As counting in the local elections goes on, the fate of the political parties and independents will become clear throughout the day. The party faces a tough battle over the weekend after government parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael appeared on Saturday to have polled strongly. Tally indications on Saturday showed a predicted surge in the Sinn Fein vote has not materialised in the local elections while the Government coalition parties welcomed early results. “The idea that Fianna Fail would be coming in a distant third is completely disproven,” the Tanaiste said. This ‘internet panel’ polling having Fianna Fail at 14% and 15% – clearly Fianna Fail will be well ahead of that and will be over 20% by the time all of these counts are collated and put together.

Global investment trust Alliance is on a roll, much to the delight of shareholders. This is because along with rivals City of London, Bankers and Caledonia, Alliance has the longest record among the investment trust sector for consecutive years of dividend increases. It's one that has had 'dividend hero' status conferred on it by the Association of Investment Companies – which the trust doesn't want to lose. The result is ten fund managers, picked from across the globe, that run 11 slices of the trust's assets. The picks of these top-drawer fund managers produce a combined portfolio of 215 global stocks.

13.25Partial tallies show that Luke Ming Flanagan and Fine Gael's Maria Walsh are polling well in Midlands–North-West. 13.15Partial tallies show Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in the running for a seat in the Dublin constituency. Mr Humphreys told Newstalk: "What I'm seeing is Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are doing quite well. 13.00Partial tallies show Luke Ming Flanagan and Fine Gael's Maria Walsh are polling well in Midlands–North-West. 12.30Count centre staff are continuing to process boxes in Cork before counting begins in the local elections.

Cllr Mick Dollard at the count in Moate. Social media an 'absolute disaster and nightmare' for politicians, says poll topper DollardSocial media is an "absolute disaster and nightmare for politicians", that's the view of veteran councillor Mick Dollard, who is set to top the polls once again in Mullingar, nearly 40 years after he first entered public life. While many local and national politicians use social media to communicate with the public, he believes that negatives far outweigh the positives. Doing the work on the ground, and getting out and meeting people face to face is the most effective way for politicians to connect with voters, he says. "It [social media] is an absolute disaster and nightmare for politicians.

By Cate McCurry, PAA woman in her 20s is in a critical condition in hospital after she was involved in a road collision in Aghadowey, Co Derry. She was driving a black BMW 3 Series when it was in collision with a blue flatbed Scania lorry in Glenkeen Road. The incident happened at around 3.20am on Saturday. Officers from the Collision Investigation Unit are investigating and have appealed to witnesses, or anyone who may have dashcam or other footage, to contact them. The PSNI can be contacted by calling 101.

I love everything about it here – Stefan Ortega extends Manchester City stayBy Carl Markham, PAManchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega feels “motivated and challenged” after signing a one-year contract extension. The 31-year-old German, who joined the club in 2022, has extended his stay until 2026 after saying the club “provides players with everything we need to be our best”. “I am delighted to be staying at Manchester City for longer,” he said. “This is a football club that provides players with everything we need to be our best. “This is a crucial contract extension for Manchester City,” he said.

But then I started using an app that employed machine learning to convert recorded speech into text. [ Meta wants to use your Facebook and Instagram data to train AI. But this most recent leap in transcription software seemed to me to present a strong case for the technology’s potential. As a speech-to-text transcription tool, it does a modest and narrowly delineated thing extremely well. But as for “intelligence” – well, it’s very much still drinking piss and eating glue.

Capita will announce a new tie-up with Amazon Web Services to use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) in call centres, The Mail on Sunday understands. Capita is one of the UK's biggest outsourcers. It runs the London congestion charge and the collection of BBC licence fees, as well as Government and local authority call centres. The future: CapitaContact cuts call waiting times and provides human-sounding chatbots to solve simple online queriesCapitaContact cuts call waiting times and provides human-sounding chatbots to solve simple online queries. The announcement, expected this week, comes ahead of a capital markets day on Thursday, where new boss Adolfo Hernandez will discuss cost-cutting measures he announced earlier this year.

Elections in three of the world's largest emerging markets – India, South Africa and Mexico – have each, in their own way, produced unexpected results. Nonetheless, the Indian market premium, achieved as a result of government stability, is dissipating. In contrast to South Africa and India, the result in Mexico has, if anything, strengthened the hold of the ruling party. Last year Mexico overtook China as the biggest exporter to the US, selling $593 billion (£474 billion). In the long run, the triumph of moderation in India and South Africa should be a force for economic stability and expansion, and a net plus for inward investment.

Cara Delevingne says appearing in Cabaret has turned her world ‘upside down’By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment ReporterActress and model Cara Delevingne has said appearing in the musical Cabaret has turned her world “upside down”. The London-born star has now finished in the role, which has been filled by Heartstopper actress Rhea Norwood. She wrote: “Oh Cabaret… I will never be able to express how I truly feel. “My world has been completely turned upside down by this experience. Cabaret was revived in December 2021 and in April of the following year won seven Olivier Awards.

The tally figures for County Roscommon are rolling in fast and the updates from Brian Carroll and a team of tallypeople crunching the numbers at the count centre in Roscommon are providing much fodder for speculation. In the Roscommon Municipal District with 28 out of 35 boxes tallied this is the picture: Brennan (FF),1,077; Dineen (II), 1,045; Finnegan (IP,) 53; Fitzmaurice (FF), 1042; Hester (GP), 111; McConn (FG), 693; McDermott, (FF), 1,433; McDonagh (SF), 370; Scahill (FG), 683; Slamen (IFP), 175; Waldron (IND), 1,070. In the Athlone Municipal District with 13 out of 29 boxes tallied this was the picture: Brooks (SF), 284; Connolly (FG), 174; Fallon (IND), 620; Harney (SF), 196; Kelly (IND), 971; Keogh (FF), 447; Murray (FF), 324; Naughten (FG), 713; Naughton (IND) 107; Ward (IND), 923. In the Boyle Municipal District with 35 out of 40 boxes tallied this is the picture: Ali (NP), 75; Alsani (AON), 124; Beirne (SF), 450; Byrne (NP),1,277; Callaghan (FG), 576; Crosby (NP), 691; Cull (SF), 1,246; Daly-Finn (FG), 749; Forde (II), 757; Frain (IND), 1,200; Hussain (NP), 342; Moylan (FF), 1,043; O’Miadh (IND), 25; Sampey (FF), 274; Shanahan (IND), 96; Williams-Doyle (SF), 250.

Leinster down Ulster to set up URC semi-final against BullsPress AssociationLeinster brushed aside Ulster 43-20 at the Aviva Stadium to book a United Rugby Championship semi-final clash against the Bulls in Pretoria next weekend. Converted tries from Robbie Henshaw and James Lowe, as well as a Ross Byrne penalty, had Leinster leading 17-0 at half-time and well on course for a place in the last four. Leinster had no points to show for some early pressure, brought on by a maul steal from player-of-the-match Joe McCarthy. However, Van der Flier, set free by Osborne, slammed the door shut with 13 minutes remaining as another converted try saw Leinster move 36-15 ahead. Molony scrambled over from five metres out give victorious Leinster a sixth try, although a valiant Ulster had the last word through Lowry, darting over from Nathan Doak’s cross-field kick.

‘We will not lose hope’ Michael Mosley’s wife says, as search effort continuesBy Pol Allingham in Symi, Greece and Naomi Clarke, PA reportersMichael Mosley’s wife has said his family “will not lose hope” as the search for the missing British TV doctor moves to a treacherous mountainous area on a Greek Island. Photo by PA GraphicsMosley’s four children have joined their mother on Symi to help with the search efforts. In her statement, Dr Bailey Mosley said: “It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. “It is a small island, people talk. Everybody is looking for him,” the 20-year-old told PA.“It’s such a small island to get lost on.

Photo: Ray RyanReddington likely to top poll in TuamCounting of votes to startFINE Gael has secured over 40 per cent of the vote in Tuam’s seven-seater with the party’s Andrew Reddington a strong possibility to top the poll. Reddington from Claran, Headford has pipped his party colleague Abbeyknockmoy’s Pete Roche by about 250 votes with both sitting councillors assured of a seat. Tom Quirke in Abbeyknockmoy failed to make an impact, picking up less than three per cent of first preference votes in the tallies. Sinn Féin didn’t make any significant impact in this LEA, securing just over four per cent in the first preference tallies. The Tuam ballot papers are now being transferred to the County Council count centre in Galway Lawn Tennis Club.

Louisburgh-based candidate Chris Maxwell will become the first Independent Ireland candidate elected onto Mayo County Council and do so by topping the poll in the Westport Electoral Area. The former Fianna Fáil local election candidate only declared as an Independent Ireland candidate last month but tallies suggest that he will top the poll and be elected on the first count. Maxwell will be the first Louisburgh-based candidate to be elected since 2009 when Austin Francis O'Malley was elected. Westport-based Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn looks set to be elected again with tallies putting his vote on 16 percent. However, both Hyland and O'Malley will also be hoping that the Independent vote might go their way.