The leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will meet early next week for exploratory talks on government formation.
Leo Varadkar officially resigned as Taoiseach last night after the new Dáil failed to elect a candidate at its first meeting.
He said he will meet with Micheál Martin and the Green Party leader Eamon Ryan early next week.
Fine Gael has said it expects to go into opposition and insisted the onus is on Sinn Féin or Fianna Fáil to form a government.
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Around 1,000 healthcare workers are to strike across the country today in a dispute over pay restoration.
Workers in the homecare, dementia and Alzheimer's services sectors are involved in the dispute over pay cuts and working hours.
SIPTU and Fórsa have said it would cost the government no more than €7m to resolve the issue.
The unions have said the strikes will be rolled out on a phased basis around the country in the coming weeks.
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Dublin City Council paid solicitors almost €1.5m last year.
According to details released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, five firms were paid at least €100,000 each.
Forty-five solicitors practice delivered a service to Dublin City Council in 2019.
The total amount paid to them was €1,493,000.
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Activists will hold a protest against the importation of fracked gas in Dublin today.
Hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ is a controversial method of extracting gas from deep-rock formations that has been banned in Ireland since 2017.
However, there is nothing to prevent gas extracted in this way from being imported from other countries.
Extinction Rebellion, along with Friday's For Future will perform a die-in as part of a demonstration today calling for an importation ban.
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The mother of British backpacker Grace Millane has told her killer that he has "ripped a hole” in her heart.
Ms Millane was murdered at a hotel in New Zealand the night before her 22nd birthday in December 2018.
Overnight, a 28-year-old man was jailed for life, with a minimum of 17 years, for the murder.
