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Cork East TD, Tom Barry.

It is said that a week is a long time in politics. For Cork East TD Tom Barry, it was the longest week of his political career. And the most horrendous. It's one that has also left the first term Fine Gael TD wondering, The Avondhu can reveal exclusively, whether or not to continue in politics.

"I'll see if I have the appetite to continue when all this is over. It's too raw at the moment. It's very, very difficult. I find myself in a very bad place," he told this reporter during the week.

Hours after the incident in the Dail chamber in which he pulled his Fine Gael colleague Aine Collins onto his lap, he apologised for his actions saying it was 'stupid and inappropriate' and that he was genuinely sorry for embarrassing her. "I apologised to her straight away. I'm not going to excuse it, it was pure stupid," he told The Avondhu. Saying that he knows Deputy Collins very well and that she is 'a very nice person', he pointed out that she had accepted his apology and understood that there was 'no malice intended'.

Deputy Barry went on to say that on Tuesday night he'd stayed in the Mont Clare hotel in nearby Lower Merrion Street in Dublin, but the fire alarm had gone off in the middle of the night and guests had to leave the hotel. "We were out standing in the street, so I had little or no sleep that night," he explained. The next day the debate on the controversial Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill went on until 5am. "We were shattered by that time," he said.

The incident involving Aine Collins, which was caught on the Dail's TV cameras, was later posted on YouTube and has since gone viral, occurred at 2.40am, ahead of the first vote on the Bill. He insisted however that he wasn't making excuses and that he fully accepts what he did was wrong.

He was also cognisant of the fact that it had happened during a debate on such an important and contentious piece of legislation and regretted that it had overshadowed it. A pro-life advocate, he'd written to Cardinal Sean Brady over fears he'd be excommunicated for supporting the Government bill. He later said he'd been reassured he would not be excommunicated for voting with his party.

He also said he deeply regretted the embarrassment he'd caused his wife, Dr Kathy Quane and his children.

Asked if the reprimand he received from Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, was as severe as had been reported, he said it was, adding: "I didn't deserve to be spared." The General Secretary had moved to dismiss reports that the party was treating the incident lightly, initially describing it as 'horseplay'.

"I wish to make it clear that the instinctive characterisation of the incident as 'horseplay involving two people' doesn't reflect how Fine Gael views this kind of behaviour, having seen the footage," the General Secretary said.

The National Women's Council of Ireland reacted strongly to the incident, with Eoin Murray, coordinator of their Women in Politics project saying: “We have a long way to go before politics in Ireland is a woman-friendly place. The Dáil chamber should be subject to the rules of professional conduct we would expect in any workplace. Indeed, as the home of our democracy, the rules and standards of behaviour should be even higher.” He went on to say that any sexist incident sends a message to women that unprofessional behaviour is acceptable in politics.

What has stung first-time Deputy Barry is the tone and flavour of some of the media coverage around the incident. It attracted international media attention as well as being covered to saturation point nationally. He says he's had tabloid reporters in his home place asking people about his private life and has had abusive phone calls and messages from people branding him 'sexist' and worse.

He's offended at some newspaper reports that he'd been drinking heavily before going back into the Dail last Wednesday night for the debate and vote. "It was reported that I had shots and shorts. I didn't. I don't drink shorts. I had a couple of pints," he insisted.

Equally difficult to take, he feels, is the sense of schadenfreude from some political quarters, though he's quick to point out that most of his party colleagues were supportive, while acknowledging that what he did was inappropriate.

So will the incident damage the political career of Tom Barry? At this remove, he's not sure. He hopes that people will judge him on the work he has done to date and that what he brands as 'a stupid mistake' won't follow him around. In sombre mood this week, he told The Avondhu he plans to see out the Dail term next week and then take time to reflect on the whole matter.

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