The Tánaiste has admitted that the Progressive Democrats suffered from the general backlash against the Government in the local elections.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Weekprogramme, Ms Harney said the party had lost some "fantastic" councillors and conceded that the results were a wake-up call.
She believed that not running a candidate in the European elections was a factor in the PDs performance, especially in terms of media coverage, but was adamant she had made the correct decision in not running a candidate "just for the sake of it".
Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Ms Liz McManus, was upbeat about the party's performance, but said it was too early to make any decisions in relation to Sinn Féin.
She said: "The most spectacular aspect of our vote has been in Dublin, at the moment we are largest party in Dublin."
"Fianna Fáil suffered from Sinn Féin, the working class Fianna Fáil vote sheared off and went to Sinn Féin. Not only did we hold our vote but it actually improved," she said.
On the European front, Green Party leader Mr Trevor Sargent was in bullish form over the prospect of sitting MEP Ms Patricia McKenna's chances of holding onto her seat.
Mr Sargent said the transfers were shaping up to being a very "interesting afternoon ahead" and said the bottom line was that "we don't intend to lose Patricia McKenna."
At local level he said the big story for the party was that it had quadrupled its seats in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and also saw increases in Fingal and South Dublin County Council.