Fianna Fáíl's denied reports that the party's only MEP, Brian Crowley, has been expelled from its parliamentary party.

The party whip says Brian Crowley automatically removed himself as a Fianna Fáil public representative by joining a rival grouping in the European Parliament.

Party leader Micheal Martin told a meeting of the FF parliamentary party this afternoon that he believed Mr Crowley had resigned the whip by leaving the liberal ALDE group, to which FF is aligned, and joining the Eurosceptic ECR group instead.

The party therefore decided that Mr Crowley is no longer a Fianna Fáil MEP - and that he is effectively now an independent.

The party's whip Sean O Fearghail says that does not mean the parliamentary party expelled him - rather, he told the Last Word on Today FM that Mr Crowley had effectively expelled himself:

There's deep unhappiness within the party about Mr Crowley's defection - one member said Mr Crowley was "playing into the hands" of his new British Conservative colleagues.

Either way, a fiercely pro-European party now finds itself with no representation at the European Parliament for the first time since the institution was founded.  

Independent MEP Marian Harkin is also a member of the liberal ALDE group - and she says some of Brian Crowley's new colleagues have a shady past: