Brian Hayes: We underestimated our unpopularity

Fine Gael's Director of Elections Brian Hayes said the party "probably underestimated" the unpopularity of the Government going into the election.

He said he was very disappointed with the outcome and particularly disappointed that some colleagues had lost their seats. He told RTÉ's Seán O'Rourke programme he accepted full responsibility for that.

“We’re still the biggest party. We have a lot of new TDs, we have 10 women TDs and we also had some successes in Dublin and elsewhere, but I am very disappointed [in the outcome] and I accept full responsibility for that,” he said.

“We need to assess what happened in the campaign. The Taoiseach has some strong views on what we have to do to assess the campaign,” he said.

Asked whether the campaign was too Dublin-centric, Mr Hayes said that would be a “fair assessment.”

“The problem is jumping to conclusions in the aftermath of a very bad result for us is not the wisest thing to do.

“The electorate is clearly dissatisfied with the Government. We lost the election. Government is a very difficult place to be when you’re cutting services and increasing taxes,” he said.

He said he felt very sorry for Alan Shatter who lost his seat in Dublin Rathdown.

“I understand his hurt because he lost out ultimately in a difficult situation… I feel very sorry for Alan’s situation.”

He said the party needed to take a good look at themselves but to start scapegoating Enda Kenny was "utterly unfair".

“He is conscious of the fact he is still Taoiseach. He is also conscious that he lost the election.

“We need time to reflect on this. We need time to work through how we’re going to form a stable government. Irish democracy is strong. Our parliamentary system is strong. We’ve been in difficult places. And I’m confident that a way can be found. But it will take time.”

Irish Water

On the same programme, Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen denied the party would let Fine Gael rule for a while, hold them over a barrel over issues such as Irish Water before pulling them down.

He said the party remained committed to abolishing Irish Water saying it had been rushed through and legislation forced through the Dáil.

“People have asked for a more meaningful, more relevant Dáil,” he said.

He said the party would meet during the week to debate all issues.

Former taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern, speaking on the same programme, said forming a new government would not be easy and said he didn't believe it could be done before Easter.

“Let people reflect and come back after Easter. There has to be consultation. All the combinations should be written down, no matter how mad or impossible they are,” he said.