Enda Kenny weighs options as Fine Gael licks its wounds

Fine Gael will this week grapple with the fallout from its disastrous general election campaign as the party faces the loss of a third of its TDs and several ministers.

A Fine Gael negotiating team is now set to meet with other parties as Taoiseach Enda Kenny weighs up his post-election options, while his government maintains a caretaker administration.

Senior party sources, though, have dismissed talk of a leadership challenge against the embattled leader, despite the Fine Gael-led coalition facing a huge backlash from voters over its austerity measures.