Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald is confident the party will defend all three seats it currently holds across Cork City and county in the upcoming general election.

There aren’t many constituencies facing as much of a shake-up as Cork North-Central.

A Cork North Central general election candidate claims just half of a batch of 20 new community gardaí positions promised last year have been filled.

Boris Johnson’s election victory might have one positive impact. His 80-seat, five-year majority means the Tories are not dependent on the DUP and can insist, should they be so moved, that the bickering that has silenced Stormont for three years ends.

Rugby’s governing body has ruled out buying the FAI’s stake in the Aviva Stadium after speculation that such a move could provide a short-term measure to ease the crisis-ridden sporting body’s financial woes.

It is all eyes on Fianna Fáil in Cork North-Central where the party is scrambling to continue its presence in the wake of Billy Kelleher’s departure to Europe.

The Government will do everything possible to support the 240 An Post workers impacted by the closure of the Cork mail centre, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said.

The tragic death of another homeless person on Cork's streets is a reminder to the Government that it needs to do more to tackle homelessness, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said.

After its poor showing in the recent elections, Sinn Féin faces a tough task to make up ground before the next general election, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell.

Sinn Féin has defended the decision to call a recount in the Ireland South European elections - claiming a price cannot be put on democracy.

The children’s hospital crisis and revelations the project will cost at least €1.7bn has been branded “a fucking joke” by a TD during a Dáil debate which has led to yet more questions over the future of the facility.

Ex-FAI chief executive John Delaney is still on the soccer body’s payroll and could technically return to a senior role, despite the entire FAI board agreeing to step down by July.

At an early stage in a long day’s journey into evening, FAI president Donal Conway had been listing some of the positive things being done under the association’s leadership, among which he included the promotion of ‘glow football’ which, played under ultra violet light, he told the Oireachtas Committee, allows for the game to be played “in the dark”.

They came, they sat, they parked the bus.

Health Minister Simon Harris has steered clear of criticising the main oversight bodies involved in the new children’s hospital project for massive cost overruns - instead pointing the finger of blame at professional advisory firms.

A blunt warning from the National Screening Service (NSS) to the health minister about the significant risks that would arise from offering free out-of-cycle smear tests had “nothing new in it” and was not passed on to him at the time, Simon Harris has told the health committee.

Claims that prison officers are stealing materials to sell on the internet and using other prison items to renovate their homes are being sent to the Garda Commissioner by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

In an editorial on March 28 you stated that Sinn Féin’s assessment of the Government’s National Surplus Bill was “simply incorrect” — ‘Rainy Day Fund; Our backstop is very prudent’.

Efforts to clampdown on and control negative publicity around the spiralling costs of the National Children’s Hospital began last August, when the scale of the overrun became apparent to those responsible for delivering it.

The national children’s hospital board has been accused of hiding the findings of 11 more reviews and audits of the ballooning project’s financial controls and governance after refusing to immediately release the records.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has denied that the expected €600m-plus health service overspend this year will damage his budget plans — despite admitting the system will need a substantial extra cash injection before December.

Fine Gael senator Jerry Buttimer has insisted he has no intention of being parachuted into the Cork north central constituency at the request of party headquarters, despite ongoing rumours about the plan.

At least four women who have developed breast cancer are suing the State over allegations that BreastCheck failed to diagnose their condition.

The independent Referendum Commission has urged people to register to vote ahead of today’s deadline to have a say in the May 25 referendum.

The independent Referendum Commission has urged people to register to vote ahead of today’s deadline to have a say in the May 25 referendum.

Vera Twomey is terrified her daughter will revert to a life of “suffering and seizures” if the State continues to refuse to reimburse transformative cannabis oil treatments.

A Government department has been accused of “the most appalling waste of public funds” after it was criticised for ploughing more than €8m into an arts cinema paying rent of just €1 a year for the next 25 years.

There were 649 patients on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards waiting for a hospital bed yesterday, a decrease of just 65 on Monday’s record high of 714.

Sinn Féin will decide next Monday whether to hold a special national conference to decide if the party will back the Government proposal to allow unrestricted access to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar could be hauled before a powerful Dáil committee to answer questions over the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) controversy as soon as next week under plans to be finalised this morning.

Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty has been appointed as the party’s deputy leader in the Dáil by party president Mary Lou McDonald.

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

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has backed plans to allow abortions in fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest cases but has stopped short of fully backing the Oireachtas abortion committee’s recommendations until he reviews them over the Christmas break.

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.

Fianna Fáil could now look to poach Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín after his party rejected his calls for a free vote on abortion.

Ireland is at risk of having to pay compensation to thousands of women forced to travel abroad to receive an abortion unless the law is immediately changed to make the procedure legal and easily accessible.

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.

The Taoiseach is hoping a cross-party committee examining Ireland’s abortion laws will meet a December deadline on a decision after the members voted, by a majority in favour of not retaining the Eighth Amendment “in full”.

Political Correspondent

There has been a lot of talk about definitively settling the Garda commissioner crisis but the Dáil is repeatedly failing to act, writes Political Correspondent Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s failure to inform the Tánaiste of the Templemore College fiasco for 16 months has been described as a “significant oversight” by a Cabinet minister.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has backed calls for the abortion referendum to be held by February 2018 after saying the Oireachtas committee tasked with setting its scope does not need six months to decide.