Newly elected MEP Liadh Ní Riada said her priority is to triple the amount of EU funding Ireland is accessing and to use it to develop jobs in rural Ireland.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has vowed that the party’s MEPs will "stand up for the people of Ireland in Europe" and that he will lead the party into the general election.

Defeated Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins predicted yesterday there would be a Cabinet reshuffle "sooner rather than later".

It was all about the ballots early in the morning as weary count staff wrestled their way through just over 657,000, 16.5in ballot papers in the Ireland South count centre yesterday.

The rise and rise of Sinn Féin — due in no small part to girl power — continued last night with the election in the South constituency of Liadh Ní Riada.

As fledgling candidate Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan took wing for Europe, veteran MEP Jim Higgins acknowledged he was poised to make his Euro exit.

The sheer scale of Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley’s own personal vote emerged yesterday afternoon.

Ireland South voting sensation Brian Crowley all but made a bid for the presidency as he recorded a fifth poll-topping European election, with his team likening him to the much- loved US president, Franklin Roosevelt.

As heads rolled over the European Parliament election results in several countries, French president François Hollande went on TV to respond to the shock victory of far-right Front National.

Beaten European parliament candidate Eamon Ryan has said that he and other party candidates will consider running in upcoming by- elections after the Green Party leader failed to win a seat in Dublin.

The centre has held in Europe with the pro-EU parties taking most of the seats, says Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

As the count continues to fill the remaining local council and European parliament seats our team of correspondents will keep you informed of the latest developments as and when they happen.

All three sitting MEPs in Dublin looked set to lose their seats after a stunning debut by Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan dramatically upset voting patterns in the constituency.

Eurosceptic parties to the right and left of the political centre have been the big winners in the European Parliament elections.

There is a certain irony in the fact that Lynn Boylan is chair of the Safe Food Advisory Board because her performance in the Dublin Euro elections proved hard for many to swallow.

Cannabis campaigner Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is on his way from Dáil Éireann to Brussels by virtue of a sensational win in the Midlands North-West constituency.

Brian Crowley will once again top the poll in the Ireland South European elections with Sinn Féin newcomer Liadh Ní Riada and Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly on course to take the second and third seat.

A stark warning will be delivered to Labour leader Eamon Gilmore in the coming days from a group of backbench TDs calling for a major shake-up of the party’s cabinet positions and a re-examination of its communications machine.

Exit polls from the Netherlands suggest anti-EU sentiment might be levelling off as decidedly pro-EU parties came out on top, but the message from Britain appears to be very different with Ukip clear winners.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has sent voters a warning that any support for opposition parties will result in new taxes and instability for the country.

Centre-right conservative parties are expected to remain the biggest political group in the European Parliament, with Ireland among the eight countries where they will be returned.

Ten heads of state or government and 100 ministers sharpened their political teeth in the European Parliament, giving them an advantage in EU politics, but it is a trend Ireland has not followed.

It’s the day after the night before and Kieran Hartley is a bit surprised, but more than happy to get a few glances and comments of recognition as he strides through Clonmel.

Junior finance minister and European election candidate Brian Hayes is standing over his assertion that Sinn Féin’s budget proposals were based on a "cut-and-paste job" rather than proposals costed by his department.

The belief that the GAA is a fertile training ground for politics seems to ring true for a former president of the country’s biggest sporting organisation, Sean Kelly.

Luke "Ming" Flanagan is on the canvass on Galway’s Shop St for just a little while before he is marched off to the nearest Garda station.

She may be languishing in the opinion polls and at risk of losing her seat. But Labour MEP Phil Prendergast has generated more online conversation in the last six months than any other candidate in the Ireland South constituency.

THEY are sick of the sight of us. One of the nonsenses talked about elections and politics is how disillusioned we the people are with our politicians.

The woes of a bruised coalition Government and fears of another property bubble may just throw the Green Party a lifeline and help get party leader Eamon Ryan elected to Europe.

Ireland’s members of the European Parliament were split in votes on the controversial issues of arms, GMOs, fracking, and global warming, a report has shown.

They made a great pair on Main St, the Lady and the Rottweiler. Demure, polite, restrained is the lady. If you want to know how to canvas with grace, watch as she moves up and down a street, through a supermarket and even into a pub at midday.

The Labour Party has pitched itself against Fianna Fáil in the battle for the last of three seats in Dublin, where Emer Costello remains its only hope of avoiding a wipeout in next Friday’s European elections.

The change in how the top jobs in the EU are allocated, coupled with the rise of anti-austerity parties, could produce a very different parliament, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

Sinn Féin’s past and present collided on a sun-drenched pier in Cork City this weekend.

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has stressed the importance of the outcome the European elections and the impact the MEPs will have on youth unemployment, social protection, income, and working conditions.

The past is a different country for Nessa Childers.

For anyone wanting to design a political obstacle course, the route chosen by Mary Fitzpatrick makes a good template.Mary Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fáil candidate for Europe, canvassing in Raheny, Dublin. Pic: Maxpics

He’s the longest serving MEP in Europe, topping the poll in the last four European elections and despite the toxicity of Fianna Fáil in the 2009 elections, he was once again the biggest vote getter in the country with over 118,000 first preference votes. Nothing, including political polls, suggests this election will be any different.

Instead of an election to send politicians to Europe, we should have a referendum to decide if we want to be a part of the EU.

WHEN the planes went into the Twin Towers on 9/11, Brian Fagan realised it was time to hightail it out of Afghanistan.

IRELAND had some of the best performers in the European Parliament over the past term, punching above their weight and taking full advantage of the huge additional powers the MEPs have gained.

Mary Fitzpatrick smiles down in splendid isolation from the ESB poles of Main Street, Swords. She is alone among Euro election candidates in occupying high vantage on the thoroughfare. All the other posters are for the locals, candidates of a lesser political god, but perhaps one that has far more relevance to the lives of the voters.

MEP Phil Prendergast has denied that her call for Eamon Gilmore to resign as Labour leader was an "act of desperation" and described as "reactionary" a comment by her colleague Seán Sherlock that she can not be taken seriously as a candidate.