Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallagher has said that last night's Fianna Fáil party meeting lasted more than five and a half hours.
It comes after the party's presidential candidate, Jim Gavin, pulled out of the presidential race last weekend.
Senator Gallagher said that the Taoiseach was very apologetic and emotional during the meeting, and that there is a lot of hurt in the party.
He said: “Everybody had the opportunity that wanted to say a few words, to say a few words. Myself and (Deputy Brendan Smith), from the Cavan / Monaghan constituency made that contribution.
“There was a lot of hurt in the room. A lot of Fianna Fáil people were angry, that we being the largest party in the country, find ourselves standing on the side-lines as the presidential election moves on. That’s very frustrating.
“The Taoiseach, in his opening remarks, was very apologetic. He was quite emotional, he seemed to be absolutely devastated,” Senator Gallagher added.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show this morning, Senator Gallagher described the situation as a “debacle”.
He said: “It’s worth pointing out, that a lot of our thoughts are with Jim Gavin. I can only imagine what (his family) is going through.
“We have, as a party, a duty of care to Jim. To my mind, that is the most important aspect of all this.
“We didn’t make a very good job of this. In my opinion, the entire process was rushed. We left it too late to put a candidate in the field. There are a lot of people who are not happy with that process.
“We haven’t covered ourselves in glory, and I feel like the entire process of selecting a future candidate to contest a presidential election should be open to all the party members,” he added.
