Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today criticised as "hostile and unbalanced" coverage by certain sections of the media of his party's election campaign.
He claimed certain journalists had "abysmally and appallingly" intruded into the lives of his close friends in the early part of the campaign.
The Fianna Fail leader reiterated his belief that there was a personally-motivated campaign against him in relation to his financial affairs.
Issues surrounding the purchase of Mr Ahern's home dogged the first fortnight of the Fianna Fail campaign and Mr Ahern was forced to issue a personal statement last weekend following demands by Opposition parties and Coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats.
Mr Ahern said today: "At our press conferences, people were coming in quite hostile against my ministers. They didn't want to talk about jobs and health.
"I've been around long enough to know how these things happen. The media in 2002 felt at the end that maybe they were too easy on us.
"The media in 2007 decided, no matter what we said, they were coming out with a line. "No matter what Fianna Fail said, they were coming like rocks at us," he told RTE Radio One's This Week.
Mr Ahern also said he personally witnessed the behaviour of journalists when he sat at the back of press conferences. "I was watching the talk and the tactics. I'm too long around for watching half-amateurs play that kind of a game."
He added: "There were large sections of the media for the first 10 days that were just totally unbalanced." Referring to the Mahon Tribunal, he continued: "Everything and anything was circulated out that I gave confidentially in. "I'll return to these issues on another day and I will have lots of things to say on another day."
He continued: "I just think the way this has been treated, the way individuals close to me, that their personal issues have been appalling treated by some, \[but] perfectly dealt with by others ... talking about people's confidentiality, people's rights, it has just been abysmally and appalling dealt with by some."
PA