Kyne lost his Dáil seat in Galway West in the general election.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd has ruled himself out of the race to become the Ceann Comhairle in the 33rd Dàil.

After a long and anxious wait, Mr Harris, along with Fianna Fáil health spokesman Stephen Donnelly and Green Party councillor Steven Matthews, took the final three seats in Wicklow in the 15th count.

Frankie Shanley has been a DJ since his teens, when he competed in 2FM’s ‘DJ for a Day’ competition in 1994, but he also had a parallel life as a petty thief. He is now a reformed man, writes Noel Baker.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has worn an Irish-themed red poppy badge to commemorate Irish war dead.

Sports Minister Shane Ross has said the Rio ticket- touting inquiry has revealed an “unknown rotten culture” at the heart of the Olympic Council of Ireland.

Tickets for the Rugby World Cup games in 2023 could be as low as €20 if an all-Ireland bid for the event is successful.

Coppers on Harcourt St, Dublin, is a regular stomping ground for GAA players, off-duty gardaí, and celebrities who all squeeze in and dance into the early hours.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has relinquished three of his Seanad nominees to Fianna Fáil as part of a special deal with Micheál Martin.

After running into Gerry Adams in Sligo and having the unveiling of his supports for older people overshadowed by a group of people intent of doing away with old age altogether — namely Dublin criminals —Enda Kenny was in need of a nice, easy campaign stop.

Pat Rabbitte, Michael Kitt, and Joe Higgins are among the political stalwarts who have taken the opportunity to bid farewell to the Dáil before stepping down.

The majority of TDs cost the taxpayer more than half a million euro each in pay and expenses in under four years, while TDs who are also ministers have received, on average, €631,000.

An anti-austerity councillor has linked the slow progress in tackling the spiralling rental and accommodation crisis to the fact that almost a quarter of all TDs are landlords.

A number of politicians have faced personal and hateful abuse, with the public discourse seeming to revel in and help swell this growing animosity, writes Theresa Reidy 

Gardaí are investigating a death threat which was made against a Fine Gael TD.

LEO Varadkar is ashamed, and well he might be. On Thursday, following the publication of a report into the deaths of five babies at Portlaoise hospital, the health minister proclaimed himself ashamed of the treatment of patients there.

Pat Rabbitte, TD, on Prime Time, said that people can protest, and they are allowed to protest, but they cannot voice their concerns.

Expenses to TDs have cost €24.4m since the last General Election.

Dáil deputy Frank Feighan has laid a green laurel wreath at a Flanders peace park on the centenary of one of the first major battles of the First World War.

WILL the Ming Dynasty continue to rule in Roscommon, and if so, is the by-election to be remembered as Micheál Martin’s last stand — the beginning of the end for his leadership?

I spotted former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the launch of the book on the late Brian Lenihan in Dublin during the week.

Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan has said he is not able to make any further comment in relation to an incident in Roscommon last week in which he elbowed a protestor in the ribs.

A scuffle during by-election campaigning has led to an allegation of an assault by Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan being made to gardaí.

THE majority of TDs questioned for an Irish Examiner survey said they never sought nor had penalty points cancelled from their driving records.

Independent TD Luke Ming Flanagan has made a desperate plea to voters for support, admitting he has made mistakes but claiming he will go on to do “great things” for his people.

Having taken offence at the wearing of Easter lilies by TDs in the Dáil recently, Fine Gael party chairman, Charlie Flanagan, asked the ceann comhairle to rule on standing orders regarding the wearing of emblems in the Dáil.

An Irish Government TD has said he wore a poppy to the Dáil today to show that remembering the Irish war dead is no longer off limits.

WHAT does it say about our political system when the minister who publicly rails against cronyism, and raises concerns about the failure of government to deliver its pre-election promises, is the one being treated like a pariah by her colleagues?

A Fine Gael minister has backed proposals by the Church to lobby politicians over abortion, further widening the gulf between the coalition parties on the contentious issue.

The country’s gone to the dogs, and a group of Fine Gael TDs are planning to follow the pack.

JOBS Minister Richard Bruton is coming under pressure from TDs within his own party to force the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to tackle unemployment in counties with some of the highest rates of joblessness in the country.

THEY made their singing debut on the Late Late Show last month.