Northern Ireland looks set for a dramatic series of European election results as official figures confirmed a major drop in voter turnout.
Only 42.8 per cent of people eligible to vote cast a ballot — a major drop on the figure of 51.72 per cent turnout at the last European election.
And while vote counting will not begin until Monday, early unofficial tallies suggest the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has suffered a major hit. Sinn Féin is now tipped to emerge as the largest party for the first time in any Northern Ireland election.
The results show unionist areas have registered lower turnouts than voting districts that are predominantly nationalist. Official figures for the turnout show that it ranged from just over 34 per cent in North Down, East Antrim and Strangford to 52 per cent in Mid Ulster and 51 per cent Fermanagh/South Tyrone.
Northern Ireland has seven candidates fighting for the region's three European seats. They are Stephen Agnew of the Green Party, Jim Allister of Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), Bairbre de Brun of Sinn Féin, Diane Dodds of the DUP, Alban Maginness of the SDLP, Jim Nicholson of the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, and Ian Parsley of the Alliance party.
Northern Ireland has built a reputation for high voter turnout — though European contests have traditionally polled lower figures than other elections. The last election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007 saw a 63.5 per cent turnout. The general election of 2005 saw a turnout of 63.49 per cent in Northern Ireland and and at the previous General Election in 2001 turnout reached 68.63 per cent.
In the last European election the DUP topped the poll with 32 per cent of the first preference votes — but there are predictions that its result on Monday could drop to 20 per cent or lower.
Other estimates suggested Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brun could improve on her last European election performance of 26 per cent of first preferences.
There was a major health warning on the figures last night, however, with the projections based on estimates made as election staff verified ballot papers at the King's Hall Count Centre in Belfast.
But with Sinn Féin believed to have established a substantial lead, the performance of the three unionist parties jostling for position will be closely watched on Monday.
PA