IT was on this day a quarter of a century ago that a profound change took place in northern nationalism, with the UK general election count establishing that Sinn Féin had overtaken the SDLP for the first time ever.

Although Sinn Féin had been growing steadily since the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), many commentators had felt that the opportunity for the republican party to secure an overall lead among nationalists had yet to arrive.

Some, but not all, of the SDLP front bench believed they would maintain their advantage as long as John Hume was at the helm, with tensions kept largely in the background until a new reality emerged as the ballot boxes were opened on the morning of June 8 2001, after the Westminster poll of the previous day.

While the margins were initially very tight, with Sinn Féin on 21.7 per cent (175,392 votes) and the SDLP on 21.0 per cent (169,865), the ramifications were enormous and in the following years the gap widened dramatically.

Noel Doran: John Hume, Gerry Adams and the day that reshaped northern nationalism

Right call to remove blatantly racist messaging - The Irish News view

Reflections after the count focussed on Hume, the Nobel laureate who was completely justifiably regarded as the main architect of the peace process and later voted by RTÉ viewers as Ireland’s greatest........

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