SINN FÉIN HELD its Mid-Ulster seat at Westminster in a by-election yesterday.
Francie Molloy took the House of Commons seat left vacant by Martin McGuinness when he resigned at the end of last year.
He polled 46.93 per cent of the overall vote.
The deputy speaker at the Northern Ireland Assembly announced his victory on Twitter:
Proud and humbled to win this victory for the people of Mid Ulster. Thinking of all those who have struggled to make days like this possible.
The win came quite easily with the gap between Molloy and second-placed Nigel Lutton recorded at almost 5,000 votes. The Alliance Party’s Eric Bullick received just 487 ballots.
Gerry Adams congratulated his colleague in his own particular Twitter style.
“Obair maith Francie. Comhgeardhas. Well done Francie Molloy MP. Thanks 2 everyone who worked and voted for Sinn Féin!”
All current Sinn Féin members who have won seats at Westminster have absented themselves from the House of Commons. They say they represent the constituency by lobbying the government, despite not taking the seat.
McGuinness resigned the Mid-Ulster seat last December in line with Sinn Féin’s commitment to end the practice of “double jobbing” where its representatives hold seats in both the Northern Assembly and the House of Commons in Westminster.
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