Sinn Fein's Victory in Local Elections Calls for Government Return in Northern Ireland

Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist party, won 144 of 462 local government seats in Northern Ireland's local elections, repeating its success from last year's assembly elections. The party seeks unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland and is urging the return of the power-sharing government, which has been paralyzed for over a year due to a dispute over customs checkpoints introduced after Brexit. Sinn Fein's main rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, captured 122 seats, while the centrist Alliance Party had 67.