Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said she hopes the party can win four seats in the general election amid expectation that the group will also form part of any government talks.

Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin has warned that any party refusing to talk to his and others to form a government will be "punished" by voters if they force a second election on the country.

It happened as he walked into the Omni Park Shopping Centre in Santry.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after being accused of seeking to politicise the serious injuries to a homeless man in Dublin this week.

In 2020, Eamon Ryan will be Tánaiste and the general election result will be so close to 50:50 that the two main political parties will end up with 50 seats each. Those are my predictions for 2020.

Fine Gael TDs Noel Rock and Hildegarde Naughton are set to be promoted and take up Maria Bailey's Oireachtas committee places after her swing-gate fall from grace.

Here is your lunchtime bulletin...

Even an experienced postman would be fearful of this dog. He was big, black and barking loudly. But despite her fright the canvasser stayed put until the door was opened.

Dozens of examples of bad practice flagged by probe of expenses paid to community healthcare staff.

Incoming Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is facing mounting pressure to address bullying in her party after the resignation of yet another elected member.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald faces mounting pressure from her Fine Gael ministerial colleagues after fresh information around her knowledge of the Maurice McCabe scandal emerged.

There may be collaboration on the budget, but there is deadly political competition between the two big centre parties, writes Gerard Howlin.

They were all singing for their supper, but now the meals are coming who will be left hungry? Fiachra Ó Cionnaith assesses the likely winners and losers in incoming Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s new cabinet.

Labour is aiming to double its Dáil seats in the next general election and will begin the process of selecting candidates in the coming weeks as it seeks to rebuild the party.

Leo Varadkar’s venture into the world of broadcasting as a DJ has sparked a war of words.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has just announced a number of new junior ministers in the Dáil.

Labour’s Seanad nominees will be announced today as the party’s votes are counted.

Fine Gael candidates ignored a proposed voting pact with Labour in last-minute leaflet drops — only urging votes for Fine Gael.

Fine Gael will be hoping to build on the success of their 2011 election result and is introducing a number of promising new candidates into the race this time around.

Three Independent TDs will today unveil their new party- expected to be called the Social Democrats — which hopes to target disillusioned Labour voters in the next general election.

Senator Averil Power has accused Fianna Fáil of using her when she was in the party to cover up for the fact that it had no strategy to attract or elect female politicians.

Two sister hospitals in neighbouring counties have emerged as having the country’s best and worst death rates for heart attack patients in their care.

Senior Labour figures have ruled out expressing support for €1.36bn offer to buy Aer Lingus until after the general election.

One family doctor’s practice received over €825,000 in payments from the State for the treatment of medical-card patients last year.

The Government is set to pass special legislation in the coming weeks in order to hold a by-election to replace former senator Deirdre Clune in the Upper House.

A consultant at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin says he supports the resignation of the Clinical Director over patient safety concerns.

AN American author once said timing was the longest distance between two places and this certainly rings true for the weekend’s Labour Party Conference in Killarney.

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore has revealed there were times when he feared the Government would not have enough money to run the country.

The Taoiseach said he was "naturally, personally disappointed" by the defeat of the referendum to abolish the Seanad, as attention now turns to the need for political reform.

The No side has remained ahead throughout the afternoon in the referendum to abolish the Seanad - but with a very tight margin.

The final Dáil vote saw 31 TDs oppose the X case legislation as numbers were swelled by left-wing deputies protesting that the new law was not liberal enough.

Children identified as being in unsuitable foster placements have been removed from those families following the publication of a critical report last week, the children’s minister has confirmed.

The President of the Irish Association of Social Workers has said the sector needs a massive boost in funding after a report found inspectors in Dublin North West were not assured that all children in foster care were safe.

A leading child protection expert has warned the State could be sued unless it immediately addresses a litany of shocking foster care service abuses.

Property tax demands delivered every January will explode like a “new year bombshell” just when families are at their most financially stretched, critics of the controversial charge have warned.

Almost a thousand young children in North Cork are being put at risk of serious illnesses due to an extremely low take-up of the potentially lifesaving MMR and 4-in-1 vaccines.

Just three of the country’s 43 constituencies voted no.

Three of Ireland’s 43 constituencies voted against Government plans to enshrine children’s rights in the constitution.

He says he doesn’t mean it in a disrespectful way, but three of the four ex-Labour TDs now in exile on the opposition benches may not like John Lyons’ comments very much.

RÓISÍN Shortall’s explosive exit from Labour has far more potential to destabilise the Coalition than her slow-motion resignation as junior health minister.

The Constituency Commission has recommended cutting the number of TDs in Leinster House by eight - from 166 to 158.

Voters in just five of the country’s 43 constituencies rejected the referendum, with strong divisions between urban and rural areas.

Enda Kenny said the decisive yes vote in the EU treaty referendum would strengthen the Government’s hand in renegotiating Ireland’s banking debt in Europe.

Anti-treaty parties said pressure would be applied on the Government to uphold promises of jobs made during the campaign, and accused the yes side of winning the vote through fear.

Ireland should be granted a deal to lower its bank debt now that it has passed the fiscal treaty, Enda Kenny has said.

Working-class Dublin joined defiant Donegal in their rejection of the European Fiscal Treaty.

Ireland has backed the European Fiscal Stability Treaty with around 60% of those that turned out to vote yesterday saying Yes to the treaty.

The Fiscal Treaty referendum has been passed, with leading no campaigners conceding defeat.