The people want change - but be careful what you wish for. That's the warning from Fine Gael as it comes to grips with its ranking as the voters third party of choice.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin, too, called for a progressive alliance of the left and has called for such parties to agree a “common agenda” if they are in government together.

Daniel McConnell rules the roost over five post-election scenarios

Detections for possession of drugs for sale or supply locally have increased 14% on last year, rising from 325 to 474, according to the latest local garda crime statistics.

Greens leader Eamon Ryan has thrown down the environmental gauntlet to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil by insisting next week’s budget must be the start of a decade of green policies to save the country.

A religious order that accepted that children were abused in its care told the Minister for Education in 2015 that plans to retain child abuse records would lead to “eternal besmirching of the names of good people”.

Jan O'Sullivan said that the aim of the protest is to make Mr Trump aware of Irish people’s feelings about his opinions on racism and climate change.

Former Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan says that Rebuilding Ireland is not fit for purpose and she is calling on the Government to admits its housing policy is failing.

The number of people homeless has exceeded 10,000 for the first time as a new report shows a year-on-year rise in rents.

The Labour Party has been accused of hypocrisy after tabling a Dáil motion to demand a fair start for every child.

A new €1.2bn land agency using State-owned sites for house construction will help end the boom-and-bust cycle in housing, the Government has pledged.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy faces the threat of a motion of no confidence when the Dáil returns as the number of homeless people is set to rise again.

Radical proposals to fix the broken housing system include creating a Housing Development Bank which would oversee the spending of €16bn to deliver 80,000 low-cost homes.

Labour have called for all books for school children to be made free and for contributions demanded of parents to be banned.

Abortion legislation is at risk of delay after a TD confirmed he will be tabling amendments when the bill comes before the Dáil.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described the illegal adoption scandal as another ‘dark chapter’ in our history, which needs to be handled with the utmost sensitivity.

Women will be able to access abortions here from January, the Taoiseach has said.

Those who vandalise or take down referendum posters should be pursued by the gardaí, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party have said.

More than 250 ghost estates still blight the country a decade after the financial crash.

The opposition has branded the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan as little more than a “marketing exercise” for 179 “repackaged” projects that is simply designed to bulletproof the coalition from any general election backlash.

The Government expects the first technological universities to open next September, despite the law to facilitate applications not yet being passed.

Websites which advertise sub-standard, dangerous or excessively overpriced rental properties could face criminal sanctions in a bid to clamp down on questionable units flooding the market.

Cork City Council is among six local authorities which have failed to appoint a vacant homes officer six months after being ordered to do so.

Labour has warned that new government-backed low-cost mortgages could push up house prices and said the price of new homes should instead be as a low as €130,000 for buyers.

Yesterday, thousands of people attended a four-hour public reposal of rock star Dolores O’Riordan in her native Limerick. The county has begun three days of mourning.

The Government is to consider an Oireachtas report recommending a referendum be held to liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws and allow for terminations for pregnancies up to 12 weeks.

Politicians accused of caring more about their Christmas break.

The Government has been warned thousands of homeless children and families are being turned into “economic refugees” because the housing crisis is forcing them to travel up to 50km for emergency accommodation every day.

Wednesday’s votes felt like a massive step forward for Irish women’s reproductive rights, writes Alison O’Connor.

The Oireachtas abortion committee is widely predicted to vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution and replace it with new laws allowing for abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy when it meets this afternoon.

The Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment is set to recommend a straight repeal of article 40.3.3, its complete removal from the Constitution, and for any future abortion laws to be decided solely by the Dáil.

Demand for housing will get even worse before it gets better the Housing Minister has admitted.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have strongly rejected any notion of going into government with Sinn Féin after the next general election.

The Dáil has passed legislation to end water charges and to provide for refunds, but many households will not be repaid before Christmas, as promised.

Irish Water has launched a website dealing specifically with refunds of charges.

An Oireachtas abortion committee member received an apparent death threat two weeks ago, describing her as a “baby killer” who would be “put in hell where you belong R.I.P.”.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment will block any further motions on the amendment if they are put down before the cross-party group completes its work.

Political Correspondent

Shared accommodation, family apartments in city centres, and more one-bed dwellings are among a raft of measures announced by the Government to increase urban living.

Latest: Labour Housing spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan has raised concerns for the Housing Minister's plans to introduce shared accommodation for young professionals.

Fine Gael concerns that the abortion referendum could ultimately tear the Government apart have been underlined after a party TD accused one of her colleagues of “lies” and producing “fake” facts on the issue.

Labour Party spokesperson on Housing, Jan O’Sullivan TD has said that the Government's proposal to provide cheap loans to private developers from Nama does not go far enough.

After years of cuts, consultation, reports and deliberations, politics has done nothing to stem the third-level funding crisis, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray 

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to campaign for referenda, including for a vote on abortion.