Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny today insisted he would lead the party at the next general election.
A spokesperson for Fine Gael told RTÉ News today that Mr Kenny would not be distracted by media speculation about his future.
The comments come following a number of reports suggesting that party members are considering a move to replace Mr Kenny following publication of the latest Irish Times /Ipsos MRBI poll.
That poll, which was published on Friday, showed Fine Gael in second place to Labour and Mr Kenny’s personal rating down seven points to 24 per cent.
Internal difficulties over Mr Kenny's continuing leadership of the party would come to a head "in the next week or so" and members were "reeling" from this week's opinion poll figures, a senior party source told The Irish Times yesterday.
However, there is still strong support for Mr Kenny to continue in his present position from leading frontbenchers such as Leo Varadkar and Senator Frances Fitzgerald.
The party's justice spokesman endorsed Mr Kenny today and warned of the dangers involved in making a move against the party leader.
“Fine Gael should be very mindful of past bloodbaths. This is not the time for internal strife that will undoubtedly leave serious wounds and long-term scars," said Mr Flanagan.
Health spokesman Dr James Reilly dismissed suggestions of an imminent rebellion and said he had spoken to just one party colleague who wanted new leadership.
"One poll is not going to cause us to wobble — we're made of sterner stuff than that," he said.
Elsewhere, communications spokesman Simon Coveney urged his parliamentary party colleagues against over-reacting to last week's poll findings.
"The party should deal with the challenges facing it in a united fashion. The immediate focus has to be on the upcoming Motion of No Confidence in the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen," he said.
A follow-up report on the poll findings, published in yesterday's Irish Times, shows that two-fifths of voters do not want either Brian Cowen or Enda Kenny as taoiseach.
Offered the choice of the Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael leader as taoiseach, 40 per cent of voters said in an unprompted response that they did not want either in the job.
A total of 30 per cent favoured Mr Kenny for the taoiseach’s office while 21 per cent favoured Mr Cowen and 9 per cent had no opinion.
Among Fianna Fáil voters 71 per cent wanted Mr Cowen for the post while 74 per cent of Fine Gael voters said they preferred Mr Kenny.
The Fine Gael leader was well ahead of Mr Cowen among Sinn Féin voters and marginally ahead among Green Party voters, but a majority of both parties’ supporters supported neither.
In regional terms support for Mr Kenny was highest in Dublin, while Mr Cowen’s poorest result was in the capital.
The poll was taken on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over, in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent.