5 things you need to know today

1. Talks to resume on government formation 53 days after the election

Talks between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on a framework for the operation of a minority government will resume today as pressure grows for a resolution of the political impasse. We might see some movement however as Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said his party could support a Fine Gael-Labour minority government. Meanwhile, Michael O'Leary's description of Independent TDs as "lunatics" has been rejected as "appalling" by one deputy. The Ryanair chief executive also described Sinn Féin's economic policies as "utterly crazy", prompting the party's finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty, to call the criticism "outlandish".
2. Three former TDs running for Seanad supported abolition

A big shout out to the three former TDs running for the Seanad who supported abolition. Three of the 13 former TDs who lost their Dáil seats and are running for the Seanad spoke in favour of its abolition during the referendum campaign, a position the electorate rejected. Find out who they are here. Meanwhile, it has emerged that postage accounts for most (88 per cent) of the €2.7 million direct cost to the State of running the Seanad elections. Click here for all you need to know about the tight race for those coveted Seanad seats.

3. Fourth come-back for story on irishtimes.com ‘Conned: A German View of Ireland’

Once upon a time, today's news was tomorrow's fish-wrap. But, no more. Almost three years after   "'Conned: A German View of Ireland'" made its first appearance in The Irish Times, the article has just made its fourth comeback on Irishtimes. com. We ask why?

4. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff loses impeachment vote

Brazil's leftist President Dilma Rousseff lost a crucial impeachment vote in the lower house of Congress on Sunday and is almost certain to be forced from office months before the nation hosts the Olympics. Fireworks lit up the night sky in Brazil's megacities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after the opposition comfortably surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to send Ms Rousseff for trial in the Senate on charges of manipulating budget accounts. The impeachment battle, waged during Brazil's worst recession since the 1930s, has divided the country of 200 million people more deeply than at any time since the end of its military dictatorship in 1985.

5. Kilkenny lose hurling match

Plenty in Thurles to nourish hurling's battered old soul. A league campaign that had often been a grind when it came to the business of scoring loosened out significantly as the young colts of Clare and Waterford cantered through for their first ever match-up in a league final.
Any win over Kilkenny is nice,  Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald acknowledged, but he knows teams of Clare and Kilkenny's ilk are  judged on summer days. Elsewhere, defending league champions Waterford were ruthless and efficient in Thurles. For a young team on the rise, Waterford have become exceptionally good at ignoring the distractions and to trust in what they are about.Final score: Waterford 3-23 Limerick 1-18