The defeat of Fianna Fáil candidate Shane Cassells in the Meath byelection was yesterday being blamed in part on particularly poor performances in the Fianna Fáil strongholds of two Government TDs, including Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey, who was also director of elections for the campaign.
What was originally seen as a strong and well-run campaign in Meath is now being reassessed by Fianna Fáil in light of local tally information which suggests that traditional Fianna Fáil voters did not turn out on polling day in a number of areas.
The figures indicate that Fianna Fáil failed to get its vote out in Trim, the home of Mr Dempsey, and in Dunshaughlin, the home area of Fianna Fáil TD Mary Wallace.
Dunshaughlin had one of the worst performances in the election, where the party's absolute vote was more than halved since the local elections. Mr Cassells got 48 per cent of the votes that the party attracted last June.
This compares with Fine Gael, which attracted 110 per cent of its June 2004 vote.
In Trim, the Fianna Fáil vote dropped by a third to 68 per cent of what it attracted in the June poll, while Fine Gael held on to its entire vote.
"We'll be taking a long hard look at these figures; they're quite extraordinary" according to one Fianna Fáil source. "The loss in Meath wasn't an anti-Government vote, it was because the Fianna Fáil vote didn't turn out."
The tally figures are expected to be analysed in the coming days by senior Fianna Fáil figures.
The party is already planning a reorganisation of the party in Kildare North following internal wrangling during the campaign.