The Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin says his party was "swept away" by the support for Sinn Féin.

Mr Howlin has retained his seat in the Wexford constituency.

He is the second elected representative for his party, after Sean Sherlock in Cork East.

But the party has taken heavy loses - including former Tánaiste Joan Burton, who lost her seat in Dublin West.

Speaking to Pat Kenny, Mr Howlin said all parties have been affected by the surge in the Sinn Féin vote.

"We were swept away with the tsunami of support for Sinn Féin.

"Several of our target seats were affected by that - but we will dust ourselves off and fight another day".

"Everybody has been affected by an unprecedented surge for Sinn Féin, no party has been left unscathed by that... and it's changed the political landscape".

But he ruled out entering government: "I made it clear that we're not interested in being in office; we've been seared by being in office, but we do want to shape the future of our country for the better".