Thank you for joining us for our live page coverage of the Irish election results.

As things stand, almost all of the 174 seats in the 34th Dáil have been filled in the 2024 general election - just three remain to be declared.

Based on the numbers, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael look to be in the driving seat to form the next Irish government, but Sinn Féin has not ruled out the possibility of trying to form an alternative government after their leader Mary Lou McDonald made contact with the Labour Party and Social Democrats.

This live page has been edited by Caroline McClatchey, Gerry Bradley and Luke Sproule.

Are you still with us? We've still got three seats left to go in Cavan-Monaghan.

Counting began at 09:00 on Saturday at the Cavan Leisure Centre and is still going - but the end could be in site.

Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy has retained his seat and we are just waiting for the final seats to be filled.

We are closing the live page soon, but you can keep up to date with all the developments on the BBC News NI website throughout the evening.

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Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin says: "It is clear we did not get enough people to vote for us".

He tells Evening Extra that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil "have the numbers to form a government" but insists his party are "still not ruling out government" with other parties themselves.

He says their party made it clear they wanted to get the votes to lead a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil but insists "until Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do a deal we have to be live to whatever opportunities are there".

He says party leader Mary Lou McDonald has already made formal contact with the Social Democrats and the Labour Party and will also go on to speak to other smaller parties and other independents "to really look at what the options are".

Sinn Féin's path to government does look bleak, but not impossible, says election expert Dr Caoilfhionn D'Arcy on BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

She says she cannot see a path for Sinn Féin being able to form a stable government without the agreement with one of those other medium political parties, which Fianna Fáil' leader Micheál Martin has effectively ruled out.

At just 24 years old, Labour's Eoghan Kenny has been elected on Count 17 in Cork North-Central.

His election comes after People Before Profit candidate Mick Barry conceded.

Eoghan Kenny will become the youngest member of the 34th Dáil.

Labour's Alan Kelly and Fianna Fáil's Ryan O'Meara have been elected in Tipperary North, meaning all three seats are now filled.

Tipperary North TDs are now:

• Michael Lowry - IND
• Alan Kelly - LAB
• Ryan O'Meara - FF

BBC Dublin reporter Aoife Moore tells Evening Extra there have been some changes, but in terms of what a future government looks like it seems very much still the same, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael set to retain power in Ireland - albeit with some independents or a new party or partners potentially needed to make up the numbers.

Our reporter says some clear success stories from the election are gains for Labour and Social Democrats, while a major disappointment will be the Greens who have come out of this election with just one TD (member of parliament).

Dr Caoilfhionn D'Arcy, a geography of elections expert at Maynooth University, and BBC Dublin Reporter Aoife Moore will be live on BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme shortly to discuss all things Irish election.

They will be discussing topics like the outstanding counts and recount in Cork North-Central, parties' electoral performances, and the potential make-up of the next government.

You can also listen by clicking on the Listen Live button at the top of this page.

A career spanning four decades in Leinster House has officially come to an end for Fine Gael's Bernard Durkan as the final successful candidates in Kildare North are confirmed.

The 79-year-old, who was first elected to Dáil in June 1981, knew early on in the count on Sunday that his chances of retaking the seat he had held for more than 42 years were slim, telling reporters - before he was officially eliminated - that he plans to take a step back from public life following the election result.

James Lawless (Fianna Fáil); Aidan Farrelly (Social Democrats); Réada Cronin (Sinn Féin); Naoise Ó Cearúil (Fianna Fáil) and Joe Neville (Fine Gael) make up the five seats in Kildare North.

Fine Gael senator Nikki Bradley has apologised for comments she made in an interview with Highland Radio, external, after the Milford candidate was eliminated in Donegal, bowing out in the 14th count with 6,176 overall votes.

Bradley's interview with radio presenter Greg Hughes was viewed thousands of times on social media and attracted some criticism, as she remarked on some “moaning and groaning” among the electorate in County Donegal over "certain issues".

In a subsequent interview with Donegal Daily, external, Bradley apologised: "I let myself down with how I worded everything," she said.

“If there’s anybody that voted for me and now feels disappointed by what they saw over the weekend, I want to clarify that how it came across was absolutely not how I intended it."

Kildare North has completed its count and returned all five of its TDs.

The three largest parties have gained another seat each in the constituency.

That puts Fianna Fáil on 44, and Sinn Féin and Fine Gael on 37 each.

That leaves nine seats across four constituencies still waiting to be filled.

Talks about coalitions have begun among Ireland's political parties after Friday's general election returned no outright winner.

Here's what's been happening:

• Fianna Fáil have the most seats with 43, Sinn Fein and Fine Gael have 36 each
• There are 12 seats still to be filled out of the 174 available in the Dáil (Irish parliament)
• There are five constituencies still to declare; Cavan-Monaghan, Kildare North, Louth, Tipperary North and Cork North-Central
• A full recount is under way in Cork North-Central after Labour and People Before Profit-Solidarity were separated by just 35 votes in an earlier count
• Turnout was 59.7%, the lowest in over a century

It started on Saturday with a quote from Father Ted, yesterday there was "no better buachaill" and so as counting enters D-Day three, the big question for many is what t-shirt might the count centre worker in Cork be wearing today?

There are still five constituencies where counting continues, with 38 of the 43 complete.

There are still 12 seats in the Dáil (Irish parliament) to be filled.

Counting is still taking place in the following:

• Cavan-Monaghan - four seats outstanding

• Kildare North - three seats outstanding
• Louth - three seats outstanding
• Tipperary North - two seats outstanding
• Cork North-Central - all five seats filled but a recount is under way

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For the smaller parties - the Social Democrats and the Irish Labour Party, led by Ivana Bacik, who could hold the balance of power - the push is now on to get into government and effect change, BBC News NI political editor Enda McClafferty says.

“A bad day in government is better than a good day on opposition benches,” he says.

“But there will be soul searching as well. We know the fate of smaller parties in government, illustrated by the Green Party.

“They came in with 12 seats , have ended up with one, they have been down that road before, as have Labour…They know there might be a price to pay at the end of five years.”

We told you earlier that in Cork North-Central a number ballot bundles were being checked again.

That was after Mike Barry, of People Before Profit Solidarity, requested a recount.

Just 35 votes separated Barry from Eoghan Kenny of the Labour Party who was elected on the 17th count.

Instead of a full recount, Barry has agreed to ballot bundles being checked. There are 50 papers in each bundle

As things stand that recheck is ongoing.

Eleven seats in the new Dáil means the Social Democrats are also likely to play a key role in the formation of the next Irish government.

Cian O'Callaghan, the party’s Dublin Bay North TD, says his party is willing to engage with all parties.

But to forge an alliance with the two big parties, something would have to give, he added.

"If the attitude of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is that they think there doesn't need to be very significant radical changes in areas like housing - then I don't see how we could do it," he told RTÉ.

Ireland "simply cannot afford to keep going in the same direction that we have over the last five years".

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As the complex counting continues, unpredictability has given way to clarity in Ireland’s election, writes BBC News Ireland correspondent Chris Page.

It looks like the country has bucked the trend across the world, in a year of numerous elections, by putting the outgoing centrist government parties in prime position to go back into power.

There is a now frontrunner to be prime minister, known as the taoiseach – Michéal Martin of Fianna Fáil.

His party has won the biggest number of first preference votes, and is on course to win the most seats for the second election in a row.

Read more of Chris' analysis.

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Earlier we brought you the news that Sinn Féin’s Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said his party would “reach out immediately” to those parties on the left in the hope of forming a coalition.

One of the parties Mac Lochlainn referenced is the Labour Party, who have surpassed many pundits’ expectations to win nine seats.

Speaking to RTÉ, the party’s Conor Sheehan said Labour had "fundamental differences with the three larger parties".

"We will talk to like-minded parties, such as the Social Democrats, such as Roderic O'Gorman [from the Greens], to see if can we build a centre-left alliance and have that as a power bloc in terms of government formation," he told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne.

Voters were given "no clear alternative" to the incumbent government, according to former Fianna Fáil government minister Derek Mooney.

Speaking to BBC News NI's Talkback programme, Mr Mooney said: "There's been no shortage of opposition. What's been missing is a clear alternative."

He added that voters just weren't buying the Sinn Fein position, that it was providing an alternative government.