London | Six years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, no part of the UK has felt the sting in the tail more than Northern Ireland, where Brexit laid the groundwork for Sinn Fein’s remarkable rise in last week’s legislative elections.

With almost all the votes counted on Saturday (Sunday AEST), Sinn Fein, the main Irish nationalist party, declared victory, racking up 27 of the 90 seats available in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the most of any party in the territory.