The man who topped the poll in the recent European Election in Dublin claims the recent increase in air-pollution in Ireland could cause people to die early.

Bonjour. This column comes to you from Paris, France, as the Americans might say, in case you mix it up with Paris, Texas or any other Paris.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the State may need to introduce electronic voting following the marathon European election stand-off in Ireland South.

German politics faces a potentially murky future if it doesn’t sort out the succession of its long-sitting chancellor, writes Leonid Bershidsky.

Fianna Fáil TD and aspiring MEP, Billy Kelleher has called for an ongoing Electoral Commission that would continuously monitor the system.

Sterling languished just off four-month lows, with the outcome of the European election in the UK seen possibly emboldening proponents of a no-deal Brexit as the battle to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May got under way.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is still holding onto the hope of winning two European seats in the Ireland South constituency as the marathon count continues.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has restated Ireland's support for Manfred Weber to replace Jean Claude Juncker as Europe's most senior politician.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has strongly endorsed Business Minister Heather Humphrey's criticism of Maria Bailey over her 'swing-gate' personal injuries case.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has admitted candidate Saoirse McHugh is looking increasingly unlikely to win a European elections seat despite "inspiring" the country with her campaign.

A round-up of the counts in Munster.

The Taoiseach has congratulated the Green Party on a significant election win but has admitted Fine Gael will not see the gains they had hoped for.

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

The length of the ballot paper in tomorrow’s European election will cause headaches for the people sorting votes on Saturday.

European election candidates had spent almost €60,000 combined on Facebook advertising up to last Sunday, figures made available by the social media giant have revealed.

Leo Varadkar must scrap the Government’s 2040 national development plan if he is serious about climate change, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said.

If it weren’t for the posters people wouldn’t have a breeze that there were elections coming up, says Alison O’Connor.

So that’s Thursday nearly 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.

Ireland South MEP candidates will battle it out for crucial European election votes tonight at an Irish Examiner town hall debate with just a week to go before the national ballot.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Michael Creed has denied that a roll-out of several million euro for coastal projects has been delayed to tie in with his party’s European election campaign.

“I just find it extremely disturbing with young children going to school and people in general, it’s not an image they want to see.”

Outspoken Independents, a celebrity candidate, and a risk that the result could cause a snap general election mean the sprawling Midlands-North West is set for high drama, writes Political Correspondent Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

Fianna Fáil's two candidates in Ireland South deny that the party's decision to divide the constituency has caused tension between them.

A feed-in tariff and preferential grid access are needed to make on-farm and community renewable energy possible, said IFA president Joe Healy.

Solidarity-People Before Profit has put forward four European election candidates to become “disturbers of the political peace”.

The Dalkey Tidy Towns group has rowed back on comments saying it would remove and destroy election posters.

A public awareness campaign is being launched to provide information for around 85,000 people, living in areas of County Cork which are due to come under the control of City Hall on May 31.

This weekend Fine Gael and Labour selected candidates to stand in May’s elections for the European parliament.

Hopes of an orderly Brexit are mounting with EU negotiator Michel Barnier signalling an arrangement is close to being agreed ahead of a crunch vote in Westminster later this month.

Tipperary councillor David Doran is the latest public representative to quit Sinn Féin, describing the party as “an affront to democracy”.

Ireland’s longest-serving MEP who announced his retirement from politics has defended taking his EU salary while he was in hospital for nearly four years and claimed he hasn’t spoken to his party leader since mid-2014.

It makes us rage, despair and on some wonderful days, it makes us weep with joy - and now hurling has been granted special cultural status by UNESCO.

Polling is underway in the North as the British general election gets underway. It is the seventh time in three years voters in the North have cast a ballot.

A school in the North will not be used as a polling station in the UK General Election after “hostile” loyalist protests during voting last year.

In the light of the newly-released State papers, Ryle Dwyer suggests there may be some deluded expectations of voter resistance to Sinn Féin.

Papers are to be lodged in the Supreme Court in relation to a Circuit Court ruling in an action by a former senator who was unsuccessful in his attempt to have a local election result overturned.

The Coalition has been hit with two blows following the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council’s recommendation that the Government sticks to €2bn in budget cuts next October, and a senior EU official saying that there was "no chance" of a deal on Ireland’s bank debt.

Footballer Joey Barton has apologised after claiming Ukip’s European election victory made them the best of "four really ugly girls" on the BBC’s Question Time.

Footballer Joey Barton has apologised after claiming Ukip’s European election victory made them the best of “four really ugly girls” on the BBC’s ‘Question Time’.

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.

A second day of counting in the European election gets under way today with a former minister awaiting a recount in a battle for a seat.

Independent TD Luke 'Ming' Flanagan says he is not afraid of being forgotten if he wins a seat in the European election.

A jubilant Nigel Farage has insisted Ukip will be “serious players” at the British general election after the party landed major blows on the Tories and Labour in local polls there.

Independent candidate Nessa Childers has lodged a formal complaint with RTÉ alleging bias in its reporting of the European Election campaign.