In the 2019 local council elections, the story of Erne East belonged to Independent candidate, John McCluskey, who gained a seat on the Council at the expense of Sinn Féin's Brian McCaffrey.
At last Friday's count, the party emphatically reclaimed that third seat as Sheamus Greene (1,753), Thomas O'Reilly (1,387) and new councillor, Noeleen Hayes (1,296) all passed the quota for First Preference Votes (FPVs) on the first count.
Along with the DUP's Paul Robinson (1,410), they took out four of the six available seats in the DEA.
READ MORE ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE ERNE WEST DEA HERE
Councillor Greene topped the poll in the entire Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.
Between the three candidates, they took in 4,436 of the FPVs, equating to a 52.32 per cent share of total votes, marking 1,217 more FPVs than in 2019, in which their vote share was 38.07 per cent.
If the party had one complaint about the results, it may have been that they missed a chance to run a fourth candidate in Erne East.
The increase in votes came at the expense of Independent candidate, Eamon Keenan – who was co-opted onto the Council when Mr. McCluskey stepped down – who failed to be elected.
The elected Sinn Féin councillors thanked all those who made it possible for their success with Councillor O'Reilly saying after re-election: "We have a very difficult four years ahead of us, with the cost of living [crisis], [and] all of the budgetary constraints that are going to face the Council.
"But as a big Sinn Féin team in there, we are going to pull our weight to make sure that we deliver for the people that sent us in there."
READ ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE ERNE NORTH DEA HERE
The DUP's Paul Robinson was elected on the first count, and he was happy he increased his FPVs from 1,382, with the election win making it 18 years and counting for him as a councillor.
He said this was down to "hard work on the ground" and he was "still going strong".
The UUP's Victor Warrington was re-elected after the third stage as his vote dropped from 2019, when he was elected on Count One; transfers from Councillor Robinson got him over the line as his FPVs fell from 1,352 to 1,115, which was 13 per cent of the vote share.
Last past the post was Councillor McPhillips for the SDLP, who made it ahead of Mr. Keenan.
He admitted it was a tough day for his party, but was delighted to be re-elected. Just like in 2019 it came down to the wire for him, but this time he had to do it with fewer FPVs. His dropped from 839 to 498.
READ ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE ENNISKILLEN DEA HERE
"I'm delighted to be re-elected, but our party has took a bit of a hit," he said, before adding: "We have to really sit down and think about the direction we are going in.
"We are still there, still alive. I still think we have a major part to play in politics in this part of the world."
Independent candidate, Eamon Keenan could not replicate the vote of his predecessor, Mr. McCluskey, and he had the same fate as all but one of the Independents in the last Council term.
He polled 560 FPVs and lost out in Stage Seven to Councillor McPhillips' 77 votes.
Alliance candidate, Richard Bullick, polled 221 FPVs and was eliminated after Stage Six, alongside Independent Tina McDermott, who received 238 FPVs.
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