DUP's Wilson tops poll and brings two more in

East Antrim:A brisk first count in East Antrim saw the election of the DUP's Sammy Wilson, who topped the poll with 6,755 first-preference votes, closely followed by party colleagues George Dawson on the second count and David Hilditch on the third. Things then slowed to a crawl as the UUP and the Alliance Party yesterday slugged it out for the last seat.

Shortly after 2pm Seán Neeson of Alliance became the fourth candidate elected. He got in on the 10th count with 5,191 votes.

After his long wait for confirmation, Mr Neeson said he was delighted. "The main thing now is to make sure the Assembly works and to deal with the bread-and-butter issues such as water charges," he said.

While tension was high among the candidate, it was in reality an uneventful count, with a return of the same Assembly members as in 2003, albeit in a slightly different order of preference.

Roy Beggs jnr (UUP), who topped the poll in 2003, had to wait for the 12th count to secure his seat. A weary but clearly relieved Beggs said that the waiting game was a new one for him. "Any politician would be disappointed that they had to wait for so long to be elected, and it's a new experience for myself, but I am pleased with our management of votes in East Antrim."

The poor results for UUP candidates in other constituencies was disappointing not only for the party, but for the future of government in Northern Ireland, he said. "Two extreme forms of politics are preparing to go on to the same stage, and how they think they can govern Northern Ireland I don't know. It remains to be seen if these two larger parties were elected on a false premise."

The UUP's vote-management, which failed in other constituencies, paid off in East Antrim, with retired Shankill Road primary schoolteacher Ken Robinson taking the final seat.

However, the constituency was ultimately a firm success story for the DUP. The performance of Mr Wilson and his colleagues proved the dominance of the DUP in East Antrim. The party had already tightened its grip on the constituency when Mr Wilson trounced the long-serving Ulster Unionist MP, Roy Beggs snr, for the Westminster seat here in 2005.

The outcome was a resounding victory, Mr Wilson said. "It shows that we are now well-established as the leading party in East Antrim."

The constituency stretches along the coastal strip of the northern side of Belfast Lough and takes in the estates of Newtownabbey and the solid unionist towns of Carrickfergus, Ballyclare and Larne.

Fears that general voter apathy and disillusionment would result in a poor turnout and a possible upset in the traditional voting patterns turned out to be without foundation, while earlier predictions that DUP support would be damaged by grassroots opposition to the St Andrews Agreement and the idea of a Paisley/McGuinness powersharing government came to nothing.