Aontú has raised its threats to disrupt a planned seven-way leaders TV debate tonight, the first between the leading parties as the election campaign reaches its midpoint.

Strandhill was announced as the winner of the European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) at an event at the Sligo Park Hotel this afternoon.

The Taoiseach has made it clear that although Ireland would be open to an extension for Britain, plan B is no-deal.

European Council president Donald Tusk has said the "punchline" in the Brexit deal drama will be whether British prime minister Boris Johnson "has done what he should" and passes the agreement through the House of Commons.

Unprecedented last ditch Brexit talks will take place this morning on the edges of the EU leaders summit in a bid to finally drag an almost completed deal over the finishing line.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has dismissed speculation about a Northern Ireland-only backstop and said she expects to meet Boris Johnson tonight.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has revealed last-minute EU-UK talks to secure a Brexit deal are "moving in the right direction" - despite saying it "remains unclear" if an agreement will be struck by tomorrow's EU summit.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said his preference is still to hold a general election next spring despite pressure mounting to go to the polls as a successful Brexit deal looms.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will “run as far away as possible from a domestic agenda” if a Brexit deal is agreed and he calls a snap general election.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has told Britain that it is time to "turn good intentions into a legal text" deal with just two days to go before the crunch EU summit in Brussels.

A deal may not be reached until hours before Thursday’s EU summit, Tánaiste Simon Coveney tells Political Correspondent Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will warn Cabinet today that “major hurdles” still exist between the EU and Britain, amid fears in Brussels that the Brexit crisis may force officials to call an emergency EU summit next week.

Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson have spoken on the phone this evening to discuss Brexit.

The Taoiseach has admitted he is “not optimistic” about a Brexit deal being struck ahead of a crucial EU summit next month.

So that’s nearly Wednesday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Fine Gael's Deirdre Clune has made an incredible comeback in the Ireland South constituency and is now in contention to take the fourth seat.

Early analysis of election results is usually a risky business but even at this stage, as the last do-or-die seats are still in contention, it seems a few headline lessons cannot be ignored.

Sinn Féin, the party which prides itself as being the voice of the people, has been left speechless after the local and EU elections.

The new British PM will have much to do to tackle the lousy legacy of Theresa May and David Cameron, which includes clearing up the Brexit mess, writes Andrew Hammond.

Polling stations across Ireland are reporting a slow and steady turnout for the local and EU elections.

On Friday, Irish citizens will be asked to cast their vote for candidates who will represent them in the European Parliament, as well as at local council level and a referendum on divorce legislation.

Political Correspondent Fiachra Ó Cionnaith outlines the key issues to be discussed at the latest special EU summit in Brussels tonight.

EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan has insisted there will be no hard border in Ireland “under any circumstances” even if Britain crashes out of the EU next Friday.

A motion has been tabled in the House of Lords for Yvette Cooper's bill to be rushed through the second chamber in a single day, allowing it to become law by the end of today.

1,010 days after the EU referendum.

Britain will be blocked from taking part in the upcoming EU elections, one of Europe's most influential politicians has suggested.

So that’s nearly Friday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has ruled out pulling the plug on the Government in the immediate aftermath of any Brexit breakthrough, saying it would be "reckless" to hold a vote before the end of the year.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said it is time to cut the British government some slack in order to allow them to avoid a crash-out Brexit.

For more than two years, British prime minister Theresa May insisted that her country would leave the European Union at 11pm on March 29 next. On the record, from the dispatch box in the House of Commons, she said it 108 times.

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said when he arrives in Brussels tomorrow for the EU summit, he will be arguing British Prime Minister Theresa May be given some space to seek to get approval for her deal.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will reveal his no-deal Brexit plans next Thursday after the EU summit failed to produce any breakthrough on the increasingly deadlocked crisis.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has rejected claims he has signed up to a 'cowardice-and-surrender' deal with Fine Gael which risks destroying his party after a colleague hit out at the spring 2020 confidence and supply deal extension.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned the EU’s new digital tax could fuel the threatened transatlantic trade war and claimed as many as 10 member states now oppose the proposed levy.

The British PM hit out over cases that collapsed in the Irish courts, writes Seán MacCárthaigh

The first meeting between Charles Haughey and British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, after Haughey was appointed Taoiseach for a second time, in 1987, was described as “friendly”.

The British, it is said, are a pragmatic people, the Irish a nation of dreamers. The British think (and govern) in prose, the Irish in poetry. The British are interested in concrete results, the Irish concentrate on process writes Fergus Finlay.

If the Taoiseach is to lead successful negotiations with the UK as well as our EU partners over Brexit he will need to show greater political maturity than he exhibited during the debacle over former tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald.

A national innovation food hub to be based in Cork will be announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Agriculture Minister Michael Creed today.

Fine Gael leadership contender Leo Varadkar and his team are ready to immediately launch his election bid if Taoiseach Enda Kenny only signals when he may resign at a party meeting today.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told his parliamentary party that he will address the issue of the Fine Gael leadership next week at a meeting in Leinster House.

European leaders today are expected to give unanimous support to a special declaration that the North would rejoin the EU after Brexit in the event of a vote for Irish reunification.

Paris was plunged into panic when soldiers guarding the Louvre Museum shot an attacker who lunged at them with two machetes as the historic landmark went into lockdown.

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

Neo-Nazi Thomas Mair, who gunned down Labour MP Jo Cox while shouting "Britain first", has today been found guilty of her murder.

The families of those involved in the ‘Grace’ sexual abuse case have reacted angrily to news that the HSE has failed to co-operate properly with a state investigation.

The cost of imports may have risen but the depreciation of sterling has given a boost to the UK economy and lower and middle income earners will benefit, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Turning 65 used to mean mandatory retirement and a future of endless holiday. But in 2016 in Britain it came to signify a very different cut-off: Membership in the single most pro-Brexit age group in the June 23 EU referendum.