Talks on who will become the next Lord Mayor of Cork were already underway even as the last two candidates took their seats with just a single vote separating them following a recount.

More than 25,000 of the spoiled votes in the Ireland South ballot were left entirely blank.

The Yes campaign for a directly elected Lord Mayor in Cork has been criticised by the present incumbent, who said there was no surprise the plebiscite was turned down by just over half of the voting public.

A full recount is underway in the Cork city south central Local Electoral Area (LEA) this morning while the early signs in the city's mayoral plebiscite show the outcome could be tighter than expected.

The Green Party’s European candidate in Ireland South has hit out at other political parties for attempting to ‘bluff’ their way through environmental issues during the local and European campaign.

Fine Gael has become the first government party in two decades to make gains in mid-term elections, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Five European election candidates are bracing themselves for a major battle for what looks like just three remaining seats in Midlands North West with the election count expected to drag on into the middle of this week.

A returning Sinn Fein councillor says the party's performance in the local elections around the country is 'disappointing.'

A first round result in the Ireland South elections is not expected until at least midnight with the lengthy ballot papers causing significant delays.

Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring has warned "anything could happen" in the battle for the final two seats in the Midlands North West European election when the official counts start to be announced tonight.

Minister Jim Daly does not believe Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will reshuffle his cabinet following the local election results and also said he doesn't feel Fianna Fail's strong showing could force an early general election.

The first elected councillor in Dublin City has pledged to press for better housing and cycle facilities after topping the poll and becoming the country's first Irish-Chinese local representative.

Latest: Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has suggested Leo Varadkar could be facing a worse local election performance than Enda Kenny.

Elections bring many things, not least a string of amusing tweets.