Simon Harris called for a ceasefire, the free flow of humanitarian aid and the release of hostages.

Ms Cummings was found unconscious at a house in the Laurel Heights area of Banbridge, Co Down, on December 14 and died a short time later.

Several flights were redirected after a plane made a hard landing.

Israel said at the weekend it was closing its embassy in Dublin with Israel’s foreign minister accusing Ireland of ‘antisemitic rhetoric’.

James Meehan, 55, has been serving a life sentence following a murder conviction in 2009.

The Irish Government also approved an intervention in a case against Myanmar.

The storm will bring strong and gusty winds on Friday across Ireland.

Simon Coveney said a smaller party would be a better coalition partner than a smattering of independents.

Micheal Martin was comfortably elected on the first count after topping the poll in the Cork South Central constituency,

The voting slips need to be counted several times, an undertaking which can last days.

The boxes holding the ballots were opened at 9am at count centres across the country.

The protracted process of counting votes in Ireland’s General Election will begin as an exit poll put the three main parties virtually tied.

Sinn Fein (21.1%), Fine Gael (21%) and Fianna Fail (19.5%) are virtually neck-and-neck in terms of first preference votes.

The country’s deputy premier Micheal Martin encouraged people to brave the wet and windy weather and to use their vote.

Simon Harris said he was hopeful – both for the outcome of the election and the future of the country.

The three largest parties were virtually neck-and-neck heading into the vote, according to the latest opinion poll.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, who survived a dissident republican murder bid, was awarded the medal at Buckingham Palace.

The General Election will be held on Friday.

Irish voters head to the polls on Friday.

The leaders of Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail debated on RTE television.