The fallout from the referendums remains a troubling mess for the Government parties.
Five days on and the impact continues to reverberate politically.
Some within the Government ranks even fear it could crack the foundations of the Coalition.
To avoid this, work is afoot in the background to end the finger-pointing and apportioning of blame.
One senior figure summed up the mood with this pithy warning “if people are not careful you could suddenly find yourself in a general election”.
It is still an unlikely scenario though and it is far more probable that the comprehensive defeat and the fears it sparked, could ultimately prolong the life of a now risk-averse Government.
If this is to happen, trust will have to be rebuilt internally and it will also have to be reestablished with a voting public that has proved to be both angry and volatile at the polling booth.
The latter task seems to be engendering most apprehension within Fianna Fáil with four of its TDs, along with its Seanad leader, confirming they rejected either one or both the proposed constitutional amendments.
Former deputy party leader Éamon Ó Cuív believes an early analysis of the result suggests that Fianna Fáil is losing touch with its grassroots.
That is an alarming assessment for the party’s candidates in the upcoming local and European Parliament elections. The general election too must be held within the next twelve months.
There are others in the party who whisper that their greatest worry is the anger of some voters over immigration issues. They contend that the referendum results are in part reflective of this.
All this could create a febrile atmosphere in the weeks ahead if the resounding referendum defeats continue to gnaw at a government that now looks far from surefooted.
