Irish voters have rejected “populist, anti-migrant groupings” and moved back to the centre, Fianna Fáil's European candidate for Ireland South Billy Kelleher has said.
He added that people considered alternatives to the Coalition parties and “rejected them resoundingly”.
There had been concern that a wave of rhetoric around immigration and climate change, seen across the EU, would be repeated in the local and European elections.
But the Coalition parties have performed better than expected based on early results.
Irish MEPs will be the last in the European Parliament’s elections to be confirmed.
Mr Kelleher, who is expected to comfortably regain his seat along with Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly, said that his party leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin had contributed to his party’s electoral success.
With most of the 949 council seats filled, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have held steady at 23 per cent of first preference votes, with main opposition party Sinn Féin behind on just 11 per cent.
Of the State's 14 MEPs, Fianna Fáil are expected to increase their number from two to three.
Speaking at the count centre at Nemo Rangers GAA club in Cork on Monday, Mr Kelleher said Mr Martin’s leadership, the strength of the organisation and the “critical importance” of centrist politics were behind the party’s performance.
“The public looked at others and rejected them resoundingly, both in terms of the very populist anti-migrant groupings on the right, but equally Sinn Féin as well in terms of their simplistic views to complex problems.
“I think it was a very interesting election because there was a debate around the whole issue of the extremes on left and right and where the centre would reside in modern Irish politics.
“I think that was answered emphatically yesterday both in the local elections and also the European elections, where people looked at the alternatives and wanted to go back to the centre.”
Mr Kelly and Mr Kelleher are expected to take the first two of five seats in the 10-county constituency of Ireland South.
Despite counting beginning on Sunday morning, the first count in the constituency is not expected until between 1pm and 4pm on Monday, with a second count expected to redistribute the surplus votes of Mr Kelly.
There is doubt over whether there will be time for a third count on Monday.
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara, Sinn Féin TD Kathleen Funchion, and ex-Co Wexford TD Mick Wallace are the next strongest candidates.
On Sunday, Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan said the prospect of holding on to her seat “feels like it’s slipping away” but she is not yet considered completely out of the race.
