Fine Gael TD John Perry has told the High Court he tried to raise concerns over alleged irregularities with voting at his party's selection convention last October.
Mr Perry was giving evidence in his High Court action which seeks to set aside the result of the convention.
In his action Deputy Perry alleges "serious and substantial" irregularities at the convention rendered its outcome "unlawful" and "fundamentally flawed".
Mr Perry described a chaotic and disorganised event at which he said concerns were brought to his attention after one woman was seen placing a number of votes in a ballot box.
Mr Perry said he entered the voting area but was asked to leave by the party's General Secretary Tom Curran. "I told him it would be more in his effing line to keep an eye on what was going on at the ballot boxes," he said.
When asked what Mr Curran's reaction was Mr Perry said: "He danced with rage on the floor."
He also said there was no impression of security on the night and voters did not have their hand stamped after voting.
Mr Perry also said that before the convention he sought details from headquarters about a directive he believed had been issued about selection strategy for Sligo-North Leitrim but was refused by a party official, who said it was "way above my pay grade".
He said he believed he was entitled to ask for details of the directive after serving as a TD for 19 years.
Mr Perry said he was not overly concerned about it, however, as he believed he had a commitment from Taoiseach Enda Kenny that if unsuccessful at the party convention he would be added to the ticket.
The court was told that Fine Gael accepts that seven votes were cast by people who were not entitled to vote at that convention.
But the party will argue this would not have changed the eventual outcome of the selection process.
It denies all claims of irregularity in the running of the convention and said Deputy Perry was obliged to go through internal dispute resolution mechanisms before going to court.
The party will also argue that Deputy Perry had an opportunity to oversee the convention and to complain on the night if he saw any irregularities.
Earlier, Lawyers for Mr Perry told the court that Fine Gael now acknowledges there were a number of irregularities in how the convention for Sligo-Leitrim was conducted but there is a dispute over the full extent of those irregularities.
The court was told he relies "four square" on the constitution of Fine Gael. He says the party was obliged to put in place appropriate measures to ensure the convention, the voting and the counting of votes were conducted in accordance with law and the constitution of the party.
Senior Counsel Mícheál P O’Higgins said the convention was irregular, unfair and not conducted in accordance with the rules of Fine Gael and its constitution and was otherwise than in accordance with law.
He said it involved a departure from the essential principle of election by ballot and that only those permitted to vote under the constitutional rules of Fine Gael should be a member for two years, commonly known as "the two-year rule".
He said the extent of the irregularities materially altered the course of the election.
Some of those irregularities included the sister of one candidate being observed placing a number of votes into a ballot box, some of which were not her own.
It is also alleged that ballot boxes were left unattended, there was voter impersonation and a votes had been cast by those who were not entitled to vote.
Mr O’Higgins said Mr Perry was entitled also as a matter of contract law that the convention was conducted in a regular manner and only those entitled to vote were allowed to vote.
He said the conduct of the convention was disorderly and there was confusion and disorganisation in the registration room and elsewhere.
The court was told that the night before the convention Mr Perry had asked for a copy of a directive that had been issued on the selection process and none was made available to him. He had also asked for the marked voting register to be made available and this was not given to him until two weeks after the convention.
He said the court would be satisfied that Fine Gael engaged in subterfuge in the manner in which a directive and the strategy of selecting candidates was disclosed and actually brought into effect at the convention.
The court also heard that Mr Perry would be referring to a commitment given by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that any sitting Fine Gael TD not selected at a convention would be added to the ticket. That is now denied by Fine Gael.
The party is opposing the court challenge and will argue that Mr Perry should have exhausted all local remedies before going to the High Court.
It is also expected to argue that any alleged irregularities would not have affected the outcome of the selection convention.
