Ireland will head to polling stations on Friday to cast their votes in the election.

Meta, which owns Facebook, removed the RTÉ News AI account on Wednesday after being contacted by the Irish Independent.

The people of Ireland will go to the polls on Friday to elect a successor to Michael D Higgins as president of the country.

The public will head to the polls on Friday to vote for the next President of Ireland

Catherine Connolly said Fine Gael were ‘absolutely terrified’ of her campaign, in response to criticisms of her work as a barrister.

Connolly commented under the post saying "GRMMA", an abbreviation for "go raibh míle maith agat", which is the Irish for thank you very much.

Test your knowledge of Fine Gael's presidential candidate, Heather Humphreys, by taking our quiz!

Test your knowledge of presidential candidate Catherine Connolly by taking our quiz!

Catherine Connolly said she had ‘no control’ over who she met on the trip and noted Micheal Martin personally met Bashar Assad.

The Tanaiste’s comments came after Fine Gael candidate for the Irish presidency suggested a Stormont parliament could be retained in a united Ireland.

Rival presidential candidate Catherine Connolly accused the Government of not doing enough to plan for constitutional change on the island

Heather Humphreys and Catherine Connolly will be quizzed in the studio by Pat Kenny with less than two weeks to go until voting on Friday, October 24th.

Catherine Connolly was ahead in two recent polls ahead of the presidential election.

Mr Martin also said he was ‘glad to see that that has been resolved’ in relation to Mr Gavin reportedly repaying his former tenant.

‘I need all the votes I can get, there’s no question about that,’ Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys said.

The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party met in private on Wednesday night after Mr Gavin’s dramatic withdrawal.

However the Justice Minister said it is ‘not an immediate concern for me’.

Barry Cowen said he would be voting for Heather Humphreys, but would not be recommending or expecting other members of Fianna Fáil to do so.

Micheal Martin said it is his intention to continue leading Fianna Fail, after the party’s presidential candidate dramatically withdrew from the race.

Minister Jack Chambers said a ‘clear contradiction’ emerged in relation to Jim Gavin’s account of payments due to a former tenant.

Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin announced he would be withdrawing from the race after acknowledging he had ‘made a mistake’.

Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has defended her record in Cabinet during a televised debate.

Ms Connolly admitted that it had upset her that Ms Ní Shionnain found herself in the media spotlight due to her connection with her.

Connolly said the Good Friday Agreement makes clear that the people alone will decide the future.

TD for the Dublin Fingal West constituency, Louise O'Reilly, particularly emphasised the role Adams could have played in advancing Irish unity

Who do you think performed the best in the election campaign's first televised debate? Let us know by answering our poll!

The three presidential election candidates are left-wing independent Catherine Connolly, Fianna Fáil's candidate Jim Gavin, and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys.

Launching his campaign, Mr Gavin said he will work to highlight the ‘strength and the voice’ of the Irish people.

Mr Gavin was accompanied by Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers as he submitted the paperwork at the Customs House in Dublin on Friday.

The singer and campaigner has revealed details of a conversation with Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the prospect of an election run.

Dublin City Council has voted against nominating a candidate for the presidential race.

The Fine Gael candidate held the launch event in her home county of Monaghan

Fingal is the first local authority in the country to decide on its position on a presidential candidate.

When asked about her background as a Presbyterian from Ulster, Ms Humphreys said she wants to be a president for all the people of the island of Ireland.

Mr Kelly also expressed support for the remaining hopeful in the Fine Gael process, former party deputy leader Heather Humphreys.

The former Dublin manager made his intentions clear to run for president on Saturday, sending a letter to Fianna Fáil TD's to seek their backing.

The independent said Michael D Higgins had been ‘courageous’ while in the role and that she would look to continue in that vein.

The Dublin TD said she has been thinking about things ‘on a personal level’, but added that she has also been listening to the party on its views

Entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan has claimed that he has been the victim of a ‘co-ordinated attack’ by people close to his former business associate.

It comes after Mairead McGuinness withdrew from the race for Áras an Uachtaráin.

Connolly is an independent politician who has served as a TD for the Galway West constituency since 2016.

Asked if she was considering putting her name forward, Ms O’Neill said Sinn Féin is working its way through deliberations on selecting a candidate.

The Northern Ireland Assembly backed a motion in May calling for all Irish citizens on the island to have the vote.