Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she does not believe it was a mistake to hold a Presidential Election.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Ms McDonald said that in a democracy you cannot credibly argue that the first citizen, head of State and guardian of the Constitution is a role that should be held by a person without a democratic punctuation point at seven years.
Ms McDonald said that she was disappointed about the voter turnout.
She said that there are questions to be addressed about the level of public engagement and public prestige in respect of the role of Uachtarán na hÉireann.
She said that was something to be taken and deliberated in the future.
Ms McDonald said that party candidate Liadh Ní Riada had not polled as well as she would have liked, but the party went into the election process with their eyes wide open.
She said it is not good enough to simply dislike the result and say therefore it was a mistake to contest the election.
She said that presidential elections are like no other adding that nobody can predict how they are going to go because they are eccentric.
Candidates have to work hard and set out their stall and sometimes unexpected things can happen, she said.
Ms McDonald admitted that many Sinn Féin supporters did not support the party's candidate.
She said that from speaking to some supporters in her own constituency, voters did not want a "dragon" in the Áras, so therefore they decided to give Michael D Higgins their number one vote.
Three of the candidates have been judges on the television programme Dragons' Den.
She said that at the end of the day, voters do not come to their decision about the best candidate for the presidency through a party political lens.
On the issue of Ms Ní Riada saying she would wear a poppy on Armistice Day if she was elected president, Ms McDonald said that Irish nationalists and republicans do not wear poppies.
She described them as a highly contentious symbol, but she said she respected the fact that Ms Ní Riada answered the question honestly and to her best judgement.
Ms McDonald said that the statement sparked a debate that fed into a broader discussion on consideration, reconciliation, Irish unity and a new Ireland - all of the core themes of her campaign.
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Ms McDonald said that Sinn Féin is a complex organisation operating in two jurisdictions and with an array of people working for different institutions.
She said that it is recommended that within the party elected representatives should be paid a salary of €44,000 with additional money being used for constituency services.
However, she said that she was not in a position to enforce this recommendation, but added that nobody joins Sinn Féin for the "mercs and the perks".
Nobody gets rich from the party, and it is important that Sinn Féin operate with that ethos, she said.
Going into the future Ms McDonald said that if the party was to run a presidential campaign again, there are a number of issues that are worthy of reflection on.
She said that they would certainly consider putting a party logo on the candidates' literature and posters. She said they did not use a logo when Martin McGuinness was the party's nominee seven years ago, but he was already an established household name.
She also said that consideration would also be given to the lead time a candidate has before the election.
However, she said that you cannot run a political party through a rear view mirror. She said they will now reflect on the result, they will take some lessons from it and will now move on towards the next general election.
