Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald on Labour landslide: ‘There is a moment now for a reset in relationships between Ireland and Britain’

"There is a moment now for a reset in terms of relationships between Ireland and Britain, Dublin and London. We very much hope there will be a step change and I very much look forward to that,”Ms. McDonald

"There are big issues on the direct horizon. I am thinking of the Legacy legislation, I’m thinking about our wider relationships, charting a course for the future, our collective relationships with the European Union. These are big questions and I hope the new government under the Labour leadership of Keir Starmer will come and be constructive He has a huge, huge mandate.”

Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill said people in the north meanwhile were voting to ensure the restored institutions work for people in the north, and that they hoped the change of government would help effect change for people here.

Speaking about the results in Britain and here, Michelle O’Neill said: “Well obviously it’s been a Labour landslide as the early poll tells us. I think for us here it was about the politics at home, making the Assembly and the Executive work.

"We’re feeling very positive, very good about how the vote has turned out.”

Michelle O’Neill said a priority now would be to engage with Labour, find out what the new government in Number 10 means for people here, and work towards establishing a ‘good positive relationship’ between Starmer’s party and the Executive.

She said the Conservative Party has “not been any friend to the people here, not been any friend to public services’ and that the number one priority now for the Executive would be to hold talks on a better funding model for public services here.

The two leading Irish politicians spent several hours at the count centre and cheered as Sinn Féin’s Mid Ulster candidate Cathal Mallaghan became the first confirmed MP of the night at Meadowbnk Sports Arena count centre in Magherafelt.

Shortly afterwards Sinn Féin candidate Órfhlaith Begley was returned as the MP for West Tyrone.