A Belfast court yesterday confirmed Sinn FΘin's Ms Michelle Gildernew election as MP for the once-Unionist stronghold of Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
"This decision is a good result for all the people of the constituency," said Ms Gildnernew outside the High Court after the dismissal of a legal challenge mounted by Mr Jim Cooper, the Ulster Unionist candidate she defeated by 53 votes.
"I look forward to getting on with the job of representing all the people in the constituency," added Ms Gildernew, who recently said she was expecting a baby next March.
Yesterday's ruling by the Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Carswell and Lord Justice McCollum will now be conveyed to the Speaker of the House of Commons for virtual automatic endorsement.
Mr Cooper's petition to unseat Ms Gildernew was argued during a two-day hearing last month. He sought a determination that she was not duly elected and he ought to have been returned, or alternatively that the election was void.
The ground on which the petition was based was the alleged commission of irregularities in the conduct of the poll in Saint Martin's primary school, Garrison, Co Fermanagh.
Mr Cooper claimed the presiding officer, Mr John McGovern, under threats from supporters of Sinn FΘin, issued ballot papers after the 10 p.m. closing time. However, Sir Robert Carswell said he believed the it was unlikely that more than 30 voting papers were issued, and that number fell well short of the successful candidate's majority of 53 votes.