"Intimidation" at count centres, such as attempts to interfere and disrupt the media, “shouldn’t be allowed,” according to the Tánaiste.

It follows suggestions by Minister Paschal Donohoe that there is a case for having an increased garda presence at count centres this weekend.

Over the coming days, the public will vote to elect 949 councillors, 14 MEPs and a first directly-elected mayor in Limerick.

On The Pat Kenny Show, Micheál Martin said he encountered unruly behaviour at a count centre after the care and family referendums in March.

“I can recall, even though I arrived late to the count at Cork, there were a number of people trying to interfere with an interview I was doing with Paschal Sheehy at the time,” he said.

“That’s the lifeblood of a count centre; the media being able to relay back to headquarters with discussions and interviews with candidates and so on.

“Traditionally, they haven’t been interfered with but there was some jostling and intimidatory behaviour which has no place in a count centre.”

voting slips sit on tables waiting for the second count in the Cork North West constituency in the 2016 Irish General Election at Colaiste Choilm in Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland. Credit: AG News/Alamy Live News

The Tánaiste said there is no room for intimidation at count centres.

“There was some, not far-right groups, but groups in some of these cases who were making their presence felt in a way that was quite intimidatory,” he said.

“It was designed to interrupt and interfere with people’s right to freely associate in a count centre and do their normal business in a count centre.

“There may be additional concerns in terms of potential attacks and so on, but I don’t see that emerging.”

'Challenging' election for Fianna Fáil

The Fianna Fáil said the elections tomorrow could be “challenging” for his part.

“We did particularly well on the last occasion with 27% of the vote; that will be very challenging for us to active that again, he said.

“We are aiming to retain the seats we have and gain some new seats in areas where we could have done better than last time.

“I’m not looking at it through a negative prism, but a success would be holding what we have in numerical terms.”

EU Commissioner

Mr Martin ruled himself out as Ireland’s next EU Commissioner.

“I’m going forward for the next general election, and I will lead the party into the next general election,” he said.

General views of Gaza. Image: Roger Garfield / Alamy Stock Photo

The Tánaiste also condemned Israel’s attack on a UNRWA hospital in Gaza last night.

“It’s a shocking loss of life and it’s a shocking attack,” he said.

“The people of the world are really appalled at the level of human loss of life, destruction and death.

“There has been a deliberate campaign to undermine UNRWA as an organisation for quite some time now and I condemn that attack.”

Main image: Tánaiste Micheál Martin on his way into Cabinet, 27-03-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews