High profile candidates miss out on Seanad seats

The Seanad elections will be completed today with final counting underway.

Fianna Fáil's Mark Daly was the first across the line on the administrative panel of the Seanad this morning.

So far the elections have seen a number of high profile candidates miss out - with ex-TDs like Timmy Dooley and Declan Breathnach and outgoing Senators like Catherine Noone failing to get elected.

Today could see more casualties with Fianna Fáil Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee and former Fine Gael TD Noel Rock looking likely to miss out.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party have eyes turned towards another election - with a new leader to be appointed tonight.

Tipperary TD Alan Kelly is the favourite, with Dublin based Aodhan O'Riordain hoping to cause an upset.

Elsewhere government formation talks continue.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are closing in on a document spelling out how a government between them would work.

But they still need a other participants - with Leo Varadkar saying it is essential a third party joins the coalition to ensure stability he feels cannot be brought by independents alone.