SF's de Brun tops poll in North

Sinn Féin today topped the poll in the North’s European elections today after a collapse in support for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

It is the first time a republican or nationalist party has secured the largest share of the vote in an election in the North.

Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brun polled 126,184 votes and was elected on the first count.

However, the DUP candidate Diane Dodds saw support for her party fall from 175,761 votes at the last European election to 88,346 votes this time.