Cork County Council has elected a new mayor and welcomed four new councillors who were co-opted onto the local authority to replace members who have been elected to the Dáil.

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony was the only Fianna Fáil candidate in 2016 but she faces a strong challenge from within the party this time in Christopher O'Sullivan, the Mayor of Cork County

As her campaign team hit the streets of Ballydehob, West Cork, Holly Cairns could lay reasonable claim to having the country’s youngest canvasser on the job.

Fine Gael party leadership had to intervene to quell a candidate selection row in Cork South-West.

In the fourth of a five-part series, Kevin O’Neill profiles the new Cork City electoral area.

The Dáil is set to gain two more TDs from the next election as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is a major winner in the redraw of constituency boundaries announced tonight, writes Daniel McConnell.

At least one extra Dáil seat will be up for grabs in the next general election as the growth in population has pushed the number of people per TD over the 30,000 legal threshold.

With such a large number of sitting TDs now ousted from Leinster House, the 32nd Dáil will be spattered with unfamiliar and fresh faces.

Armoured cars and tanks and guns... here the Fianna Fáil warwagon comes.

The mayor of County Cork has announced his plans to contest the forthcoming general election in the Cork North-West constituency.

The newly-elected mayor of Co Cork has declared his intention to be a candidate in the next general election, but has not decided what constituency he will contest.

For all their talk of representing ordinary working people I find Sinn Féin’s decision to fly Mary-Lou McDonald around the world in business class reeks of hypocrisy and double speak.

An online petition has been set up in the hope it will force AIB to reverse decisions to close two branches which would leave an entire West Cork peninsula without any banks.

An Post has defended the closure of rural post offices, despite widespread criticism over the lack of consultation with local communities.

EMBATTLED Senator David Norris shrugged off continued questioning about clemency letters for his former partner and insisted that voters had moved on from the issue.

INCIDENCES of phone hacking have increased dramatically this year with the number of reported cases already equalling the total number of confirmed hacking incidents for 2010.

THE political landscape of the Cork South-West constituency has changed forever following the announcement a second long-serving TD will not seek re-election.

A FIANNA FÁIL TD is set to appear in the District Court after the results of a drink-driving test proved positive.

THE Cork East electoral constituency should have five Dáil representatives, or be split up, according to TDs who have seen the largest population rise of any constituency outside of Dublin.

BERTIE AHERN’S brother is be told by council officials that his Seanad claim that Fine Gael councillors were holding up a massive 100-house scheme in West Cork is inaccurate.

A DECISION by Fianna Fáil headquarters to select a former Independent to run alongside Deputy Denis O’Donovan in Cork South-West could lead to serious infighting within the party, it was warned last night.

FIANNA FÁIL’S chances of retaining two seats in Cork South-West at the next General Election were dealt a further blow last night, when one of their prospective candidates confirmed he was seriously considering an offer to represent the Rural Alliance Party (RAP) — which has promised him a substantial war chest.

COMMERCIAL fishermen yesterday expressed disappointment at the report on drift netting for salmon, saying there were “serious question marks” over the scientific advice on which the recommendations are based.

A COUNTY councillor spoke for the first time yesterday of how a drunk driver nearly killed him in a pile-up on a Spanish motorway.

FIVE members of an Oireachtas committee have travelled to China for a 10-day trip that includes visits to many of the country's tourist attraction.

FEARS have been raised about potential vote-rigging in West Cork.

SPORTS and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue has emerged as a second contender for Ireland’s next EU commissioner.

SPARE a thought for the mothers of the candidates running for the first time in this Friday’s local elections.

Fionnán Sheahan, Political Correspondent

GOVERNMENT ministers’ home constituencies will reap financial dividends from Ireland’s EU Presidency next year.