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John Finucane was cheered on by his leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy leader Michelle O’Neill
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) suffered a bruising night of general election results, losing two MPs including its Westminster leader.
Nigel Dodds lost his North Belfast seat to Sinn Féin’s John Finucane while Emma Little-Pengelly was defeated by Claire Hanna of the SDLP in South Belfast.
SDLP party leader Colum Eastwood won Foyle with a thumping majority, while the Alliance Party took North Down.
A total of 803,367 were cast in Northern Ireland – a turnout of 62.09%.
The cross-community Alliance Party is set to come third in terms of vote share, with about 17%.
Its deputy leader Stephen Farry won North Down, the first result declared in Northern Ireland.
In Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin retained her seat after a recount, holding off Tom Elliott of the Ulster Unionist Party by just 57 votes.
The graph below shows the vote share change in North Belfast. If you can’t see it click here.
A punishing night for the DUP
Mr Dodds’ defeat in North Belfast, a seat he had held since 2001, was symbolic of a torrid election for the DUP.
The party’s deputy leader – a high-profile supporter of Brexit – will not be returning to Westminster.
The DUP also had high hopes of winning North Down for the first time but the constituency elected its first ever non-unionist MP with Mr Farry’s victory for Alliance.
He defeated Alex Easton of the DUP by just under 3,000 votes.
Later, Emma Little-Pengelly’s loss to the SDLP in South Belfast capped a disappointing night for the party.
She had won the seat from the SDLP two years ago by 1,996 votes but Claire Hanna took it off her this time with a big swing and a majority of 15,401.
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The DUP propped up a minority Conservative government after the 2017 general election but has not been rewarded by voters.
DUP leader Arlene Foster told BBC News NI Mr Dodds’ defeat was down to a “pan-nationalist front” after the SDLP opted to stand aside in the constituency.
There was better news for the party in East Antrim, East Belfast, East Londonderry, Lagan Valley, South Antrim and Strangford where its candidates were all re-elected.
In Upper Bann Carla Lockhart won, retaining the seat for the DUP after its previous MP David Simpson stepped down.
Ian Paisley won in North Antrim but saw his majority cut from 20,643 to 12,000.
A mixed picture for Sinn Féin
Mr Finucane’s victory was a high point for the party – he secured a majority of 1,943 votes and it is the first time a nationalist has ever held the constituency – but it was a mixed picture elsewhere.
The SDLP won Foyle, which it lost to Sinn Féin in 2017, with a huge majority while Sinn Féin’s majorities in South Down and West Belfast were cut.
Elsewhere Órfhlaith Begley and Francie Molloy were re-elected in West Tyrone and Mid Ulster respectively and Mickey Brady held Newry and Armagh.
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John Finucane was cheered on by his leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy leader Michelle O’Neill
Party president Mary Lou McDonald said she was confident Sinn Féin would compete to win Foyle in the future.
Mr Finucane is Lord Mayor of Belfast and his father Pat was a solicitor who was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989.
He said: “We have taken the opportunity to say North Belfast rejects Brexit, North Belfast is a remain constituency and wants a future as part of the European Union.”
More good news for Alliance
The Alliance Party had a strong performance this year in the council elections in Northern Ireland and then at the European Parliamentary elections when it won a seat for the first time.
The party last won a Westminster seat in 2010 before losing it five years later but it will once again have representation in the House of Commons after Mr Farry’s victory.
He won 18,358 votes to Mr Easton’s 15,390 to take the seat formerly held by independent MP Lady Hermon.
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Stephen Farry is a former Stormont minister
North Down was represented by Lady Hermon from 2001 until she stepped down this year.
In his victory speech, Mr Farry said “voters had sent out a clear message that North Down wanted to remain [in the EU]”.
He said there was no such thing as a good or sensible Brexit and that “all forms of Brexit are damaging for Britain”.
The party came second in the DUP safe seat of Lagan Valley.
Sorcha Eastwood won 13,087 votes, slashing Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s majority from 19,229 to just over 6,000.
You can use the feature below to search for your constituency and see results. If you can’t see it click here.
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SDLP win big in South Belfast and Foyle
The SDLP went into the night hopeful of taking South Belfast and Foyle but the scale of their victories in those seats was unexpected.
In Foyle, the seat once held by Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, Mr Eastwood won by 17,000 votes.
The graph below shows the vote share change in Foyle. If you can’t see it click here.
Sinn Féin won the seat two years ago but the party’s vote halved from 18,256 to 9,771 this time.
In South Belfast Ms Hanna overturned a DUP majority of 1,996 to win by more than 15,000 votes.
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Claire Hanna celebrated with her husband Donal
The Alliance Party took some heat early on in the election campaign for not standing aside in certain seats as part of a pro-Remain coalition.
But the “no-pacts” approach appears to have paid dividends, with the cross-community party’s vote up overall and the ultimate prize of a Westminster seat, succeeding Lady Hermon in North Down.
The DUP had hoped a victory in North Down might balance out defeats elsewhere.
It was depressing election for the DUP, which has also lost its powerbroker role at Westminster now Boris Johnson has won a majority.
The wider picture
The BBC is forecasting a Conservative majority of 60 at Westminster and as a result the party will not require the DUP to help it achieve a working majority.
But the party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said as Mr Johnson sought a trade deal with the EU there would still be opportunities for the DUP to influence proceedings.
Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey said the result would take the “dead hand” of the Tory-DUP relationship away from the political process in Northern Ireland.
He predicted it would make it more likely that the DUP would do a deal with his party to restore devolved government.
The power-sharing executive at Stormont collapsed in January 2017 after a bitter row between the DUP and Sinn Féin over a flawed green energy scheme.
Fresh talks aimed at restoring the executive are due to start on Monday.
Meanwhile Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Steve Aiken said Northern Ireland was in for a “world of hurt” with Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
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Votes ahoy – a ballot box from Rathlin Island arriving in Ballycastle harbour
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