The current leader of Renua Ireland has said the party will need a new one.

Lucinda Creighton lost her seat in Dublin Bay South, with her party unable to secure a single seat in the general election.

The party ran 26 candidates in several constituencies in the election.

Ms Creighton was a member of Dáil Éireann since 2007, and is also a former Minister for European Affairs.

But she told the Pat Kenny Show here on Newstalk she is taking a well-deserved break.

"I've been in...elected politics since I was 24 - twelve years of pretty relentless work", she said.

"For the time being I definitely need a holiday, I definitely need a break".

On her party's performance, she said: "If the only objective is getting re-elected to the Dáil, then I probably could have been re-elected if I'd stayed in Fine Gael, even if I'd run as an Independent".

"But I've always said that's not what I was in politics for, I was in politics to try to make a difference".

"I tried, and it didn't work out on this occasion but I have absolutely no regrets from that point of view".

She says she would make the same decision today "without any shadow of a doubt".

On the issue of abortion - the reason she left Fine Gael - Ms Creighton says her party was right no to push the pro-life agenda.

"I don't think that we would have reflected real life - real life is that people have very diverse opinions".

"I always said I wasn't going to impose my opinion...on anybody - and that's why we pioneered the whole concept of freedom of conscience".

And on the future of the party, she said: "We need new leadership in the party, a new figurehead - and that'll happen in due course".

"I think that the party has a future and I'm very proud of the people who are involved in it", she added.