Former minister Dr Jim McDaid has said he will decide whether or not to run again for the Dáil after he is sentenced in relation to the drink-driving offence which he admitted last week.
Dr McDaid repeated yesterday that he was "apologising unreservedly" for his behaviour last Tuesday night when he drove his car for several miles on the wrong side of the Naas dual carriageway after drinking a considerable amount of alcohol.
In an interview on Today FM's Sunday Supplement programme he said his mother had said a prayer for him which was answered "that nobody else was involved and nobody else was hurt. The only person that was hurt was myself, and I deserve to be hurt and deserve to be punished and I await the court case and will fully accept whatever punishment I get".
He said he would not make any decision on whether or not to defend his seat in Donegal North East at the next general election until after the court case.
A file on the incident has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and it is expected to take several months before it reaches court.
"I am grateful for the amount of support I have received," he said. "I fully understand the anger among people in this country at what I did."
He said many Donegal people had been very supportive of him, and he had not decided on his political future. "I just ask people to wait for the court case . . . I will make my decision when I hear whatever my punishment will be."
A decision by Dr McDaid not to run again would increase the task for Fianna Fáil in defending the two seats they hold in the constituency.
The holder of the third seat, independent Niall Blaney TD, said yesterday that there was "no truth" in rumours that he would consider joining the party his late uncle Neil Blaney left over three decades ago.
He said such "speculation" had surfaced regularly during his late uncle's period as an independent, and subsequently when he was succeeded by the current deputy's father, Harry Blaney. "It was just speculation then and it is speculation now . . . there is no truth in it", he said yesterday.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs Séamus Brennan said yesterday that there "hasn't been any discussion among colleagues about political action being taken against Jim McDaid. I haven't heard any talk about it. The people of Donegal in two years' time will have their say on the matter".
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics programme, he said there was no excuse for what he had done and "nobody is more disgusted than Jim McDaid" at what he had done.