EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a roundup of the day’s main news – as well as any bits and pieces you may have missed.

In the race for the Áras:

Unless you packed away your eyes and ears today from all media, you will have picked up that Michael D Higgins has been pulling away from the six other candidates and looks likely to become the ninth President of Ireland. David Norris and Seán Gallagher have both conceded that Higgins will be the next President and have passed on their congratulations, as has Mary Davis.

See our liveblog for everything that has happened so far in the count – we’ll be with you until they stop counting tonight (or early Saturday morning) and back with you tomorrow until they are done. Stay with us, won’t you?

For those who exercised their franchise in this election, spare a thought for those Irish citizens who are on the electoral register but cannot vote because they happen to be abroad right now. Read Liam Nolan, who has moved to Warsaw, on why Ireland is behind other countries in this regard.

Do we need a President at all? You’ve been having your say in our daily p0ll – view here.

If you are more interested in what’s gone before, here are 11 facts about our previous presidents which you might not have known… (which one picketed a screening of Darby O’Gill and the Little People, for example?)

In the Dublin West by-election:

A full recount has been ordered after the fourth count saw only 18 votes separate Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger from Fianna Fáil’s David McGuinness. However, based on what has gone on today, Labour’s Patrick Nulty is likely to take the seat vacated by Brian Lenihan Jnr’s death in Dublin West. He had most first-preferences at the first count there, which saw the seven independent candidates in that race eliminated.  The Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Green Party candidates had been knocked out after the second and third counts. Find out the state of play is here.

The count on the referendum on judges’ pay and the referendum on extending powers of Oireachtas committees will not begin until the Presidential count is concluded. A Red C poll from RTÉ seems to conclude that the judges’ pay amendment will be passed – but the committees’ powers one won’t.

And in other news…

Last night, we tried to figure out exactly WHY flooding caused so much damage in east Leinster this week. Today, economist Ronan Lyons looks at HOW floods affect our thinking about house prices.

The funeral has taken place today of a victim of those floods, heroic Garda Ciaran Jones.

The Dutch neighbour of English woman Joanna Yeates has been found guilty of her murder in Bristol.

Here’s one for the sisters (literally) – a change in succession laws in Commonwealth countries means male heirs can no longer take the throne ahead of their elder sisters. The new rules also allow British monarchs to marry a Catholic.

Here’s one that ignored the sisters. DJ Mag has failed to put a single woman in its list of the top 100 DJs and one female DJ has written a strong riposte in today’s Guardian.

The International Criminal Court is going to deal ‘indirectly’ with Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to try to get him to surrender for trial.

Are you a fan of Twitter? Watch your language, says actor Ralph Fiennes who says that its 140-character nature is eroding modern language. #humourfail

Halloween is on the way – get in the mood with our especially spooky Friday at the Movies Irish short film, The Ten Steps…

Or don’t, if you are a parent like the one in this home video who decided to give their child the Halloween fright of her life. (TheTattoowendell/Youtube.com)