Sinn Féin's historic victory puts an end to unionist hegemony in Northern Ireland

confirmed expectations and ended Unionist hegemony in

Northern

.

The provisional count gave the nationalist party as the winner, considered for decades as the political arm of the

, with 29% of the "first preferences" against 21% of

and 13% of

, which is establishing itself as the third political force and the "non-sectarian" alternative in

.

"People have voted for parties that have shown a willingness to work together," local Sinn Féin leader

said exultantly as she passed through Belfast's Titanic complex where the count was held.

"This is a historic result for us, in which practical solutions to Northern Ireland's problems have also triumphed over rhetoric."

O'Neill extended a hand to all parties, including the unionists, to try to form a "power-sharing" government, as provided for

.

The leader of the DUP,

, however, has anticipated that his party has no intention of joining the Executive, due to his opposition to the

.

The defeat of the DUP, the hegemonic party in the last two decades, taking over from the more moderate UUP (Ulster Unionist Party), has opened a deep crisis among the unionist forces, increasingly fragmented and divided since the consummation of

.

In the new

, with 90 deputies, the parties in favor of the Irish Protocol (which raises the closest thing to an internal customs in the United Kingdom to avoid returning to the "hard" border) could in fact constitute a new majority , which would create a conflictive situation for the British Government.

The secretary of Northern Ireland,

, has in fact acknowledged that

does not intend to break the deck with the EU for the time being as he had anticipated.

London will try to persuade unionist forces to take part in the new local government, but the DUP is even expected to try to force changes to the

, which could fuel sectarian clashes and outbreaks of violence like those that occurred a few years ago. a year on the streets of Belfast.

All the spotlights were in any case pointed on Friday towards Michelle O'Neill, the most likely future prime minister, flanked by

, the national leader of Sinn Féin who traveled from Dublin to join the celebrations in Belfast.

In just two years, the nationalist party has completed the "double" and is already the force with the most votes on both sides of the border.

Despite the promise of promoting a referendum on the unification of the island in this decade, Sinn Féin has left the so-called '

in the background during the campaign and has emphasized the two main concerns of the Northern Irish - the cost of life and health - with the aim of attracting moderate voters.

The other big winner of the night was the leader of the Alliance Party,

, who served as Minister of Justice for the last two years and who has risen in popularity thanks to her inclusive message, beyond the eternal dichotomy between Protestants and Catholics, and which has particularly attracted young voters.

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