The election has seen changes in how Stormont will look in the future. People have gone, party allegiance has shifted for many, and the outlook for the governance of Northern Ireland is uncertain as talks begin to form a power-sharing executive. The former first minister Arlene Foster will lead the Democratic Unionists into negotiations aimed at rebuilding power-sharing. She wants the discussions to deliver a new regional government, and vowed to work with all parties to achieve that. Sinn Féin and its leader Michelle O’Neill also insist that they want the negotiations to succeed. Many believe the prospect of the parties reaching a power-sharing agreement in the three-week timeframe imposed by Northern Ireland secretary of state James Brokenshire appears remote. If that deadline passes, the Government must either call another election or put Stormont in cold storage and reintroduce direct rule, which nationalists strongly oppose.