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

Socialist TD Joe Higgins says the arrest of one of his party colleagues is "political policing".

The newly elected TD for Dublin West has claimed her victory in the by-election, combined with a strong showing by left-wing candidates in the European and local elections, will cause damage to the Government.

Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger is now firmly on target to win the by-election in Dublin West after the distribution of the vote of Fine Gael’s Eamonn Coughlan on the fourth count has further cemented her lead.

Sinn Féin and Independents the major winners so far as the results of the local elections come in.

Sinn Féin has emerged as the surprise poll-topper in the Dublin West bye-election with its candidate Paul Donnelly edging out the pre-election favourite, Socialist Party councillor Ruth Coppinger after the first count result.

A Dublin West by-election candidate has made a complaint to gardaí claiming that he was blackmailed by individuals over a video that shows him making alleged racial comments.

Even if he had not set himself up as some kind of moral force for good in the Dáil, Patrick Nulty’s fall was still as squalid as it was unexpected.

The final Dáil vote saw 31 TDs oppose the X case legislation as numbers were swelled by left-wing deputies protesting that the new law was not liberal enough.

Labour TDs and rebels within the party share a resigned view of the budget measures but some hold out hope for some type of U-turn on the more significant cuts unveiled.

The late Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor had an “insatiable appetite for money”, and his methods of obtaining it from developers was “occasionally ingenious”, according to the Mahon Report.

TWO simple measures sum up the thrust of this budget. Young people with a disability are to have their allowance nearly halved from €188 to €100 a week.

The Government is losing another backbencher after the most newly elected TD Patrick Nulty refused to back the Budget.

Fine Gael has selected its candidate to represent the party in the Dublin West by-election.

OUR politicians are so self indulgent. It’s always about them. Dithering over the timing of the election date reminds me of similar political paralysis in 2008.

The removal of Tomás MacGiolla, former President of the Workers Party, will take place in Dublin today.

THE Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) referred 13 files to gardaí for alleged contraventions of the electoral acts, including files relating to former Clare TD and senator, Madeleine Taylor Quinn.

CONTENDERS for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party last night predicted an extremely close finish when postal ballots are counted this afternoon.

MAVERICK Labour TD Tommy Broughan was staying tight-lipped last night over whether he would force frontrunner Eamon Gilmore into a contest for the party leadership.

Another veteran Labour TD has thrown his weight behind Eamon Gilmore's campaign for the leadership of the party.

THE overwhelming favourite to be the next Labour Party leader, Eamon Gilmore, yesterday steamrolled ahead in the popularity stakes with an endorsement from former party leader Ruairi Quinn.

FIANNA FÁIL took three of the first five Seanad Éireann seats filled last night, as the counting of votes continues.

TDs were treated to free cups of coffee and tea outside the Dáil today as part of a campaign to turn Ireland into a ‘Fairtrade Nation’.

CHARMING, complex, controversial and corrupt. Reprehensible but not entirely unlikeable.

The Government must develop a clear strategy to tackle the problems faced by people living in the fast growing commuter belt around Dublin, a Labour TD demanded today.

Socialist TD Joe Higgins who was imprisoned last week along with councillor Clare Daly is vowing to use his time behind bars to plot his ongoing strategy against the bin tax.

LIAM LAWLOR used a solicitor’s firm in London to shelter the proceeds of money from the sale of his land in Dublin three years ago, lawyers for the Planning Tribunal claimed yesterday.

FOUR contenders are set to battle it out in each of two separate contests for the jobs of leader and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

DISAPPOINTED general election candidates and hopefuls for a seat in the next Dáil figure among the Taoiseach's nominees to the Seanad, announced last night.

Former TD Liam Lawlor is facing another €132,000 in legal costs form the Flood Tribunal.

Dublin West saw a swing back to Labour following a disappointing showing in 1997.

Fingal County Council has agreed to continue to collect household waste free of charge for the time being.

Calls for the resignation of Liam Lawlor grew today as he found himself behind bars for the third time in 13 months.

Liam Lawlor has been sentenced to a month in prison for failing to comply with a tribunal probing planning irregularities.

Independent TD for Dublin West, Liam Lawlor, has been given a further seven days to avoid a possible return to jail.

Independent TD for Dublin West, Liam Lawlor, will appear in the High Court once again this morning.

Dublin West independent TD Liam Lawlor is today heading back to jail after his Christmas break in New York.

Socialist TD Joe Higgins is threatening to picket Leinster House for an hour today in an attempt to have his suspension from the Dail overturned, so that he can attend a debate on Liam Lawlor.

Embattled TD Liam Lawlor is facing a possible dismissal from a Dail Committee later today.