Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins tops the poll with 9,361 votes in Limerick but has not reached the quota of 11,261 to be elected.

In the Mid-West constituencies of Limerick and Clare, the country-wide trend of a swing to Fine Gael is being duplicated.

A convicted armed robber has gone on the run after threatening a prison officer with a syringe.

Gardai are hunting for a prisoner who escaped from custody last night while being transported from a Dublin court to Cork prison.