Your top stories on Monday: Far-right surges to early lead in French elections; elderly man dies in Achill quad bike crash

France election: Le Pen’s far-right party wins 34% of vote

French president Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition have called for tactical voting after the far-right National Rally (RN) won the most votes in a first round of France’s parliamentary elections.

• Four takeaways and what happens next?

News in Ireland

• Children to be allowed in places where betting happens: Changes to gambling legislation will see children allowed on to some premises where betting takes place.
• Large public hospitals warn of deficit exceeding €340m: Voluntary hospitals, including some of the largest in the country, are warning they may be forced to “restrict, delay or potentially close services” as a result of large scale financial deficits.
• Man (80s) dies after quad bike crash on Achill Island: A man has died following a quad bike crash on Achill Island, Co Mayo.
• Defence Forces members with convictions may be higher than reported: Government and military officials are concerned there may be many more Defence Forces personnel facing serious criminal charges than previously reported.
• Weather forecast: It will be mostly cloudy at first today with outbreaks of rain and drizzle, along with patchy mist and fog. This will gradually clear eastwards this afternoon, allowing bright or sunny intervals to develop. Highest temperatures of 14 to 19 degrees, warmest in the south and southeast. It will be largely dry tonight but generally cloudier in the north and northwest, with a few showers. Cloud will increase from the west towards morning. Lowest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees.
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Relationships

• Six ways to reboot your sex life in a relationship: What would it mean to invest in a pleasure-focused relationship with your body?

Opinion

• Laura Kennedy: Cases like Natasha O’Brien’s prompt a sudden, disquieting voice in collective consciousness
• Ian Robertson: What went wrong for Joe Biden? A neuropsychologist’s verdict

Business

• The productivity hack that really does boost careers: Mental stamina, like physical staying power, is a gift, although it does have downsides.

Sports

• Cathal Lombard’s Olympics story sounded too good to be true. It was: When I think back 20 years to the one and only time I met Cathal Lombard, what I remember most clearly is good biscuits.

Life & Style

• Paul Howard: I never loved an animal as much as I loved Humphrey: As all dog lovers know, our lives are so very long by comparison, making it always feel too soon to say goodbye

Podcast Highlights

• In the News Podcast: What’s driving the rise in car thefts?

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