Junior Education Minister Josepha Madigan has resigned and will not contest the next election for Fine Gael.

Simon Harris meanwhile looks set to be confirmed as the new leader of the party this weekend.

Junior Education Josepha Madigan has resigned from her position and will not contest the next General Election.

Eleven sitting Fine Gael TDs have now announced they’ll not contest the next General Election – that means over 30% of the TD’s who were elected for the party in 2020 will not run again.

Meanwhile the deadline for nominations for the Fine Gael leadership was originally set at lunchtime on Monday.

However the Fine Gael National Council are set to bring the deadline forward by a day and leadership nominations will now close on Sunday, meaning Simon Harris will be confirmed as the new leader of the party this weekend.

He will then formally be elected as taoiseach in the Dáil on April 9th following the Easter recess.