Image source, Press Association

Most analysts agree that when the counting stops it will be the more moderate voices of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Ulster Unionists with the most soul searching to do.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood (above) has seen his party come fifth overall in first preference votes with 78,237, compared with Sinn Féin topping the poll with 250,388.

The party, which is nationalist and so would like to see a united Ireland, has seen a number of its big players come under threat. Dolores Kelly, a former deputy leader, has lost her seat while the party's current deputy leader Nichola Mallon also looks likely to lose out.

It's a far cry from the SDLP's previous position at the centre of Northern Ireland politics. After the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, the party - led by Nobel Prize winner John Hume - won the largest share of first preference votes in the first Northern Ireland Assembly election.

Now that vote share is below 10%, with Sinn Féin and Alliance seen as the primary beneficiaries.

Check out more on the SDLP's lead up to the election here: SDLP hoping history repeats itself

Image source, Press Association

The SDLP could be set for one of its biggest losses of the election, with Nichola Mallon on course to lose her seat in Belfast North.

Mallon, a former Belfast lord mayor, is the party's deputy leader and also infrastructure minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

BBC News NI political correspondent Jayne McCormack says she has been speaking to "somebody in the SDLP who is very close to Mallon, who is privately conceding that even though it is going to be close Nichola Mallon is not going to be re-elected".

"I think that is going to be a massive, massive blow for the SDLP."

She says the party could now have a touch choice to make about who to select as a minister.

Currently less than 300 votes separate Mallon and Alliance's Nuala McAllister after the seventh count.

The result is indicative of just how tough this election has been for the SDLP - we'll have more on that shortly...

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has lost its solitary female assembly member, after Rosemary Barton was eliminated in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

Barton's UUP colleague Tom Elliott is still in the running for a seat.

Elliot is a former MP for the area and some critics have questioned why the party decided to run a well-known high-profile male candidate alongside its only sitting female assembly member.

Ms Barton was asked about the party's tactics and while she said the UUP had increased its vote in her own constituency, it needs to look again at its overall strategy.

She says the party was "quietly confident" before the election they could have taken two seats, which hopes the popularity of Doug Beattie and the instability of the DUP could have helped the party.

"I am concerned at the present time, 50% of the population are women, and we will be left as a party without a female representative," she says.

See the full results for Fermanagh and South Tyrone here.

Image source, Doug Beattie

The UUP, led by fellow Nobel Prize winner David Trimble, was the second largest party in terms of vote share in the 1998 election after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement - and won the most seats.

But current leader Doug Beattie (above) is in a scrap for his own seat, having polled sixth for first preferences in Upper Bann on 5,199 first preference votes.

The party has also lost veteran assembly member Roy Beggs and looks likely to return to Stormont without any female representatives, after its sole woman assembly member Rosemary Barton was eliminated in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

There was hope that the party would enjoy a "Beattie bounce", via a progressive message pushed by its leader - but that has not materialised.

Its campaign was dominated by the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol, with the party coming under fire from the Democratic Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice after it announced it would no longer attend rallies protesting against the protocol.

Read more on the UUP's approach to the election: UUP hopes fresh image will provide a polling boost

Alan Robinson from the DUP has been elected in East Londonderry.

He joins colleague Maurice Bradley, with three seats left in contention in that constituency.

It’s an early birthday present for Mr Robinson, who turns 50 on Monday and takes the seat vacated when his father George stood down.

"We are thrilled," Mr Robinson told BBC News NI.

"Maurice and I are both very grass roots politicians, we are very pleased to have been rewarded by the people of East Londonderry," he said.

Image source, PETER MUHLY/GETTY IMAGES

Just after midday on the second day of counting in the Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2022, it's time for a quick stock take on how the parties stand.

There were 90 seats up for grabs and with 51 declared, we're over halfway there.

There is no doubt lots of drama still to come but so far:

• Sinn Féin are currently in the lead with 18 seats
• The Democratic Unionist Party are in second place with 14 seats
• Alliance move up to third place with 10 seats - a best-ever result for them
• The Ulster Unionist Party is currently fourth with four seats
• The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) falls to fifth place with three seats.
• The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) has one seat, its leader Jim Allister
• Independent unionist Alex Easton is the only independent to win a seat so far

See the full results so far here.

The cross-community Alliance party believe they are heading for their "best ever" Northern Ireland Assembly election result.

It is a centre-ground party, which is neither unionist or nationalist and tries to appeal to voters across the political spectrum.

Under Stormont rules set up to safeguard cross-community power-sharing between unionists and nationalists, Alliance is designated as "other".

Alliance went into this election as the fifth biggest party at Stormont, having won eight seats in the 2017 election.

There has been speculation that they could double their tally of seats this time round and emerge as the third largest party, behind Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The party's deputy leader Stephen Farry told the BBC that 16 or 17 seats would be at the "outer limits" of their expectations.

But according to the party's tallies, he says they reckon they are "absolutely definite for 12" seats and are hopeful of victories in a few other constituencies.

Check out more on Alliance here: Alliance a party with high expectations

Lewis Goodall
Newsnight policy editor

The one part of the UK they are still counting votes is Northern Ireland.

They are always important elections, but while ballots in the past may merge together, this one will be historic.

Why? Because Sinn Féin, a nationalist party, has topped the poll.

That has never happened before in the 101-year history of Northern Ireland's existence.

Northern Ireland was literally designed so that wouldn't happen, so there would be an in-built unionist majority - and indeed, if you tot up the unionist parties' shares, they are still on top.

But the fact that you have a nationalist party coming top really does transform the political landscape in Northern Ireland, not least because theoretically, if there is going to be an executive, Sinn Féin will have the right to nominate a first minister.

Sinn Féin are also currently polling at the top in Ireland as well, and having the party in such rude health across the island is significant.

The DUP’s Jonathan Buckley has been elected in Upper Bann with transfers from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).

The announcement was met with cheers and applause from party colleagues.

It leaves the UUP leader Doug Beattie, DUP’s Diane Dodds, the Alliance Party’s Eoin Tennyson and Liam Mackle from Sinn Fein fighting it out for the final three seats.

The first seat in the constituency went to Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd, who was elected last night at the fourth stage of the count.

Yesterday we saw a few big hitters lose their seats, including the former DUP Education Minister Peter Weir, and there will be more familiar faces under pressure today.

UUP leader Doug Beattie is one of them. He’s relying on securing enough Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) transfers to stay in the race and hold on to his Upper Bann seat.

Some UUP sources are sounding deflated this morning with that situation, with one saying “Doug was the project”.

Image source, Pacemaker

Another high profile casualty today could be SDLP deputy leader and Infrastructure Minister Nicola Mallon. She is in a battle with Alliance’s Nuala McAllister to return her Belfast North seat.

Not only would that be a blow to the SDLP, but with fellow assembly members Sinead McLaughlin and Cara Hunter also facing uphill battles, there is a possibility the party will lose all five of its women assembly members.

BBC Northern Ireland will be bringing you coverage of the election as all the results come in throughout the day.

At the top of this page you can watch a live stream from the BBC News NI radio studio, with coverage fronted by William Crawley and Sarah Brett (above).

There is also our Vote 22 NI programme throughout the day on BBC One Northern Ireland, with Mark Carruthers (below).

Both programmes are running until 2pm, with plenty of results due to come in over the next few hours.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Elsewhere in the UK, the Conservatives have faced their worst election results since before the EU referendum. And one of the messages to them is that delivering Brexit does not guarantee electoral success.

The result in Northern Ireland is also part of the legacy of Brexit too. The unionist vote has fragmented because of the divisions within the community over whether or not the Northern Ireland Protocol is something that can be amended satisfactorily or whether it needs to be scrapped.

For many unionists, that agreement Boris Johnson made shortly before the 2019 general election, which in their view creates a border across the Irish Sea, is not acceptable.

The immediate consequence of that is the prime minister now faces the prospect of a Sinn Féin first minister and/or no executive being properly formed because the DUP refuse.

And the DUP will be looking for the UK government to take action - if necessary unilateral action. But the difficulty that the PM faces there is potential retaliation from the European Union - retaliation that won't just affect Northern Ireland, but would affect the flow of trade between Great Britain and the EU.

And equally if he does go down that path, the answer from Sinn Féin might be, well in that case, we are not going to nominate a first minister either.

So the real question now is how is the UK government going to successfully negotiate the protocol problem in such a way that the DUP can be persuaded into the executive and it doesn't cause too much damage with the EU. That is his most immediate political headache.

Alliance Party's Kate Nicholl takes the final seat in Belfast South meaning Clare Bailey, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, has lost out.

Nicholl, Belfast's current lord mayor, was tearful as she celebrated her victory at the Titanic Centre.

“We recognise some others have been let down, particularly the Green voters, but we are not going to let them down,” she says.

“We want to work together with everyone."

We now have the full result in Belfast South. The five assembly members are:

• Deirdre Hargey (Sinn Fein)
• Edwin Poots (DUP)
• Matthew O’Toole (SDLP)
• Paula Bradshaw (Alliance)
• Kate Nicholl (Alliance)

Sinn Féin is known around the world for its desire for Irish unification.

And yet, it was a topic the party was keen to keep clear during the latter stages of campaigning for this particular election.

"The priorities for me after the election will be to deliver for the health service, education and dealing with the cost-of-living crisis," Sinn Féin's deputy leader Michelle O'Neill told reporters on the campaign trail.

What's more, she insisted "there would only be constitutional change here when the people here decide" as laid out in the Good Friday Agreement.

If the vote continues to play out in their favour, it will arguably be seen as a strategy that worked.

And on Friday, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said planning for a unity referendum would come within a "five-year framework".

But why would a nationalist party avoid nationalism on the campaign trail?

You can read a bit more on that here: Sinn Féin steers clear of Irish unity focus in campaign

The DUP’s Keith Buchanan has been elected in Mid Ulster, in the first declared seat of the day at Magherafelt count centre.

A number of rounds of counting have been announced in several constituencies with no quotas reached, including Foyle, West Tyrone, Fermanagh and South Tyrone and East Londonderry.

Paula Bradshaw of the Alliance Party has been elected to Belfast South.

She was elected on the seventh count, with her transfers likely to help running mate Kate Nicholl.

If Nicholl does come in, it'll mean Green Party leader Clare Bailey has lost her seat.

Ciara Colhoun
BBC News NI

A handful of teenagers have sacrificed study time in exam season to be involved in the election count at the Titanic Centre in Belfast.

Sophia Armstrong, 19, is the daughter of Kellie Armstrong who has been re-elected to the Strangford constituency for the Alliance Party.

Sophia is involved in Alliance Youth with Thomas Blaine (19) and Ellen Taylor (16).

“Politics is a big part of my life and I want to see a more progressive front,” she says.

GCSE student Ellen says she is passionate about politics and being involved in a count for the first time an important way to develop “real life skills outside the classroom”.

Thomas, meanwhile, says it is about making a difference to his constituency of North Belfast, which he says still has sectarian division.

So how does it feel having a ringside seat in the Alliance surge?

“It’s just great fun,” says Ellen.

It is looking set to be a historic day in Northern Ireland, with a nationalist party potentially taking control of the Stormont - Northern Ireland's parliament - for the first time.

We're still waiting on the final results here, with the last votes still to be counted.

That count is a little bit more complicated than in some other parts of the UK, where winners are selected through a "first past the post" system.

Here, we use the single transferable vote (STV) method - which allows more choice than just one candidate and avoids votes being "wasted".

If you want to know more about how it works, read our handy explainer here: What is Northern Ireland's vote system?

David Wilson
BBC News NI

There's a much more low-key atmosphere here this morning.

Counting is ongoing in six of the seven constituencies that will be decided here - only the Newry and Armagh constituency returned all five MLAs (Stormont assembly members) on Friday.

First up this morning is likely to be an announcement in Foyle, where three seats are still up for grabs.

Two of unionism's big hitters - the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie and Diane Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - will also learn their electoral fate here today.

With counting back on in Northern Ireland's three count centres, BBC News NI's coverage across TV, radio and digital is full go.

BBC Radio Ulster’s Vote 22 NI programme began at 10am and will run until 1pm - William Crawley and Sarah Brett are joined in the studio by BBC News NI political correspondent Jayne McCormack and guests.

Our TV Vote 22 NI programme also began at 10am, with Mark Carruthers hosting as more results pour in.

You can watch both above and also follow live updates here - we'll be covering every development until the final results are in.