Enda Kenny has faced calls to step down at an angry meeting oF Fine Gael TDs.

The meeting of the parliamentary party saw anger over the failure to get Independent ministers to vote with the government.

The weekly meetings of the Fine Gael parliamentary party have been tame affairs since the appointment of the new government.

Not so last night - where there was considerable anger at the failure to get Independent Alliance ministers to toe the government line, when it comes to voting on Mick Wallace's bill on fatal foetal abnormalities today.

That anger probably wasn't helped by the surprise news that senator James Reilly - who was dropped as Deputy Leader after losing his seat in the Dáil - has been reappointed to that role.

Louth TD Fergus O'Dowd said "new leadership" of the party was needed - while others spoke about needing to be ready for a general election, which Enda Kenny has already said he won't lead them into.

It's the first time since the election there has been direct criticism of Enda Kenny's leadership from within the party - and a hint of the inner unease about the long-term prospects of the government.