 2011, the DUP alderman said it did cause a bit of a stir at the time but that “you have to have a sense of humour” looking back on these situations.

“I explained that I was a Christian and didn’t agree with her stripping off in my field and she came and spoke to me and was very respectful," he says.

Three assembly members have been elected after the sixth count in West Tyrone.

The DUP's Tom Buchanan, the SDLP's Daniel McCrossan (above), and Sinn Féin's Maolíosa McHugh will all be sitting in the next assembly.

There is one seat still to call in the constituency.

The DUP's Diane Dodds has been elected in Upper Bann - and that's also good news for Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie.

It appears her surplus vote - which is shared out as part of Northern Ireland's single transferable vote (STV) system - will help get Beattie over the line for the fifth, and last seat, in the constituency.

Dodds said that the party had a "really good campaign" and had always been "confident" of taking two seats in the constituency.

If you're just joining us, here's a quick round-up of some of the declarations and developments on day two of the Northern Ireland Assembly Election count:

• Sinn Féin is retaining the lead it built on Friday as the party with the most seats so far

• The Alliance Party is having its best ever assembly election with 10 seats already

• Alliance took two seats in Belfast South on Saturday - sitting MLA Paula Bradshaw (above) and current Belfast Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl are both home and dry

• Alliance success in that constituency came at the expense of the Green Party, whose leader Clare Bailey has lost her seat

• Another party leader is facing an uncomfortable wait - Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie is under pressure to keep his seat in Upper Bann

• The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has already taken one of the seats in Upper Bann as Jonathan Buckley out-performed the UUP leader in first preference votes

• The DUP have also won a seat in Mid-Ulster where Keith Buchanan was elected at stage six on Saturday - there is just one seat left to decide in that constituency

• The party is also celebrating a second seat in East Londonderry, where Alan Robinson will shortly be declared as elected, taking the seat vacated by his retired father

Image source, Press Eye

A former MP for the Democratic Unionist Party admits they've had a "disappointing election", but claims it "hasn't been as bad as some had predicted".

Emma Little-Pengelly says it looks likely her party will lose two or three seats, but that wasn't a "huge movement".

However, she says there has been a "fracturing" of the unionist votes, with a number moving to the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) instead, which could be "critical" for the DUP.

She also points to Sinn Fein's vote not rocketing either, adding: "This isn't a dramatic shift from unionism towards Irish nationalism or republicanism."

Little-Pengelly also defends the DUP's stance not to go into an administration unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.

She says: "The DUP have made difficult compromises in the past to get the assembly up and going, but we need to remember here that the DUP and TUV very clearly said going into this election that they would not be returning... unless the protocol was resolved.

"That was very clear to people who voted for them, they have got a mandate for that.

"But power sharing in Northern Ireland will only work if we all come together to resolve these issues."