Taoiseach Micheál Martin is “concerned'' and “disappointed” with the early outcome of the Dublin Bay South by-election and “alarm bells” are ringing, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan has said.
Mr O’Callaghan also admitted that Fianna Fail “don’t understand the scale of the problem in housing yet.”
He was speaking with the party’s candidate Deirdre Conroy as they arrived at the count centre at the RDS on Friday.
If the tally figure holds, the Dublin Bay South by-election result would be the worst ever election result for Fianna Fáil.
The final tally showed the party brought in just under 5% of the vote.
Mr O’Callaghan, who has been tipped as the next leader of the Fianna Fáil party, has said the result is “extremely disappointing”.
He was selected as director of elections by the Taoiseach for this by-election and said he spoke to Micheál Martin today and he was also disappointed about the result.
Mr O’Callaghan said he wouldn’t be surprised if “alarm bells are ringing in the heads of most Fianna Fáil TDs” and said the party is aware that they are declining nationally in the polls.
When asked if the by-election result suggests there needs to be a change in leadership, Mr O’Callaghan, who also represents the Dublin Bay South constituency, backed Mr Martin’s leadership.
However, when asked if there should be a change in leadership in the next general election, he said “we’ll have to think about that”.
When asked who was responsible for the party's decline he said he would not single out individuals and “it’s more complex and complicated than that”.
He said Fianna Fáil needs a more “radical approach” to tackling the housing crisis and said the party needs more time to deliver on housing.
However, he said unless the public and government see a change on housing, “by the time the next general election comes, we will be facing similar results as this I regret to say.”
