Former Minister of State Lucinda Creighton, who resigned her post and lost the whip for her opposition to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, has emphatically denied she is involved in moves to found a new party.

“I have not spoken to anyone about setting up a new party and have nothing to do with any such moves,” she told The Irish Times.

Ms Creighton said she had spoken to other members of Fine Gael who had lost the whip about how they could go about getting speaking rights and becoming members of Oireachtas committees when the Dáil resumed in September.

"Billy Timmins has put down a motion on the Dáil order paper and I am very supportive of his attempt to ensure that TDs have their right to speak and get on committees protected," she added.

Asked about a newspaper report that she had recently held a meeting with Michael McDowell, Ms Creighton said she had bumped into the former PD leader in the Law Library and had joined him for a coffee with barrister Paul O’Higgins, but there was nothing more to it than that.