Political tensions linger as a failure by Unionist parties to agree to a government led by a Nationalist will call into question the former's commitment to peace and equality in Northern Ireland.
EU's envoy to Britain said the bloc was ready to restart talks on the protocol after a pause for the elections but would not overhaul the arrangement that is central to post-Brexit trading rules.
The victory means Sinn Fein is entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast — a first for an Irish nationalist party since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921.
Sinn Fein looks set to become the first Irish nationalist party to win the most seats in Northern Ireland, as UK PM Boris Johnson faces a pivotal mid-term popularity test.
Martin's election follows months of negotiations between his centre right party, Fine Gael, and the Green Party, to reach an agreement following elections in February before the onset of the coronavirus crisis.
A general election surge in support for Sinn Fein, once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, upset Ireland's traditional two-party grip on power.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's incumbent Fine Gael party, their centre-right rivals Fianna Fail and left-wingers Sinn Fein all received 22 percent of first preference votes, according to the Ipsos MRBI poll issued as the polls closed at 2200 GMT.
The three-way race led by left-wing Sinn Fein is a new dynamic for the Republic, where governments have been historically dominated by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
A 1998 peace accord that ended three decades of violence over British rule of Northern Ireland in which thousands died requires the two main parties to share power.
A journalist was killed while covering rioting in the border town of Londonderry.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women says the UK is violating women's rights by restricting their access to abortion.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar discuss ways to revive Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government which collapsed a year ago.
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