Durkan triumphs in Foyle constituency

Under pressure nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan tonight pulled off the political triumph of his life.

The former Stormont Deputy First Minister comfortably defeated senior Sinn Féin negotiator Mitchel McLaughlin in Foyle – in a seat which republicans had aggressively targeted.

The victory came on the back of another coup for the SDLP, with deputy leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell becoming the first ever nationalist MP for South Belfast.

Dr McDonnell, a 55-year-old GP originally from Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim, captured the South Belfast seat courtesy of a split unionist vote.

However the party drew its greatest satisfaction from Mr Durkan’s stunning success in Foyle, a Derry-based seat which his mentor, former leader John Hume made a citadel for the SDLP.

Before the election, some political pundits were not only writing off Mr Durkan’s ability to hang onto the seat but predicting meltdown for his party.

Mr Durkan’s victory was a bitter blow to Sinn Féin which believed it could win the seat in the post-John Hume era.

But it was also the product of a gargantuan canvassing effort to protect Foyle involving SDLP workers from all over Northern Ireland.