Fine Gael poll topper Michael Noonan has compared politics to a marathon after securing his highest general election vote in 30 years.
The 67-year-old exceeded the quota in the Limerick City constituency by over 4,500 votes and his transfers look certain to ensure his running mate Kieran O’Donnell will retain his seat.
Speaking at the count centre in the University of Limerick, Mr Noonan was reluctant to concede an overall majority for Fine Gael. He indicated he was not inclined to do business with Independents preferring the option of a coalition with Labour.
“We are not conceding other options ... but both Fine Gael and Labour have done quite well and certainly if it were possible to negotiate an acceptable programme for government, it would give a lot of stability. I’m not a great believer in working with a handful of Independents because they are high maintenance and it’s difficult to secure stability into the future,” he said. “We are in contention in constituencies where even this morning I didn’t think we would be. We are going to get a very good result – it will all come down to the Fianna Fáil transfers."
Mr Noonan put his own performance down to endurance.
“Politics a lot of it is a marathon, it is not a sprint. You must be prepared to keep running and go through the wall around 20 miles from the last seven – you’ll get there. Endurance is a lot in politics,” he said.
Mr Noonan said if he is appointed to Cabinet he would do his best for the country. But he refused to say whether he will be the next minister for finance. “That will be a matter for the incoming taoiseach….It is beyond my pay scale to talk about that,” he joked.
Mr Noonan had reassuring words for former Fianna Fáíl minister Willie O’Dea following his worst performance in years “I don’t think he collapsed – he always got a quota. It is just that he was so high traditionally that what would be a normal vote for another candidate looks like a low vote for Willie. Willie is a fairly good operator,” he added.
Accepting defeat in the Limerick City constituency today, former junior minister Peter Power attributed Fianna Fáil's dismal performance to the "tsunami of opposition" his party faced from the electorate.
Mr Power, who secured just over 5 per cent of first preference votes, said it would take a long time and a "monumental effort" for Fianna Fáil to recover from this general election. "It is going to take a very long time without a doubt in my view and it's going to take a monumental effort," he said.
He said his party paid a very high political price for the tough decisions it had to make to resolve the banking crisis.
"We've paid a very high political cost for those decision and that is just the reality of it. Whatever government was in power they were going to have to take decisions to save the banking system that's my own firm personal view but Fianna Fáil have paid the political price for doing that."
Mr Power refused to say whether he plans to leave politics but insisted Fianna Fáil would be back to fight another day.