Labour leader Brendan Howlin cannot drag out growing demands for him to step down until next month and must address the leadership question at a special meeting this month.

As a group of Dublin City Councillors, we are acutely aware of how the Eighth Amendment, and Ireland’s restrictive abortion legislation, has impacted on the lives of women across our city.

Labour TDs and defeated candidates have officially been put on notice that a second general election may be on the cards, as the party prepares to rule itself out of joining government.