Renua founder Lucinda Creighton has insisted there is a future for the party she used to lead.

Ms Creighton stood down in early May after losing her seat in the general election.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show, she said she did not look back with regret at her political career and was instead looking forward to her new role as a strategist and newspaper columnist.

“I don’t look back with bitterness. I’m very pleased to say that losing my seat didn’t affect me.”

She said that she has no regrets that she is not in politics any more or over her departure from Fine Gael over the implementation of the party whip on the vote on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

“It’s good to see that some of the things I fought for like a freedom of conscience vote are now being adopted and that the whip system is slowly changing.”

When asked if she would ever go back into politics, she said: “I’d never say never, but at this point in time I’m not interested.”

She said that she has been busy setting up her new business providing political insight and strategic advice to multinationals who want to work within the EU.

"Brussels and the European regulatory framework is very complex, add Brexit into the mix and there is a lot of work to do."

She said there were great opportunities for Ireland but also huge challenges.