It all came down to transfers from a nationalist and a socialist to decide the fate of two conservative unionists in an early morning face-off to fill the final seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections 2022.
About 40 hours after counting started in Foyle, the Democratic Unionist Party's Gary Middleton was finally declared the victor, after the tightest of tight races with Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) fresh face Ryan McCready.
Shortly before 1am, the former British soldier McCready left the Magherafelt count centre, having shook hands with former Stormont junior minister and incumbent Middleton. "He said 'congratulations'," a tired and relieved Middleton told reporters.
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Not much earlier, the Social Democratic and Labour Party's Sinead McLaughlin, taking the penultimate seat, was simply "glad it's all over" – and she wasn't talking about the lengthy count.
McLaughlin railed against what she said was a negative and often misogynistic campaign over recent weeks.
“It was not easy,” she said. “It was not easy for female candidates either. We got attacked right, left and centre and it was pretty vile and misogynistic. There was a lot of negativity in and around this election.
“I have to say I’m glad it is over. It was difficult for a lot of us.”
The former chief executive of the chamber of commerce in her hometown, Derry, blamed the “context” of the election – set by opponents, she said – for much of her party’s woes at the ballot box.
Not least in the city – the SDLP's citadel – where attempts to win a third seat for former mayor Brian Tierney ultimately floundered and the party again ceded its once poll-topping status to Sinn Fein.
“You have to accept that people were very, very nervous,” she said. “The DUP called it, set the context, it was very negative. It is not about green and orange [for the SDLP], it is about context and it was difficult for the SDLP to squeeze through that.”
‘Incredible losses’
McLaughlin admitted the party had suffered "incredible losses of incredible people" like its infrastructure minister and deputy leader Nichola Mallon in North Belfast and Pat Catney in Lagan Valley.
“My heart is broke for the wonder of Nichola and Pat and everybody that has suffered as a result of the negativity that surrounded this election,” she said, adding that her party needed to “regroup and rethink” on how to rebuild.
Earlier – much earlier, on Friday – Sinn Fein’s 26-year-old Pádraig Delargy topped the poll with a 9,471 quota beating majority.
The former school teacher was quietly emotional in celebration.
Also home on first preferences – yet behind Delargy – was the SDLP's Mark H Durkan, a former Stormont environment minister.
It was the ninth count before Ciara Ferguson joined Delargy on Sinn Fein's two Foyle seats, the pair of them parachuted into the contest after a controversial standing down of the city's sitting MLAs, veteran republican Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan last year.
The SDLP's Tierney was eliminated on the 10th count, with People Before Profit's Shaun Harkin ejected from the race on the 11th, leaving the nationalist socialist's transfers – and later McLaughlin's surplus – to decide the fight for Foyle's sole unionist representative.
Five seats filled: Pádraig Delargy (Sinn Fein), Mark H Durcan (SDLP), Ciara Ferguson (Sinn Fein), Sinéad McLaughlin (SDLP), Gary Middleton (DUP)
