O’Dea admits Fianna Fáil is not ready for an election

Fianna Fáil is not ready for a snap general election if the aftermath of the Labour leadership battle breaks the Coalition apart early, Willie O’Dea has admitted.

The former cabinet minister says the party is still trying to recover from its “decimating” defeat in 2011 and is not in shape for a fresh national poll yet.

Despite unease in Fine Gael that whoever prevails as Labour leader a crisis general election could be on the way well before 2016, Mr O’Dea said Fianna Fáil needs more time to recover.

“We are not ready for an election yet because we have still more work to do organisationally,” he said. “Particularly in urban areas.

“We’re in recovery mode. We are as ready as a party that was decimated at the last election can possibly be. If there is an election we’ll fight it, but we could use a bit more time.”

The admission came after leader Micheál Martin ruled out a coalition with either Sinn Féin or Fine Gael after the next election.

When asked if this would condemn the party to another term of opposition, would-be leadership contender John McGuinness said: “What’s wrong with opposition?” before distancing himself from Mr Martin’s stance by telling Newstalk he was “pragmatic” and it would be up to the electorate to decide if it wants Fianna Fáil in a coalition next time out.

Mr O’Dea said he would have a problem sharing power with Sinn Féin, adding: “We’ve 20 seats. It’s a bit premature and bit naive now to be thinking of coalition, and how we are going to be part of the next government at this stage.”

Despite topping the local election count with 25% of the vote, the party fared badly in the European clash by securing just one of Ireland’s 11 Brussels seats.

Mr Martin told a Fianna Fáil parliamentary meeting which reviewed the May election results there were too many policy differences with Fine Gael to allow a coalition.

The move comes despite a raft of opinion polls suggesting that, numerically speaking, the most obvious bloc able to govern after an election would be a Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil accommodation.

Labour leadership front runner Joan Burton has said she wants the Coalition to run its full term, but challenger Alex White has insisted he would not be able to guarantee that if he becomes Tánaiste when the contest is decided on July 4.