NI Assembly Elections 2016: Polling day has arrived

Northern Ireland voters go to the polls today for what will be the fifth NI Assembly election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.

Each of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies elects six Members of the Legislative Assembly resulting in a total of 108 MLAs

In North Antrim there are 15 candidates for the six seats available and as polling day approached candidates have been out on the streets and knocking on doors in the constituency which has some 78,000 voters.

The candidates are:- DUP - Paul Frew, Phillip Logan, David McIlveen, and Mervyn Storey.

UUP - Robin Swann and Andrew Wright.

TUV - Jim Allister and Timothy Gaston.

SDLP - Connor Duncan.

SF - Daithi McKay.

Green Party - Jennifer Breslin.

Conservative Party - James Simpson.

Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee - Kathryn Johnston.

UKIP - Donna Anderson.

Alliance - Stephen McFarland.

North Antrim’s polling stations will open for the 2016 NI Assembly Election from 7.00am to 10.00pm this evening, with counting of votes expected to start on Friday morning with the North Antrim Count Centre located at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre.

Meanwhile, a total of 14 candidates are standing in South Antrim.

Four of the district’s current MLAs are bidding for re-election, namely the UUP’s Adrian Cochrane-Watson; the DUP’s Pam Cameron, Trevor Clarke, and Paul Girvan; and Alliance’s David Ford.

Sinn Féin’s current South Antrim MLA Mitchel McLaughlin is not seeking re-election and the party is instead putting forward Declan Kearney, Sinn Féin’s National Chairperson.