Former Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell has not been selected to contest the Seanad elections after party HQ ruled her out but backed others for the race for the upper house.

Ruth Coppinger, the former Solidarity TD who campaigned to abolish the Seanad, is now seeking to be elected there.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are set to add numbers to the Seanad election race from candidates who lost their Dáil seats.

With almost 100 of the 160 seats filled in the 33rd Dáil, Fianna Fáil looks set to emerge as the biggest party with more than 41 seats.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin conceded it was a “bad day” for his party.

Sinn Féin's health spokesperson has revealed that she smoked cannabis while in college.

Only a third of proposed primary care centres have been completed and the rest could take up to 20 years to open at the current rate of completion.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha has said it should not take a personal visit to the emergency department for the political system to know that citizens should not be subjected to lengthy waiting times.

Redress organisation Caranua has vowed not to leave abuse survivors "high and dry" following concerns that hundreds of applicants may not receive any financial support from the dwindling fund.

The greyhound racing industry has been accused of insulting vulnerable people on health service waiting lists by taking more than €16m a year in State funding - the equivalent of €46,000 every day.

Maria Bailey (43) is a first-time TD, who was elected on the seventh count in 2016 as one of three Fine Gael TDs in the Dun Laoghaire constituency.

A medical expert says there is a 'compelling rationale' behind introducing free contraceptives here.

A new survey shows there is an urban-rural divide when it comes to TDs' views on abortion.

Controversial Fine Gael member Barry Walsh has resigned from the party's executive council with immediate effect amid an avalanche of criticism over his Twitter comments about party colleagues.

The government's strategy on homelessness has been criticised by its own Fine Gael TDs after recent controversial remarks by the Taoiseach and the Housing Minister comparing the problem here to other countries.

The Dáil is to vote next week on allowing cannabis for medical use in Ireland.

The cross-party Oireachtas committee examining Ireland's abortion laws has voted by a landslide not to retain article 40.3.3 of the Constitution.

Savita Halappanavar died as a direct result of Ireland's restrictive abortion laws and not simply because she contracted sepsis, the author of the independent report into her death has said.

It's not over yet - Housing Minister Simon Coveney has vowed to continue his campaign for the leadership of Fine Gael, writes Eoin English of the Irish Examiner.

LATEST:A Government TD has broken ranks to call on Health Minister Simon Harris to consider buying the €300m land on which the new National Maternity Hospital will be built in a bid to end the escalating scandal.

Eamon Ryan and Eoghan Murphy mix-up could see interesting poll results, writes Caroline O’Doherty