Naomi Long has been elected the new leader of the Alliance Party.
Ms Long's appointment at a special party council meeting in east Belfast was a foregone conclusion, given she was the only member to put her name forward to succeed retiring David Ford.
The former MP, who had served as deputy leader for ten years, vowed to work hard to deliver electoral success for the cross-community party.
The East Belfast Assembly Member praised the "good grace and dedication" of outgoing Mr Ford as she gave an acceptance speech to 130 party members.
Former Stormont Justice minister Mr Ford has retired after 15 years at the head of the party.
"It's a huge honour but also a huge responsibility, daunting but exciting in equal measure," said Ms Long as she thanked the party faithful for entrusting her to lead them.
The former Belfast city mayor said she wanted to engage with members and would-be members to help make the party the political home of those who want to build a "liberal and progressive future".
She said she wanted to celebrate the differences in Northern Ireland society.
"We have an important job to do in this society, offering a clear and ambitious alternative vision for the future," Ms Long said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Long said that in addition to being the first female party leader, she was the first party leader who was younger than the party.
This, the 44-year-old said, gave her an important perspective because she was conscious that there is "a whole swath of voters" whose recollections of the troubles are "if not dim, non existent", and who want to be involved in politics for reasons other than border question.
Ms Long said she wanted to reach out to those voters and make politics relevant to them.
In terms of Brexit, she said the Alliance Party would be taking up the Taoiseach's invitation to be part of an All-Ireland forum, and she believed cooperation with the Irish and British governments would offer the best hope of a good solution, to what she felt was a poor decision.
When questioned about the possibility of a border poll, Ms Long said she believed that voters had referendum fatigue and the time was not right.
She said that voters want stability and a border poll would inject more instability into the situation.
