Abortion is not as black and white as people might portray it, and ‘there is a lot of grey’ in this profound, complex moral issue, writes Alison O’Connor.

A Fianna Fáil TD claims an increasing number of foetuses are being aborted because of clefts.

Here's your morning news bulletin...

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has suggested the Eighth Amendment be repealed and replaced in the Constitution with a clause allowing the Oireachtas to regulate abortion.

The Government is to appoint a retired judge to investigate claims of new evidence into the 1981 Stardust fire which claimed 48 lives.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted Ireland’s economic recovery can survive the Brexit fallout amid Government claims more than 100 companies are considering moving to this country in the wake of last June’s vote.

The chairman of a Navy Veterans’ association claims ‘political expediency’ is behind the decision to hold a medal ceremony in a Junior Minister’s constituency instead of the Naval Base at Haulbowline, Co Cork.

A fascinating bit of table quiz trivia for years to come, the grandniece of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, Siobhan, has been at the Olympics.

Veronica Guerin’s black and gold Mont Blanc pen makes for a poignant exhibit at the Journalists Memorial in the Newseum museum of news in Washington.

The second round-table talks between Fine Gael and 15 Independents, and smaller parties, are to take place tomorrow.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny may make contact with Fianna Fáil rival Micheál Martin next week in a bid to end the month-long political stalemate on the nomination vote of the next Taoiseach.

Fianna Fáil should consider supporting Fine Gael’s bid to re-elect Enda Kenny as Taoiseach when the Dáil resumes, because the move would create a lame duck leader.

Showers are blowing in from the estuary and the wind-chill factor has the brass monkeys scurrying for cover. It’s early afternoon in the village of Baldoyle, north Dublin, and it is to here that Deirdre Heney is coming to tie down a few number ones.

Senior Fine Gael figures have noted with interest an apparent softening by Fianna Fáil on whether it would support a minority government or form a so-called grand coalition with its long-standing rival after the election.

Averil Power says she tried to make changes from within but Fianna Fáil hasn’t changed and has no intention of doing so

A long-standing Fianna Fáil grassroots member who led its Cork same- sex marriage referendum campaign has resigned from the party after accusing TDs and Senators of failing to properly back the campaign.

Rebel senator Averil Power’s bombshell departure from Fianna Fáil descended into a he said/she said row as the party leadership moved to try and discredit her.

Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin was struggling to contain a crisis of credibility after one of the party’s most high-profile figures made an explosive exit denouncing his leadership.

Young, vibrant and willing to go out on a limb, the surprise is that Averil Power lasted so long in among the FF boys, writes Alison O’Connor

The departure of the no-nonsense senator sees Fianna Fáil return to being stale, male, and pale, writes Political Correspondent Shaun Connolly

Micheál Martin’s party lacks the numbers and, with only a few exceptions, lacks the passion to impact in Leinster House and the vision to reinvent itself, writes Gerard Howlin

Selecting the right candidates for the general election is a big problem, writes Gary Murphy

The final HQ for the 1916 rebels in Dublin’s Moore St needs to be turned into the hub of a historic quarter, says Fianna Fáil.

The Haughey family was "horrified" over the portrayal of the deceased former taoiseach Charlie Haughey in the recent three-part RTÉ series.

Praise is due to Sean Haughey, son of former taoiseach Charlie Haughey, for his forthright reaction to the RTÉ drama about his controversial father’s behaviour in a political and personal life redolent of corruption, sleaze and betrayal.

THEY’RE playing it down, of course, but Fianna Fáilers are rather gleeful at present given their rather robust state of political health. All things being relative.

A Sinn Féin surge in Dublin City has left a bruised Labour party with just a fraction of its seats and the loss of some of its high-profile councillors.

"I missed you all," Mary Hanafin gushed to reporters in the manner of a faded film star who had just glimpsed the limelight once more thanks to a cameo role in a B movie.

With counting underway for nine hours in the local elections and two by-elections, just over a dozen councillors are elected this evening, and none is from the coalition parties.

An Independent has become the first councillor elected in the country, with Michael Kilcoyne topping the Mayo poll with two quotas.

By Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner Political Reporter

The first election results of the day have started arrive, with Sinn Féin topping the poll in the Dublin West by-election.

A bright, new, shining political party was visible on the doorstep of the RDS on Saturday.

Tributes have been paid to members of the Cork-based 4th Infantry Battalion, which was stood down yesterday.

HE was a man with towering intellect, who believed in duty, honour to his country and devotion to his family.

FIANNA Fáil has been all but wiped out in Dublin, reduced to just one TD in the city as a swathe of ministers were toppled.

Seán Haughey witnessed the end of his family’s political presence in Dublin going back some 54 years, while the Andrews brothers, Chris and Barry, both lost their seats in their respective constituencies.

ENDA Kenny swept into the Burlington Hotel’s glittering ballroom as Taoiseach-in-waiting — and no one had ever been waiting for such validation for so long.

Outgoing Finance Minister Brian Lenihan pledged to rebuild the shattered Fianna Fáil party after he was forced to battle for final place in a four-seat constituency.

Mary O'Rourke, who lost her seat in Longford Westmeath yesterday, has said the Fianna Fáil party "got what it deserved".