Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly has said that he was "shafted" in being denied a chance to contest the Presidential Election.
Heather Humphreys was chosen as Fine Gael's candidate without a contest following the withdrawal of Mairead McGuinness from the campaign, something Mr Kelly feels did not reflect the views of the parliamentary party membership.
"I don’t go into contests just to make up the numbers. I think I’d have had a great chance of winning," he said.
"I know from the councillors’ response, I got a great response from them and the National Executive, and from the membership.
"I think that from the point of view of not getting a nomination, you’d have to ask yourself, why was there such a determined effort to stop me from getting a nomination?
"Maybe because I would win it, and that’s the way I would have been approaching it.
"But it didn’t happen, so I’m going to get on with my life, I’m not going to let it upset me too much.
"It’s an honour to be considered as one of, as they all said, two great candidates, but one was anointed and the other was shafted, essentially."
Listen: Seán Kelly asks why there was 'determined effort' to stop him from getting Fine Gael nomination
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Kelly said there was a feeling of "utter depression" within the party.
"Every phone call, message and text I got was one of utter depression, quite frankly. In particular, I think they were quite disappointed with the way the nomination process was handled," he said.
"Everybody knew that I was going to be a candidate. Within an hour of declaring that I was a candidate, Heather Humphreys declared that she was a candidate, and within an hour of that, basically it was all over.
"Nearly all the members of the parliamentary party came out saying they were going for Heather, which meant that I couldn’t get the 20 required to be nominated, and meant that the councillors and the members of the party couldn’t have a vote on who they wanted to be their candidate."
Sense of 'disconnect' within Fine Gael, says Kelly
Mr Kelly said that he felt there was a sense of disconnect within Fine Gael between the party leadership and membership.
"I would say certainly (there’s) some kind of a disconnect, in that the vast majority of members would have welcomed an opportunity to have a contest to see who they wanted to be their preferred candidate going forward for the Presidency," he said.
"They didn’t get that chance, and therefore you could say that the parliamentary party aren’t reflecting, in that regard anyway, the wishes of the membership.
"While there might be a lot of disappointment at the moment, there might be time to correct it. But to do so, you have to start listening and responding to what the members think.
"I think that’s the key message. No point in saying you’re going to listen, you must show it by responding. Actions speak louder than words."
Asked if he thought Tánaiste Simon Harris was still the right person to lead Fine Gael, Mr Kelly said that that was a decision for Mr Harris, but that a "change of approach" may be necessary.
"He’s the leader at the moment, and he shall continue to be, I think, into the future. The question of who leads the party is a matter for the members of the party, it’s a question for Simon himself.
"But I think the key point here is that things weren’t handled as well as the membership would have liked, and it’s time to reflect on that, to say that, and then to respond accordingly by maybe changing approach," he added.
'There should be a contest' on party selection process, says TD Brennan
Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan has said the party needs to "learn lessons" from the result of the Presidential Election, describing the party's selection process as "not fit for purpose".
Speaking to RTÉ’s Drivetime, the Wicklow-Wexford TD - who supported Mr Kelly’s bid to be the Fine Gael candidate - said he felt the connection between the leadership of the party and its grassroots "could be better".
He also called for the selection process to opened up so local party members could participate.
"There should be a contest," Mr Brennan said.
He added: "I should have been able to organise a bus here in Gorey and Arklow, bring my people, that walked in the rain and knocked on the doors for me.
"They're members of our party, they should have been involved in the selection process and that wasn't allowed to happen because the bar was too high.
"I think Seán [Kelly] ended up getting between 13 and 14 votes but he needed 20, so we didn't have an election within the party."
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