Soon after the ballot boxes were opened yesterday morning a Sinn Féin lifer knew the plates were shifting.  He pulled me aside at the entrance to the Titanic Count Centre in Belfast. “It’s the ‘huggy ár lá’ election,” said he, smiling. “But don’t quote me” he quickly added. Inside, Ciarán Quinn had the look of someone whose day had arrived. A native of Belfast, more than a decade ago he was a significant back-room worker in the early days of the Sinn Féin-DUP Stormont partnership. He moved south as the party’s Dáil presence increased. In more recent times he has…

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