Foyle:The DUP's William Hay yesterday created electoral history when he became the first member of his party to top the poll in the nationalist-dominated Foyle constituency.
Mr Hay, an outgoing MLA, polled 6,960 first-preference votes, well in excess of the quota of 5,863 and just over 500 votes ahead of SDLP leader Mark Durkan.
The DUP's only candidate in Foyle, Mr Hay described the result as "almost a miracle" and said it was due to a hard-working DUP team in the constituency.
"For a member of the DUP to top the poll in a 75 per cent nationalist constituency is something else. It sends out several messages.
"Firstly, that only the DUP can properly represent this constituency.
"Secondly, it shows how stupid the Ulster Unionist Party was in deciding to stand in the constituency and potentially undermine the unionist seat here.
"But it was a great result for us. We fought a strong campaign and campaigned twice in the constituency and took no one's vote for granted," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Durkan said that, following on from the DUP's improved performance across Northern Ireland, a major question mark now hung over the chances of an executive being in place by March 26th.
"We need an executive, but whether or not we will get one will depend on how far the DUP push their tendency for date-defying politics. We need to ensure that, if we get a devolved government by March 26th, the DUP will be committed to it.
"Their terms for going into power-sharing indicate they will do it for one term only, and while we want to look forward positively, we should not be naive. The political uncertainty, which will extend from the DUP, will remain a problem, and that is why the presence of a party such as the SDLP will be even more significant," he said.