Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill said on Saturday that Northern Ireland was entering a “new era” as her nationalist party prepared for a historic election triumph, encouraging a “healthy debate” about abolishing UK sovereignty.

“Today marks the beginning of a new age. It’s a watershed moment in our politics and for our people “As full Mid Ulster constituency results were announced, she told supporters and the media.

“I will provide leadership which is inclusive, which celebrates diversity, which guarantees rights and equality for those who have been excluded, discriminated against or ignored in the past,” she added.

O’Neill is on course to become Northern Ireland’s very first nationalist leader, with the main unionist party trailing after Thursday’s election for a new devolved assembly.

The Democratic Unionist Party is refusing to join a new government in Northern Ireland unless the UK rips up post-Brexit trading rules with the European Union.

“The people have spoken and our job is now to turn up. I expect others to turn up also,” O’Neill told reporters, stressing the new government must tackle foremost a cost-of-living crisis in the UK.

However, she stated that a “constructive discourse” regarding Irish reunification is already beginning, a century after Northern Ireland was carved up as a Protestant kingdom under British authority.

“Let’s have a healthy debate about what our future looks like.”