In an Assembly devolved from Westminster, Sinn Fein (Catholic/Nationalist) are the largest party - with the First Minister.

The DUP (Protestant/Loyalist) is next largest, and was led by Jeffrey Donaldson until today - when he resigned, because of historic sexual allegations.

Guilty or not, Sinn Fein - the IRA's political arm - have never been closer to unifying the entire island; they are also the most popular party in the South.

Sinn Fein are a milquetoast social democratic party at this stage. They scare very conservative older voters, which is what I like about them. But their practical on-the-ground politics are well to the right of the likes of, for example, Corbyn, possibly slightly to the left of Starmer. The current leadership of SF were still at school when the IRA were doing their thing (which I don't support), so calling SF the political wing of the IRA in 2024 is a bit much. Probably in 1974, or 1984 or even 1994 it was true.