Louth TD Peter Fitzpatrick is resigning the Fine Gael whip over the party’s unstinting support for abortion and he will stand at the next election as an Independent candidate.

Speaking on Tuesday about the reasons for his departure, Mr Fitzpatrick said for the “last 15 months no one was listening to me, I felt isolated, like I was just there to push a button.”

When asked on RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke programme whether the 8th Amendment had influenced his decision, he replied: “that’s only one thing. I do have a problem with abortion. There’s no way Peter Fitzpatrick is going to vote in favour of 12 weeks.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was sorry Mr Fitzpatrick had made this decision. “I know that he has been unhappy for some time and was a strong opponent of holding a referendum on the Eighth Amendment,” Mr Varadkar said.