Sinn Féin appears to have given up its quest to secure the numbers to form a government coalition.

Negotiating teams are set to ramp up talks to form a government next week with senior ministers, party managers and leaders all weighing into what could take a number of weeks to cobble together a new coalition.

Could they all be wrong about Sinn Féin? Could it be that those who suggest it is not a normal political party are being spiteful, opportunistic, fearful?

Mr Doherty said he welcomed the fact that Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin has apparently softened his stance towards coalition with Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has found her mojo. But even she, in private, must be surprised at how well her party appears to be doing in this general election campaign, writes Alison O’Connor

The woman was found, in a freezing and very distressed state, outside the GPO on O’Connell Street shortly after 9pm by a homeless volunteer who runs a soup kitchen for the homeless every Thursday night.

With weeks to run to peak flu season, hospitals are in the grip of a system-wide crisis as the nation’s emergency departments (ED) plunge deeper into chaos.

The Department of Health has admitted that no minutes were taken at a recent meeting between the Health Minister and the chairman of the board overseeing the country’s largest infrastructural project, the new €1.7bn children’s hospital.

Sinn Féin health spokesperson Louise O’Reilly had asked if the meeting was minuted given the scale of the project.

Sinn Féin’s Westminster abstentionist policy, the lack of an Assembly in the North, and absence from 2016 government formation talks have created a bad smell, writes Daniel McConnell

Households with poor heating systems and families impacted by fuel poverty will escape carbon charge rises planned for this week’s budget.

HSE CEO Paul Reid has blamed the overspend so far this year on operational services, including for residential services for those with intellectual disabilities, emergency hospital care as well as an ageing population.

There is no need for patients, hospitals or healthcare professionals to stockpile medicines ahead of Brexit, according to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).

Health Minister Simon Harris is facing showdown talks with TDs over the ongoing failure to publish the multi-billion euro capital plan amid fears the delay is proof the surging children’s hospital costs have forced other projects to be scrapped.

A person has sought medical help for health problems caused by serious steroid abuse once every nine days so far this year amid fears of a hidden crisis among young men.

The Government has promised that a break up of the health services into six regions will reduce the number of managers and improve care for patients.

A review of the latest smear check scandal will not examine whether women have been delayed treatment or a cervical cancer diagnosis.

The HSE’s budget plan for its biggest projects this year has been delayed again and will not now be published until the start of August, due in part to the surging spend on the children’s hospital.

Opposition parties have accused the HSE and Department of Health of deliberately delaying publishing its capital spending plan for this year for seven months because the children’s hospital crisis means that no money is available.

The chair of the new HSE board said he will not shy away from holding the new HSE chief to account if he fails to perform.

The most drastic action or “last resort” available to hospitals when dealing with emergency department (ED) overcrowding has already been deployed 1,600 times this year.

There have been 279 assaults in HSE hospitals in 2019 so far, according to new figures released to Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly in a parliamentary question.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has been criticised by some of her own TDs for being a weak leader and for being too tolerant of underperforming colleagues. She needs to “stop being everyone’s friend”, they say.

Sinn Féin never imagined their recent election results would be so poor and must now figure out how to get the electorate back on side, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell.

More than €1m has been paid to a communications company managing publicity for the National Children’s Hospital, it has emerged.

An unaccredited Manchester laboratory that screened more than 90,000 smears without the knowledge or approval of CervicalCheck should be the focus of an ongoing expert review of the screening history of women with cervical cancer, patient representatives have said.

A HSE service vital to ensuring that elderly people can remain in their homes has been largely closed to new applicants until next November at a time when there are more than 6,000 people on waiting lists.

Sinn Féin is facing a major “identity crisis” and is at risk of losing up to half of its 23 Dáil seats, some of the party’s leading TDs have said.

After its poor showing in the recent elections, Sinn Féin faces a tough task to make up ground before the next general election, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell.

Safe zones for people accessing abortion services at GP offices or hospitals are expected to be agreed by the Government next month.

Calls for a mandatory review of the Long-Term Illness Scheme have been made to ensure that patients get the support and care they require.

The children’s hospital crisis and revelations the project will cost at least €1.7bn has been branded “a fucking joke” by a TD during a Dáil debate which has led to yet more questions over the future of the facility.

The staffing deficit in the specialist teams that are treating children who have mental health difficulties is so great that €40m would be required to bring them to the levels recommended by the Government’s national mental health policy.

The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against plans to develop a large, fast-food, drive-thru restaurant close to a primary school in north Dublin.