Sinn Fein's Stormont finance minister Conor Murphy had clearly crunched his numbers in Newry and Armagh.
On the first count, he managed to retain his seat on 9,847 votes — just 32 votes over the quota.
Adroit vote management in the Border constituency meant the second of Murphy’s three running mates Cathal Boylan also clinched victory on first preferences.
At just a shade behind the poll-topper, Boylan made the cut on 9,843 votes, just 28 over the quota.
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For Sinn Fein, the question then was whether they could pull off another hat-trick, with the challenger Liz Kimmins battling to keep the third seat she inherited from Megan Fearon, who bowed out of frontline politics in 2020.
In the end, it took five counts until she was over the line.
Live results hub: View all the latest results for every constituency hereFor the beleaguered SDLP, early concerns about its incumbent and former Armagh GAA player Justin McNulty were finally allayed on the same count.
“We have taken the scenic route,” he admitted afterwards. “But we came back with more votes than the last election so we’re delighted — Hope has won out.”
As the lights went out in Magherafelt count centre on Friday night, the DUP’s William Irwin was elected to the final seat without reaching the quota.
Earlier, Murphy said there was no mood among voters for Stormont to remain frozen.
“People need decisions taken now about the issues that matter to them,” he said.
“We cannot contemplate, and I don’t think the electorate could contemplate, the Executive going into cold storage.”
Five seats filled: Conor Murphy (SF), Cathal Boylan (SF), Liz Kimmins (SF), William Irwin (DUP), Justin McNulty (SDLP)
