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.

Minister for the diaspora Jimmy Deenihan was the latest party casualty last night after he lost his seat in Kerry. This followed other high-profile figures failing to get elected, including deputy party leader James Reilly, former justice minister Alan Shatter, junior environment minister Paudie Coffey, and junior agriculture minister Tom Hayes.

A Cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow or Wednesday, at which Fine Gael and Labour, half of whose ministers also lost their seats, will decide on how to proceed as a government.

Mr Kenny said on Saturday that he had a “duty” to try and form a stable government. He is not expected to make any significant statement until all counts are finished and 158 TDs are elected to the 32nd Dail.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny talks to RTÉ News. #mayo #ge16https://t.co/5fy1tlHHlb

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 27, 2016

Fine Gael looks set to return a little over 50 seats, a seismic loss since its historic victory in 2011, when it took 76. Senior party figures say they are open to talks with Fianna Fáil as well as Independents on coalition or government support options, and a negotiation team will now be set up.

Sources have put the ball firmly in Fianna Fáil’s court and said it was up to their arch-enemies to offer proposals about governing options. In the meantime, a caretaker government was the only option for possibly a number of months, said one minister last night, or it was back to the polls by May.

“Micheál Martin wants change, so let the trading begin,” said a source. “The most viable option is the biggest two parties [together]. In the meantime, it’s a sticky plaster solution or back to the hustings.”

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has suggested that another election could be looming for the country. But such a prospect could see voters punish Fine Gael even more a second time around if the party did not set about making a strong attempt to form a government.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney told the Irish Examiner there was disappointment over the campaign and an acknowledgement that the party’s message had “failed”. However, he noted Fine Gael was still the largest party in the country, for only a second time after an election.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said: “The outcome reflects the fractured nature of the political landscape. It will take some time to settle. With 50 seats- plus for Fine Gael, Enda Kenny is in pole position to form a government.”

But the party faces an internal backlash and questions about how its campaign backfired, its message, and why it did not go to the polls in November, when support seemed more secure.