Council election results overshadowed by question of when Stormont will return

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill with Tina Black, who has won her seat, and Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald at Belfast City Hall (Liam McBurney/PA)

Rarely has any election campaign been quite so dominated by the fallout from the result of a poll which took place a full year before.

Sinn Fein chose to make the 2023 council elections all about the fact that its vice president, Michelle O’Neill, has been prevented from taking up the position of First Minister at Stormont – and is set to deliver another historic victory.