Struggling mortgage holders must be offered debt write-downs instead of so-called foreign vulture funds, Paschal Donohoe has been told.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar may use the resignation of Frances Fitzgerald as Tánaiste as an opportunity for a wider reshuffle at Cabinet to embolden the party ahead of any general election.

The HSE has paid over €540m to GP practices and out of hour services in fees and allowances last year, for treating medical card patients and providing services for other State health schemes.

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.

A number of government TDs are backing the idea of a Brexit minister amid concerns Taoiseach Enda Kenny is unable to focus on securing the best deal for Ireland.

Longford is not being prioritised by the Government or the IDA when it comes to jobs, according to the President of Longford Chamber of Commerce, Derek Scanlon.

More of the farmers who have been in dispute with the Department of Agriculture for years may be encouraged to go the legal route by a recent High Court ruling that the Department of Agriculture’s inspection of land for basic payment qualification was procedurally flawed.

Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy has won widespread praise for revealing his battles with anxiety and depression, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

Labour’s Willie Penrose has taken the final seat after six days of counting in the Longford-Westmeath constituency.

A record number of women will form part of the new Dáil as gender quotas put more females on the ballot papers.

Against the wider trend, Longford-Westmeath is one area where the Government stronghold is likely to remain.

A Fine Gael TD has warned against a plan to “export” or rehouse homeless Dubliners in rural areas and claims they will bring criminal behaviour to the Midlands.

The newly-formed Independent Alliance which expects to have 20 candidates in place for the general election yesterday unveiled new hopefuls who have joined its ranks.

A potentially live-saving liver cancer drug that costs €560 per tablet will be made available to more than 100 seriously ill patients six months after doctors treating the disease asked the Government to fund it.

ON radio yesterday morning, Olivia O’Leary, who chronicled his era in power as a political reporter, recalled the time she danced with Albert Reynolds. He was, she said, a great dancer.

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds has died at the age of 81.

By-election victor Ruth Coppinger took her seat in the Dáil for the Socialists yesterday.

The Dáil has two new women TDs following the by-elections in Longford-Westmeath and Dublin-West.

More than 100 councillors, and the Dáil's newest TD, have now been elected across the country as counting continues.

Sinn Féin and Independents the major winners so far as the results of the local elections come in.

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.

A final tally in the first of two by-elections today is putting two candidates virtually neck and neck in Dublin West.

The first indications of how the country has voted in 'Elections 2014' are coming in.

Counting of votes across the country is just getting underway.

Voting in the Local and European elections has now closed.

The battle for Longford-Westmeath once again highlights Ireland’s curious tradition as a Republic that often takes comfort in voting for the hereditary principle when choosing elected representatives.

Labour’s rebel MEP Phil Prendergast has reaffirmed her call to oust Eamon Gilmore as leader as she launched the party’s Euro election manifesto with him.

The Labour Party has named its candidate to run in the Dublin-West by election.

Tax cuts have been promised by Finance Minister Michael Noonan as Fine Gael moved to shore up its vote in the looming elections.

It has been confirmed that writs for the by-elections to fill the two vacant seats in the Dáil will be moved tomorrow.

The former minister Mary O’Rourke is likely to find herself back on the campaign trail after her son, Aengus O’Rourke, was chosen by Fianna Fáil to contest a Dáil seat in next month’s by-election in Longford-Westmeath.

It has been reported that two Dáil by-elections will go ahead on the same day as next month's local and European polls.

The final Dáil vote saw 31 TDs oppose the X case legislation as numbers were swelled by left-wing deputies protesting that the new law was not liberal enough.

Fine Gael is learning the political price of tackling the abortion issue, writes Political Correspondent Mary Regan.