The party has not been forgiven for the austerity measures of its coalition with Fine Gael and will struggle to hold its seven seats.

For the first time, more than 30%of candidates will be women.

Catch up on what happened on the election trail.

The Green Party's bright young star, Saoirse McHugh, has revealed some pretty radical ideas as to her ideal vision of how Ireland should be run.

Maria Bailey has confirmed she will not be seeking re-election next month.

A small number of bellwether constituencies could be highly significant in the battle for top spot between Fiann Fáil and Fine Gael, says Political Correspondent Juno McEnroe.

The Taoisech Leo Varadkar has informed his Cabinet colleagues that General Election 2020 will take place on Saturday February 8.

Candidates were asked to confirm that they had no pending prosecutions or prior convictions other than minor road traffic offences.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted to him that he wasn’t confident of the vote of some members of Fine Gael.

With the Dáil set to return later this month for the last session, those hoping for a summer general election might as well forget about it.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney is confident the long-delayed Cork Event Centre will move ahead next year.

Raymond Deane’s operatic version of the Florence Newton witch trial was great drama with a vivid score.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar found himself in familiar, discomfiting — or at least it should be — territory on Saturday when he had to give a plausible response to the latest challenge to the idea of high standards in high places bedeviling Fine Gael’s long-cherished but now threadbare idea of itself.

The Rugby World Cup, Gay Byrne, boomers, Rebekah Vardy, and the backstop were among the nation’s defining Google searches this year.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan has launched a blistering attack on Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy during a private meeting of the parliamentary party.

The poor turnout in last week’s by-elections might, with a Christmas-party dash of wishful thinking, be explained by an approaching general election and the by-elections’ relevance in the face of the ongoing supply and confidence arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

This once shadowy figure that hovered on the edge of the Darlings’ dreams is keen to bring them to Neverland to meet the Lost Boys (and girls) who are in need of a mother’s love.

In a letter circulated in the south Dublin area today, the TD said she wants the record "corrected" and would like clarity over whether members or the Taoiseach decided to drop her.

Deselected swing-gate TD Maria Bailey has complained to constituency members about the Taoiseach's decision to take her off the general election ticket in Dun Laoghaire.

Over the weekend Sinn Féin held its annual conference in Derry.

It’s a full decade since Hilary Mantel won her first Booker prize with Wolf Hall. In that epic Mantel took 650 pages to, through Thomas Cromwell, describe the tortuous efforts of England’s King Henry VIII to rid himself of his first wife Katherine of Aragon.

The Taoiseach and Finance Minister have both insisted that Maria Bailey was removed from the Fine Gael election ticket in a correct and democratic manner.

"It's a very much a much a matter for Deputy Bailey regarding the response to what happened last night. Last night was a democratic decision that was made by the Executive Council."

The best dramas always have a plot twist at the end.

[size= medium]Swingate TD Maria Bailey came out fighting for her political career tonight but was axed[/size] from the general election ticket for Fine Gael's campaign in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is expected to recommend the removal of TD Maria Bailey as a general election candidate in her Dublin constituency after her controversial swing fall court case claim.

It comes after Fine Gael members in her Dún Laoghaire constituency backed a motion calling on the Fine Gael Executive Council to "urgently review" the ticket for the next election

It's the saga that has sparked a thousand memes and has had people chattering in pubs, golf clubs, office canteens, and taxi cabs.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed Fine Gael will consider removing swing-gate TD Maria Bailey as a candidate in the next general election if her Dun Laoghaire constituency members seek the changes at a meeting tonight.

The Taoiseach and four Fine Gael ministers have failed to express confidence in Dun Laoghaire TD Maria Bailey ahead of a crunch meeting about her future tonight.

A Fine Gael move to review how many people run for the party in the next general election in Dun Laoghaire, south Dublin, is expected to see embattled TD Maria Bailey face open criticism tomorrow night after her controversial injury claim against a hotel for falling off a swing.

Swing-gate TD Maria Bailey is facing a Halloween nightmare after her party’s local branch said it will meet tomorrow to decide whether to potentially call for her removal as a general election candidate.

As it was put to me yesterday - the Maria Bailey fiasco was such a Fine Gael type of scandal, while the 'Vote-gate' row is a classic Fianna Fáil one.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has appealed for fairness after a failed local Fine Gael revolt to remove embattled south Dublin Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey as a party general election candidate.

TDs and senators had to refund almost €10,000 in expenses this year after an audit found they could not provide supporting evidence to justify claiming such allowances.

Fine Gael has promoted TD Noel Rock to replace Maria Bailey as Chair of the Oireachtas Housing Committee.

Fine Gael TDs Noel Rock and Hildegarde Naughton are set to be promoted and take up Maria Bailey's Oireachtas committee places after her swing-gate fall from grace.

Minister Richard Bruton has strongly backed fellow Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey to represent the party in the next election following her “swing-gate” controversy.

Fine Gael ministers have refused to back embattled colleague Maria Bailey as a candidate in the next general election following her controversial injury claim for falling off a hotel swing.

Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey has resigned as chair of two more Oireachtas committees - including one focussed specifically on ethical rules - in the wake of the swing-gate controversy.

The confidentiality guarantee offered to witnesses prepared to give evidence to a tribunal that might discommode officialdom is as old a swizz as any in the Sir Humphrey Handbook.

So that’s nearly Friday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

HOW much is a pound of flesh worth these days? A different price to different people, obviously, depending on whose flesh is under discussion. But in the case of Maria Bailey it would appear no price is too high when it comes to the ongoing public flailing of the Fine Gael TD.

The furore around the Maria Bailey ‘swing gate’ case helped the public understand the costs bearing down on the insurance industry — but the Government will too quickly forget the lessons over insurance claims and high legal costs, according to FBD boss Fiona Muldoon.