POLLS have opened across Derry as the public cast their votes to elect a new Assembly.
A total of 16 candidates are in the running for just six seats in the Foyle constituency.
The SDLP’s Colum Eastwood, Mark H Durkan and Gerry Diver currently hold three seats.
The party is confident it can retain the three seats and also increase its voting share.
But Sinn Fein have other ideas.
The party has parachuted in senior figure Martin McGuinness to contest Foyle and in a bid to pinch a seat off the SDLP.
The move could also backfire on Sinn Fein.
If McGuinness is elected and the party only keeps its two seats, either Raymond McCartney or Maeve McLaughlin will not get elected and it could backfire on the party, just like it did in Donegal during the recent Dail elections.
And then there is journalist and socialist Eamonn McCann who is hoping to upset the Sinn Fein and SDLP ballot apple carts.
At the ripe old age of 75, McCann is hoping the early good feedback from the hustings about his campaign could get him elected at the expense of either SDLP or Sinn Fein.
Another interesting battle in Foyle will be between sitting DUP MLA Gary Middleton who is being challenged by former DUP Mayor of Derry Maurice Devenney.
Devenney claims that party big guns in Belfast made sure he didn’t get the DUP ticket ahead of Middleton.
As a result, Devenney is now standing as an independent unionist hoping to regain his seat in the Assembly he previously vacated.
Polls close tonight at 10 pm.
Counting begins on Friday in the Foyle Arena.
It is hoped that by late Friday night or early Saturday a clearer picture of how the voting is going will emerge and who will be crowned the biggest party in Foyle.
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