Seán Ó Fearghaíl as Ceann Comhairle will leave Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin neck and neck with voting TD numbers in the race to lead the next government.

The Sinn Féin surge looks set to claim a major scalp in Kerry in the form of Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae, according to the latest TG4/Ipsos MRBI poll.

When Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae suggested last week that rural drivers deserve special consideration under drink-driving laws, he was excoriated and all but made an object of fun.

Permits for drink driving in rural areas should be agreed to ease rural isolation and keep pubs open, according to Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, who used his leaders questions in the Dáil to complain about strict drink-driving rules yesterday.

Paying three times for a single asset is “unethical, unconstitutional and unfair," Independent TD, Denis Naughten, told a meeting of the Oireachtas health committee when it discussed what farm families wanted in the new Fair Deal Scheme.

The Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae has declined to comment following a report he was attending a funeral in South Kerry in June 2018 while signed into the Dáil for a key address by EU leader Jean-Claude Juncker.

The comments come as controversy continues over proposals for a direct provision centre at a former hotel in Oughterard in Co Galway.

Gardaí say a man fell to the ground after “colliding with a vehicle” near the site of the Connemara Gateway Hotel.

Environment Minister Richard Bruton has called on Independent TD Noel Grealish to withdraw inappropriate remarks about African immigrants sponging off the State.

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.

Independent TD Catherine Connolly has told of her concern at the inaccurate figures being presented as facts at a public meeting in Oughterard on Wednesday night.

The Agriculture Minister is being called on to fast track talks on the beef crisis.

A study to quantify the climate mitigation and adaptation potential of hedgrows is to be commissioned by the Government in 2021.

There will always be a certain number of people in emergency accommodation, the Taoiseach has said.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is to bring a proposal to Government this week to phase out fur farms.

An independent report on the contentious broadband plan will be delayed until after the local and European elections amid claims it could unfairly impact on the votes.

The revamped Cork City local electoral areas are posing challenges and changes across the city but the northside of the river is undergoing a far more drastic change.

The children’s hospital crisis and revelations the project will cost at least €1.7bn has been branded “a fucking joke” by a TD during a Dáil debate which has led to yet more questions over the future of the facility.

The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against plans to develop a large, fast-food, drive-thru restaurant close to a primary school in north Dublin.

The lack of protection for seasonal migrant workers is a “time bomb”, says the Independent TD for Dublin Fingal, Clare Daly.

The Government does not possess the political will to protect vulnerable homeowners from so-called vulture funds, it is claimed.

Efforts to clampdown on and control negative publicity around the spiralling costs of the National Children’s Hospital began last August, when the scale of the overrun became apparent to those responsible for delivering it.

Sums of cash were taken from two premises.

The Government is on a knife-edge after the resignation of Communications Minister Denis Naughten, with serious doubts over whether it can pass the budget.

Our cherished identity is blown to the four winds if we remain wedded to the fossil fuel industry, writes Victoria White.

The Courts Service has announced the retirement of Judge James O’Connor, the district court judge in Kerry who was noted for his judicial leniency through the use of the court poor box.

Tusla was recording illegal adoptions and birth registrations in 2016 — two years before the agency’s revelation that it had uncovered unlawful registrations at St Patrick’s Guild.

Cervical cancer victim Vicky Phelan and the widower of Irene Teap, who lost her life due to the same scandal, will attend a special Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting today to highlight what questions they still have over the crisis.

Claims that the Taoiseach lobbied Google and Facebook to ban some advertisements ahead of the Eighth Amendment referendum have been dismissed as “totally made up”.

The Government will introduce a free contraception system after the referendum on the Eighth Amendment in a bid to revolutionise Ireland’s sex education and sexual health regime.

The Government’s plan for growth over the next two decades will “kill” rural Ireland and walk the country into “economic and social imbalance”, a coalition of TDs has warned.

Leading Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has said his decision to support repeal of the Eighth Amendment and access to abortion up to 12 weeks was “agonising and difficult”.

Oireachtas members have severely criticised the acting chief of the Department of Justice for insisting the department had “fully complied” with initial discovery orders issued by the Charleton Tribunal.

A 90-year-old West Cork man who endured a 1,000km journey for an eye operation is doing well.

Six multinationals including Apple and Google are set to be hauled before the Dáil’s financial watchdog next year to explain the amount of tax they pay in Ireland amid concerns about loopholes in the system.

A 90-year-old West Cork man who endured a 1,000km journey for an eye operation is doing well.

Ireland is at risk of having to pay compensation to thousands of women forced to travel abroad to receive an abortion unless the law is immediately changed to make the procedure legal and easily accessible.

The scale of Ophelia’s devastation was particularly felt in Waterford, Tipperary, and Dundalk, where three people lost their lives as a result of the storm.

Senior gardai have denied they knew of the widescale falsification of alcohol breath test data, contradicting claims by rank-and-file gardaí that management applied pressure to inflate figures.

Transport Minister Shane Ross says the mass cancellation of flights by Ryanair was totally unacceptable for passengers and “should have been foreseen”.

An organisation representing convenience stores and newsagents has accused the Government of ignoring its members’ concerns about the cost of implementing proposed legislation on the sale of alcohol.

Introducing dried seaweed into a cow’s diet could greatly reduce emission levels.

The same cladding used in the multi-fatality Grenfell tower block in London was installed at County Hall, the headquarters of Cork County Council, writes Sean O’Riordan.