Arlene Foster confident of return to power in the North

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has expressed confidence she will be returned as Northern Ireland’s first minister.

As the votes continue to be counted across the North, Ms Foster said her party was on course to emerge as the region’s largest party.

“I am confident that I will be the first minister of Northern Ireland,” she said after topping the poll in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. At 5pm, 21 of the 108 seats were filled. The Democratic Unionists had won nine, Sinn Féin eight, with one each for the Ulster Unionists, SDLP, Alliance Party, and People Before Profit Alliance.