This year’s Assembly election was undoubtedly historic in its results but no more so than in the constituency of North Antrim.
The DUP heartland found itself making history twice – with Patricia O'Lynn becoming the constituency’s first female MLA and also its first successful Alliance candidate.
The election saw Sinn Fein became Northern Ireland’s biggest party for the first time, and the Alliance Party gained its highest number of seats at Stormont.
And the majority of those out shopping in Ballymena town on Tuesday were full of praise for their new Alliance representative.
The area has a long-standing reputation as being a unionist stronghold, a DUP fortress, and the Paisley citadel – but Ms O’Lynn managed to push DUP stalwart Mervyn Storey out of the seat he had held for almost two decades.
“I’m delighted, I think Alliance have really excelled this time,” local shopper Bríd Stewart said.
“Alliance is totally mixed. They’re not orange or green. I’m sorry to see Mervyn out, but Patricia O’Lynn and the party are new blood and new thinking,” added the 58-year-old.
“I think it’s great and it goes back to David Ford and John Alderdice’s time. I think it speaks volumes.”
After Ms O’Lynn’s election victory, her party leader Naomi Long deemed the win as a “breath of fresh air”, adding that the days of “stale, male, pale” politics in North Antrim were over.
Alliance – a cross-community party founded in 1970 by 16 individuals – represents a non-sectarian approach to politics, with liberal views on social and economic issues.
It has become increasingly popular in recent years – particularly with younger individuals – who want to steer away from Northern Ireland’s traditional tribalism and binary style of politics.
However, there are those within the older generations who too have decided that it’s time for a change.
Jackie McAulay has voted for the DUP his whole life – until now. The 78-year-old said that this time round, he voted for Ms O’Lynn and for the UUP’s Robin Swann, who ended up topping the constituency’s poll.
“I’ve changed my vote. I would have voted for the DUP, but I thought Robin Swann did a brilliant job [as health minister] and Alliance is something in between… and because I don’t want the DUP in,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
He said he wasn’t shocked that Mr Storey had lost his seat, and even said he “didn’t care”.
“The DUP just get up my nose at the moment, they’re so pious about everything. They don’t agree with anything.
“They’ve got themselves in this situation [with the NI Protocol] – nobody else put them in this situation, they did it themselves and they haven't got a Plan B.”
When asked about whether this could be a good sign for positive change in North Antrim, Mr McAulay admitted: “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
While Ms O’Lynn’s instalment was widely met with optimistic reviews, many members of the public in Ballymena displayed apathy for Northern Ireland’s current political landscape in general.
One mum-of-two revealed that she refuses to vote because politicians “don’t do anything”.
“I’m fighting – I was told my daughter needs a special needs place in school and no MLA is willing to help you to help get her that place,” said Elizabeth McGrath (29).
“Patricia [O’Lynn] is someone that might actually listen and be listened to, but I don’t follow it [politics] because I don’t believe any of it. I think they promise you the world and when they actually get into it, they do absolutely nothing, so I refuse to vote or watch anything to do with it.”
However, Brendan McCallion (67) said this is the first time he and his wife have voted in any election here in four years and that he wasn’t overly surprised at Mr Storey losing his seat either.
“I knew it would be close but thought she might just get it and she did! I was glad to see it. I think it will make a difference from now on.” he said.
“Because of the way things are going here at the minute, I thought that I might as well use my vote instead of it sitting because it’s not going to make any change if I don’t. A lot of people think, ‘What’s the point in voting when the DUP are just going to get in all the time?’, but it’s changing a lot now.”
Speaking to this newspaper, Ms O’Lynn said: “I take this position very seriously and I don’t take it for granted, I never will.”
Mr Storey, who had been an MLA in North Antrim since 2003, said “it is still an overwhelmingly unionist constituency”, noting that it’s “sad” the May vote “only returned three unionist MLAs” there.
"That’s an issue for unionist voters and it shouldn’t have been a contest in terms of who was the most popular and most unionist. This was about ensuring that unionist representation at the Assembly was returned and sadly because of a variety of issues, this wasn’t the case on this occasion,” he continued.
While Mr Storey believes that the previous “male, pale and stale” comments made by Mrs Long don’t do Alliance “any good, for a party that wants to tell us that they’re all-inclusive and respectful to others”, Ms O’Lynn said it’s “unfortunate that he misunderstands what we’re saying”.
“North Antrim has always been represented by traditionally older men,” she continued. “When we’re talking about ‘pale, male and stale’ we’re talking about different perspectives that have been excluded from the political decision-making institutions for North Antrim up in Stormont.
“I’m here to represent everybody and I think that’s a point that maybe needs to be reiterated to people that are being critical.”
