The Government suffered a blow after failing to win any seats in four byelections yesterday, while Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party celebrated their victories.

The Government has suffered a blow after failing to win any seats in four byelections which could provide clues before the whole country goes to the polls next year.

With business exceedingly slow at polling stations yesterday, it is clear the four by-elections have not captured the public’s imagination.

Next Friday, four constituencies vote on who might replace Dáil deputies elected to Europe.

Voters in Dublin Mid-West aren’t talking about immigration. They’re far more worried about housing, transport, and a little boy named Sam, writes Juno McEnroe

Fine Gael’s best chance of winning one of the four by-elections is in Dublin Mid-West.

A number of violent incidents in the past few years have culminated in the Justice Minister’s appeal to Ireland to be tolerant, writes Neil Michael

The Party's Ard Fheis is taking place this weekend in Derry.

The Taoiseach has spoken to a Fine Gael byelection candidate over a leaflet she sent expressing 'delight' that plans for Traveller accommodation had been scrapped in her area.

A large number of moderate MPs, especially young women, will not contest next month’s British election. Many say they cannot endure the aggression representatives face.

A Fine Gael councillor and by-election candidate has apologised after she boasted and expressed her “delight” at a Traveller housing scheme being scrapped in her area.

Labour has pledged to undo changes forced on people during the economic crash by blocking a rise in the pension age and by increasing wages.

Labour has pledged to undo changes forced on people during the financial crash by first reducing the pension age and by also increasing wages and the delivery of homes.

They agreed the end of November would be the best time for the elections to replace TDs who had been elected to the European Parliament last May.

Fine Gael is only aiming to win one out of the four upcoming by-election seats.

Addressing his party colleagues in Cork the Taoiseach said May would be the best time for the country to go to the polls.

Four by-elections to fill Dáil seats left empty as a result of the European elections could take place on the same day in a "Super Friday" style election day as soon as the first half of November.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has signalled to a meeting of his Fine Gael ministers that he would prefer the upcoming by-elections to be held in November, even if his party is unlikely to win any of them.

Election fever is cranking up, with the Government setting in train plans to have ballot papers ready to go in the event of a snap general election.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is preparing to fight an early winter snap general election to win a third term for Fine Gael if a Brexit deal is hammered out by Halloween.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone will hold talks with opposition parties in a bid to ensure a law allowing adopted people to trace their birth parents is passed by the end of the year.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan are under considerable pressure over their handling of the Maurice McCabe email scandal which claimed the scalp of Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald who resigned.

The Taoiseach strongly defended Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald in spite of her decision to resign over a failure to act over a Garda management strategy to discredit whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

The Dáil is set to gain two more TDs from the next election as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is a major winner in the redraw of constituency boundaries announced tonight, writes Daniel McConnell.

Latest: According to media reports this evening this is the second time the family has been affected by a fire tragedy.

With such a large number of sitting TDs now ousted from Leinster House, the 32nd Dáil will be spattered with unfamiliar and fresh faces.

A number of polling stations for today’s general election are not wheelchair accessible, voters with mobility issues have been warned.

Sinn Féin has criticised the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald for canvassing with a Garda escort in Clondalkin area of the Dublin Mid-West constituency.

There was a confident and casual air among delegates at Labour’s party conference over the weekend.

A rejected Fianna Fáil candidate has become the latest addition to the diverse grouping of the Independent Alliance (IA).

Another Labour TD has decided not to contest the general election, and has claimed that democracy has been degraded in Ireland.

New building regulations and local planning appeals have delayed dozens of major school building projects this year.

The successor to Justice Minister Alan Shatter will be announced this morning in the Dáil.

The bishops were quick out of the blocks last week to smite the proposed referendum on same-sex marriage.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said the country now needs a deal on its bank debt.

A bin charge waiver operated by the Greyhound waste company in Dublin is due to expire today.

Fine Gael has been left licking its wounds as junior coalition partners Labour celebrated a double whammy at the polls.

First count results in the Presidential election are expected to start coming in from around the country in the next hour or so.

ENDA KENNY has steered his party to its best election result in history, more than doubling the number of Fine Gael seats since he became party leader after the 2002 general election.

Labour's Robert Dowd and Fine Gael's Derek Keating have been elected to the final seats in Dublin Mid-West.