Here are 10 general election stories you may have missed
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Newly elected Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan took the second seat in the Galway East constituency, dislodging the now former Fianna Fáil TD Anne Rabbitte. The day he was elected also coincided with his 26th birthday. While speaking with RTÉ’s Fran McNulty, his mother appeared with a birthday cake and a crowd of supporters singing ‘Happy Birthday’.
“So you can see Fran, the count centre is alive here,” Mr Dolan said, as the singing concluded while he held a Victoria sponge cake.
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In Dublin Mid-West, there was a return of Paul Gogarty after 13 years outside of the Dáil. Widely known in Irish pop culture for his outburst in 2009, where he hit out at Labour TD Emmet Stagg in the "unparliamentary language" incident.
A former Green, Mr Gogarty has contested every election in the constituency since it was established in 2002 and had since served as a local councillor in the Lucan area.
The Dáil will welcome two familiar faces when it returns, as Fianna Fáil’s Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher and Independent Séamus Healy won their seats in Donegal and Tipperary South respectively.
The pair are the only members of the over-70s club this term. Mr Gallagher holds the title of the oldest sitting TD at 76, while Mr Healy is 74. Both men lost their seats in the 2020 general election, but did not let that mark the end of their political career.
In the outgoing Dáil, there were only two septuagenarians as well: Bernard Durkan, 74, who was not re-elected this time around, while 71-year-old Fergus O’Dowd chose not to run.
It was a good day for Labour, particularly across Dublin and Cork, as they swept into seats. Among those to claim a seat was Ciaran Ahern, a local councillor in Dublin South West who took the fourth spot in the tough constituency.
He is the son-in-law of former RTÉ broadcaster Sean O’Rourke as well as husband of well-known human rights lawyer Maeve O’Rourke.
Independent councillor Barry Heneghan became one of the more surprising people to win a seat.
After attracting a large number of transfers he was elected to Dublin Bay North on the final count without meeting the quota. With 6% of first preferences in the tally, a seat in the Dáil felt a long way off on Saturday, with Mr Heneghan himself admitting he was unsure he could get over the line, but things turned around on Sunday evening.
The new TD is among the youngest of the new batch at 26.
Michael Healy Rae has no shortage of supporters in the Kingdom, but he met one who may just be the smallest and cutest of them all.
While at the count centre at the weekend, Mr Healy Rae met a miniature pooch wearing a "Vote No 1 Michael Healy Rae" badge that was almost the same size as himself.
Mr Healy Rae posed for picture with his new furry friend who was wrapped up for the weather with a red jumper and yellow rain jacket on with his little paws just peeking out of the sleeves.
Ireland always welcomes #DogsAtPollingStations every time the people head to the polls, perhaps this is the start of #DogsAtCountCentres.
With Roderic O’Gorman being the sole representative for the Green Party in the next Dáil, it looks like it could be lonely on the opposition benches.
What could make it worse is the fact that there will now be more former Green Party members in the Dáil than active Green TDs. This is due to the re-election of Paul Gogarty, as well as the election of Liam Quaide in Cork East for the Social Democrats — who left the party in 2023.
Irish political dynasties have always been part of the political landscape, and there is a new one to add to the list after Aisling Dempsey won a seat.
Ms Dempsey is the daughter of former Fianna Fáil minister Noel Dempsey. Ms Dempsey is the first woman to be elected in the Meath West constituency.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty came out on top in the polls, gaining the highest vote in the country with 18,898 first preferences. Although it was the highest vote in this election, it is actually over 3,000 fewer votes than he got in 2020 — when he got the second-highest number of votes.
Mr Doherty beat some tough competition from Michael Healy Rae who got over 18,000. The Donegal TD’s popularity had some suggesting he take over as party leader after Sinn Féin’s poor showing in the local and European elections earlier this year.
It was a tight fought battle for the last seat in Cork North Central, with Labour’s Eoghan Kenny eventually beating Mick Barry amid a recount of votes. Mr Kenny is now the youngest TD elected to the 34th Dáil at just 24 years old, having been born in February 2000. This makes him the first ever person to be born in the 21st century to be elected to Dáil Éireann.