Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has apologised to his party colleagues for the Presidential Election debacle, saying he was devastated at what had happened.
Polling day in the election may be Friday 24 October, but Fianna Fáil's campaign is already over following the decision by Jim Gavin, the party's candidate, to withdraw from the contest last Sunday.
The party met for more than five hours at Leinster House, to consider Mr Gavin's exit from the presidential race and the processes by which he became the party's candidate.
The opening exchanges of the meeting discussing the election were described as calm and mild, with TDs voicing the hurt felt by party members across the country.
Mr Martin acknowledged the hurt and shock of party members over how the election campaign unfolded.
He said that he fully understood the enormity and disappointment and his voice was said to be breaking at times when he delivered his opening address.
Mr Martin spoke at length about the preparations and the due diligence which was undertaken with the former candidate.
He said he was open to any suggestions on how the presidential selection process can be changed.
Several TDs have been speaking about the party's duty of care to Mr Gavin and his family, a man who had stepped forward to serve.
Fianna Fáil TD Pat the Cope Gallagher told the meeting that the vote to select Mr Gavin as the party's presidential candidate was a "contrived majority" which was "heavily influenced" by the leadership.
He said it was unacceptable that he was a member of the parliamentary party for 38 years but his opinion was not sought out prior to the nominations.
Last night, Mr Martin said that he will take "full responsibility" over what happened, adding that he recognised the wider membership was "hurting" over the debacle.
The move followed a report in the Irish Independent that a tenant in a property Mr Gavin owned 16 years ago did not receive a refund they had sought after an overpayment of rent amounting to €3,300.
The development was a humiliation for Mr Gavin and a deep embarrassment for Fianna Fáil.
Party members have been expressing their disappointment and frustration since, prompting questions about Mr Martin's leadership as he had publicly backed Mr Gavin over party politicians.
Watch: Political Correspondent Mícheál Lehane reports on the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting
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The Fianna Fáil leader said he accepted the desire from his party that they would run a candidate.
He said, before the summer recess, they did not have a candidate and "no one" in the party expressed an interest in running for the presidency until the end of July.
Mr Martin said this included MEP Billy Kelleher, who went on to contest the party's nomination process against Mr Gavin. He lost to Mr Gavin in early September in a vote by the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
Others who have said publicly they wanted to win the Fianna Fáil nomination include former taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern; former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin; and singer and campaigner Bob Geldof.
Read more:
Emotional Martin eats humble pie as party members take stock
Gavin was 'repeatedly asked' about tenant issue, Martin says
"I don't think Bertie would have made it, nothing against Bertie at all, I have great respect for Bertie Ahern because of what he did for the peace process," he said in an interview with Newstalk.
"It's one of the single greatest achievements in Irish society, that peace process, and he deserves huge credit for that.
"It would have been incredibly bruising for him, I don't know why he would want to bring it upon himself."
He said Mr Gavin's issue was one issue and one situation and referred to the "enormity" of what would be "churned out" against Mr Ahern.
Some in Fianna Fáil are worried that Mr Gavin is becoming a scapegoat.
Cork East TD James O'Connor said he had been elevated to being a presidential candidate one day, and unceremoniously thrown under the bus the next.
Integrity of election 'undermined' - Kelleher
Mr Kelleher has said that the "integrity of the Presidential Election has been undermined" following Mr Gavin's withdrawal.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, the MEP said that here has been an "awful lot of damage and hurt done both to individuals and collectively the Fianna Fáil party".
"The integrity of the presidential election itself has been undermined by the fact that the largest party in the State is now on the sidelines looking at a presidential election, having a candidate on the ballot paper, but the candidate after being withdrawn," he said.
"There's a lot of serious questions to be asked about how we've ended up in this position whereby due diligence wasn't done to the point where they would have found out exactly the background with regard to the rental issue, but also, as importantly could a candidate weather the storm in terms of the very difficult, bruising election that a Presidential Election is."
A Fianna Fáil junior minister has said she was "very disappointed" that the party now does not have a candidate three weeks out from polling day.
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Niamh Smyth said that she expected a "robust, probably heated discussion" at the parliamentary party meeting.
"But I am sure that coming out of that will have a clearer picture of exactly what happened and how we are going to approach this into the future," the Cavan-Monaghan TD said.
"The Taoiseach has said himself there are questions to be answered," she added.
Asked if she thought the Fianna Fáil leader will "survive" the controversy, Ms Smyth said she did believe he will remain in his role, adding that she does not believe anybody's leadership can be judged on one particular issue.
However, Minister Smyth said the matter "hasn't been one of his [Taoiseach Micheál Martin] best moments or the party's best moments".
