Alan Kelly has said he will reflect on whether he will run in the next General Election.
Mr Kelly resigned as leader of the Labour Party on Wednesday after TDs and Senators lost confidence in him.
When asked why he didn’t fight to keep his position, Mr Kelly said “if colleagues feel that way, then there’s no point.
“These are my friends and I accept that.”
Mr Kelly fought back tears on Friday in a radio interview on his local radio station, Tipp FM, and indicated Ivana Bacik is now likely to be the next leader of the Labour Party.
He said "she should be given a chance,” when asked if her style of leadership relates to people outside of Dublin.
He said Ms Bacik is “incredible” and has fought hard for women’s rights in Ireland and fighting for issues when they weren’t popular.
When asked if he will run again in the next General Election, Mr Kelly said this was something he would reflect on.
He said: “I’m going to reflect for a while, probably take a break for a week or two and I’ll reflect on that but that’s my intention now.
“It’s my intention at this moment in time, I don’t believe in rash decisions.”
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When pressed further on whether he will run again, the Tipperary TD would not be drawn on it.
He said: “I’ve never had any intention of staying in politics until I was 65 because I want to do other things.
“Life goes on.”
Mr Kelly became emotional when discussing the cervical check scandal and said meeting Vicky Phelan, Stephen Teap, Lorraine Walsh “politically was the biggest influence on my life.
“And I go further to say it has been one of the biggest influences on my life and when you asked me questions about why I didn’t fight back, you get perspective in life when you have friends and people who have done what they have done.
“I think I brought that perspective in making that decision and how I accepted it.”
Mr Kelly also said due to politics, he has missed a lot of things too over the last number of years.
He said he was away when he needed to be at home with his parents and said he depended on his wife, Regina, to “keep an eye on” his parents and look out for them.
He said there are “upsides” in no longer being Labour leader and said he’s looking forward to spending more time with his children and “taking a deep breath.”
Addressing the media at Leinster House on Wednesday night, he said: “I was advised by my parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday morning that they had lost collective confidence in my leadership.
“This was a surprise to me, but I accept their decision.
“We had a number of frank discussions in recent weeks and especially in the last few days.
“I acknowledge we have not been able to move in the polls.
“We as a party didn’t get the bounce I would have hoped for over the last two years, and the pandemic restricted my ability to bring forward the progress I had hoped for.
“It is also a reality that it has been hard for those of us most associated with our time in government from 2011 to 2016 to move on from that.”
Mr Kelly was a minister in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition between 2011-2016, which oversaw the introduction of some tough austerity measures.
