Fine Gael says it is "preparing to go into opposition" following a six hour meeting of the parliamentary party.

If he was a man under pressure, Leo Varadkar wasn’t showing it during a leisurely visit to St Joseph’s College in the Dublin suburb of Lucan.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that it is appropriate that Sinn Féin Northern Minister for Finance Conor Murphy make an apology to the Quinn family for suggesting that their son Paul, believed to have been murdered by the Provisional IRA, had been involved in criminality.

Further toxicology reports are needed to determine how the three children found at in their home in Dublin on Friday evening died, but it is thought they may have been suffocated.

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.

Sinn Fein's Mark Ward has been elected to the Dail on the ninth count in the Dublin Mid West by-election, a result party leader Mary Lou McDonald said was a good day for the “working class”.

The by-election is to replace Fine Gael TD Frances Fitzgerald who was elected as an MEP in May.

With business exceedingly slow at polling stations yesterday, it is clear the four by-elections have not captured the public’s imagination.

Mr Varadkar travelled to Wexford yesterday where he spent around 40 minutes meeting locals with the Fine Gael candidate.

Voters in Dublin Mid-West aren’t talking about immigration. They’re far more worried about housing, transport, and a little boy named Sam, writes Juno McEnroe

Fine Gael’s best chance of winning one of the four by-elections is in Dublin Mid-West.

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

Gardaí said a premises in the Clondalkin area was searched yesterday as a result of an intelligence-led operation.

A number of violent incidents in the past few years have culminated in the Justice Minister’s appeal to Ireland to be tolerant, writes Neil Michael

The Taoiseach has spoken to a Fine Gael byelection candidate over a leaflet she sent expressing 'delight' that plans for Traveller accommodation had been scrapped in her area.

A large number of moderate MPs, especially young women, will not contest next month’s British election. Many say they cannot endure the aggression representatives face.

After eight punishing rounds, more than a few ring-side pep talks, and what effectively amounts to a technical knockout, Olympic boxing hero and Fine Gael candidate Kenny Egan scraped over the line to gain a seat on South Dublin County Council.

As counting continues in the European elections, it will now be tomorrow before some of the 11 MEPs are elected.

Olympic hero Kenneth Egan is expected to eventually be elected despite being in a fight with a small group of candidates for one of the final seats in Clondalkin, an electoral area that has seen Sinn Féin support surge to a massive one in every three voters.

Olympic hero Kenny Egan is expected to eventually be elected despite being in a fight with a small group of candidates for one of the final seats in Clondalkin, an electoral area that has seen Sinn Féin support surge to a massive one in every three voters.