Michael Clifford looks back at the year that was.

The Government suffered a blow after failing to win any seats in four byelections yesterday, while Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party celebrated their victories.

The Government has suffered a blow after failing to win any seats in four byelections which could provide clues before the whole country goes to the polls next year.

The Green Party is celebrating its first ever by-election victory in Dublin-Fingal after Joe O'Brien secured the seat vacated by Clare Daly after the eighth count.

The growing pains of this vibrant and bustling constituency are clear for all to see.

The Green Party expects to secure a sizeable chunk of the vote in the upcoming poll, says Elaine Loughlin.

The race to fill the seat vacated by Independents4Change TD Clare Daly in Dublin-Fingal on Friday, November 29 is shaping up to be a two-horse race.

Fianna Fáil senator and Fingal by-election candidate Lorraine Clifford-Lee will not be disciplined or demoted for tweets she posted before she entered politics, the party has said.

The newest member of the Seanad has promised to represent farmers who want a new vision for agriculture in Ireland that is in tune with the environment and biodiversity.

TDs and senators had to refund almost €10,000 in expenses this year after an audit found they could not provide supporting evidence to justify claiming such allowances.

An investigation is underway to determine whether two of the country’s biggest prisons in the country had no official governor for a period of 18 months during which prisoners could have successfully challenged their detention.

They agreed the end of November would be the best time for the elections to replace TDs who had been elected to the European Parliament last May.

Fine Gael is only aiming to win one out of the four upcoming by-election seats.

Addressing his party colleagues in Cork the Taoiseach said May would be the best time for the country to go to the polls.

Four by-elections to fill Dáil seats left empty as a result of the European elections could take place on the same day in a "Super Friday" style election day as soon as the first half of November.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has signalled to a meeting of his Fine Gael ministers that he would prefer the upcoming by-elections to be held in November, even if his party is unlikely to win any of them.

Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Afghanistan before that, transport aircraft chartered by the US military have shuttled almost three million troops through Shannon Airport.

There are fresh concerns about overcrowding in Irish prisons, with 45 inmates on average having slept on mattresses every night so far this year.

Election fever is cranking up, with the Government setting in train plans to have ballot papers ready to go in the event of a snap general election.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is preparing to fight an early winter snap general election to win a third term for Fine Gael if a Brexit deal is hammered out by Halloween.

Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher has thanked the people of Cork North Central and said it was nice to leave the Dáil "on your own terms”.

Miracles can happen. A week ago, we were told that it would take 28

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's power to call four Dáil by-elections is likely to be taken from him, under rules which allow the Opposition have a say.

Be Bold. Two words plastered across a black and white image of Mick Wallace on a few sparsely dispersed billboards certainly made for a bold statement.

Just as counting was slowly edging to the finish line in the European Parliament Dublin constituency election on Monday night, whispers of a row started to filter through the RDS.

So that’s Friday 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.

All four European parliament seats have been filled in Dublin but counting continues in South and Midlands-North West.

Independent Clare Daly has pledged to “rattle the cages of those in authority” after being elected to the European Parliament in the constituency of Dublin.

Just as counting was slowly edging to the finish line in the European Parliament Dublin constituency election on Monday night, whispers of a row started to filter through the RDS.

Dublin's four new MEP seats have finally been decided, after three days of counting.

Independent Clare Daly has insisted she will fight for a seat in Dublin amid suggestions a row over transfers in the European elections could go to the courts.

A row over the transfer of votes and the so-called 'cold storage' Brexit seat has brought a halt to counting in the European elections in Dublin.

Voters have lost faith in FF and FG but after Friday’s ballots the left remains as far away from power in Ireland as it ever has been. Gary Murphy examines why this is the case.

Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald has been elected to the European Parliament after the 14th count for the Dublin constituency.

Ciarán Cuffe’s was on the verge of a landmark win for the Green Party in the European elections in Dublin last night after topping the poll on the first count.

Green Party candidate Ciaran Cuffe has topped the poll in the Dublin constituency.

“I can't rule it out,” he said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is not ruling out calling a snap general election in the Autumn if numbers are altered in the Dail.

Results of the votes here will not be announced until 10pm tonight due to a European-wide embargo.

Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe is set to top the Dublin European constituency by a shock landslide after Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald suffered a surprise slump in the polls.

Fianna Fáil has hit back at Fine Gael for trying to claim Billy Kelleher's seat before it has even been vacated.

There are two sleeps left to local and European elections on Friday.