Sinn Féin election results 'will not be dwelled upon' despite ...

Speaking after an Ard Comhairle meeting on Saturday, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said she retained the faith of the party.

However, she admitted that some in the grassroots felt that the party leadership “failed to have their backs”. Ms McDonald also said the party "failed to reflect where most people are at" on the issue of migration and this is expected to lead to a new strategy on the issue.

Sources within the party said the review, which included "guidance" from former Kerry TD Martin Ferris and former Belfast mayor Alex Maskey, will be considered but stressed that it is more important it is actioned. 

Sources said the party needs to be seen as "more active, more constructive, and more positive".

"There's no point having the review if we don't change the approach," one party member said.

We have to get back to being representative of what the public is thinking, not trying to tell them what to think.

Privately, members of the party say the European and local election campaigns were "surprisingly flat" and said that the party's message overall "didn't resonate". They say that the party leadership "did not listen" to concerns about the number of candidates or the messaging being used.

Speaking on Sunday, Ms McDonald said she had been told by the party's base that they wanted to hear her speak more plainly.

“Our activist base has told me, that they want to hear the authentic, full-throttle Mary Lou,” she told The Anton Savage Show. “The kind of straightforward, plain-spoken person that I am.

“I hadn't a sense that that had become blunt, but clearly the feedback to me is that it had.”