Minister Humphreys asked herself and her family if she would be able to give her roles the same commitment for the next five years and decided the answer was no.

The Taoiseach said his party still planned to run two candidates. Nominations have now re-opened and will close 5pm on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, the Taoiseach confirmed for the first time the vote will happen before Christmas, saying he'll bring clarity to the situation soon.

Heather Humphreys’ departure marks the eighteenth sitting Fine Gael TD out of 35 to have announced they're not contesting this election.

Speculation continues to mount over when an election will be called, with a November date currently a hot topic.

He says he'll demand that Irish families are put first.

It's widely expected this could be the last few weeks of this Dáil term before a general election is called.

Shane was elected on the first count in the local elections in Ballyjamesduff.