ULSTER Unionist Tom Elliott has taken the Fermanagh-south Tyrone seat from Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew in a dramatic early morning victory.
An emotional Ms. Gildernew told supporters, opponents and the media: "In our hearts this seat will always be Bobby Sands'.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Mr. Elliott meanwhile said his win was a "victory not only for unionism, but for Northern Ireland and the UK".
"This seat doesn't belong to Bobby Sands, it belongs to the people of Fermanagh-south Tyrone," he said.
He won by a margin of 530 votes.
As a joint unionist candidate, he claimed 23, 608 votes while Ms. Gildernew secured 23, 078.
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