Sinn Fein dominates Northern Ireland local elections, calls for restoration of Stormont Executive.

Sinn Fein has become the largest party at local level in Northern Ireland for the first time, overtaking their unionist rivals by a wide margin in council elections. The left-wing party's share of the vote jumped almost 8 points to 31%, winning 144 of the 462 seats up for grabs. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), until last year the biggest party at local and regional level, held steady on 122 seats with 23% of the vote. Sinn Fein's success came at the expense of more middle ground nationalist and unionist parties.