Sinn Fein made it a perfect 18/18 clean sweep of candidates-to-councillors in Derry City and Strabane council to claim their best ever result with several historic firsts recorded.
It was a difficult election for the smaller parties with Alliance duo Rachael Ferguson and Stephen McKinney, the party's first elected politicians in Derry in decades, both losing the seats they won last time around in 2019, Aontu losing their sole seat and People Before Profit dropping down to just one.
The SDLP fell from 11 seats to 10, the DUP from seven to five, while the UUP won two, and the independents Gary Donnelly, Paul Gallagher and Raymond Barr were elected.
Read more: NI Council Election: Mid Ulster results in full
The story of the election in Derry and Strabane was the same one replicated across Northern Ireland - Sinn Fein becoming the largest party.
In terms of firsts, Sinn Fein has won two seats in the Waterside for the first time ever, marking the first time the Waterside has had more nationalist representation than unionist.
It was also the first time Sinn Fein won two seats in Faughan. Combined with the gain in the Waterside, and reclaiming the five seats it lost between 2014 and 2019, that put the party on its highest ever seat count with 18.
A particularly historic first, meanwhile, came when the SDLP's Lilian Seenoi-Barr became the first black politician to be elected in the history of Northern Ireland - having been previously co-opted onto the council.
A buoyant Michelle O'Neill, arriving at the Foyle Arena on Saturday afternoon, suggested the "focus" her party had placed on the Derry area is now bearing fruit.
"We will absolutely prioritise this area and we've put a particular focus on Derry and Strabane over recent years," she said. The fact that so many Sinn Fein councillors have been returned [shows] we are committed to addressing regional imbalance. We are comitted to ensuring the universty expansion continues. We are committed to ensuring that we create prosperity and opportunity for everybody."
WATERSIDE (Turnout 52.33%)
Caitlin Deeney (Sinn Fein)
Christopher Jackson (Sinn Fein)
Darren Guy (UUP)
Chelsea Cooke (DUP)
Sean Mooney (SDLP)
Martin Reilly (SDLP)
SPERRIN (Turnout 62.66%)
Jason Barr (SDLP)
Raymond Barr (Independent)]
Alan Bresland (DUP)
Paul Gallagher (Independent)
Paul Boggs (Sinn Fein)
Brian Harte (Sinn Fein)
Fearghal Leonard (Sinn Fein)
FAUGHAN (Turnout 56.34%)
Ryan McCready (UUP)
Declan Norris (SDLP)
Julie Middleton (DUP)
Alex Duffy (Sinn Fein)
Sean Fleming (Sinn Fein)
DERG (Turnout 63.33%)
Ruairi McHugh (Sinn Fein)
Antaine O Ferghail (Sinn Fein)
Caroline Devine (Sinn Fein)
Derek Hussey (UUP)
Keith Kerrigan (DUP)
FOYLESIDE (Turnout 54.58%)
Grace Ui Niallais (Sinn Fein)
Conor Heaney (Sinn Fein)
Lilian Seenoi-Barr (SDLP)
Shauna Cusack (SDLP)
Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit)
BALLYARNETT (Turnout 51.88%)
Pat Murphy (Sinn Fein)
Sandra Duffy (Sinn Fein)
John McGowan (Sinn Fein)
Rory Farrell (SDLP)
Catherine McDaid (SDLP)
Brian Tierney (SDLP)
THE MOOR (56.69%)
Gary Donnelly (Independent)
Aisling Hutton (Sinn Fein)
Patricia Logue (Sinn Fein)
Emma McGinley (Sinn Fein)
John Boyle (SDLP)
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