Senator Catherine Noone has said that most people see the ‘human side’ of her controversial autistic comments about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

She pleaded for an end to the controversy. ‘I just want it to stop,’ she said.

In her first comments since the controversy, Ms Noone said she was receiving a positive reception on the doors as she continued to canvas Dublin Bay North in her bid to be elected to the Dáil, and said the party has not blocked her TV appearances.

‘It’s going good [canvassing], the odd person has mentioned it to me [the autism comments] but most people see the human side of it. I don’t want to go into all that again,’ she said.

In the aftermath of the comments, Fine Gael temporarily paused a constituency voting pact with Minister for Communications Richard Bruton in her Dublin Bay North constituency.

When asked how she felt about reports that she went through a mock interview with Fine Gael officials before being denied permission to do a broadcast interview, the Senator said the reports were not accurate.

‘It isn’t an accurate reflection of what happened. I just want this story to go away. I’ve had a week of it now. I just want it to stop.’

She also said that, contrary to comments by well-placed sources, she has not begun seeking a nomination for another Seanad run. Ms Noone has been under fire since reports surfaced in The Times Ireland edition in which she referred to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar being ‘autistic’.

During a canvass last week in Dublin Bay North, where Senator Noone is a general election candidate, she said that the Taoiseach was ‘on the spectrum’.

‘He’s autistic like, he’s on the spectrum, there’s no doubt about it. He’s uncomfortable socially and he doesn’t always get the in-between bits,’ she said.

The Senator later denied making the remarks when contacted by the publication, who told her they had an audio recording of the comments.

‘I didn’t mean it in the sense of the actual illness or anything. I just mean he can be a bit wooden and lacking in empathy. I shouldn’t have even said it in that way.’

The publication also said that the Senator attempted to give examples of potentially offensive words that could be used out of context, such as n****er, before saying it was a bad example and would never use the word.

Ms Noone told the publication that her comment had been taken out of context.

‘Sometimes I say, “Oh God, I’m a bit special”, but I don’t mean it to be derogatory.’ She escaped sanction from Fine Gael for the comments, with the Taoiseach saying he accepted her apology and retraction of the remarks.

Support for Ms Noone is low and she is not expected to be in contention for one of the five seats.

Sources have told Extra.ie she has turned her attention to being re-elected to the Seanad.

In 2016, Ms Noone was nominated to the Industrial and Commercial panel of the Seanad by the Irish Country Houses and Restaurants Association who are behind the Blue Book collection of lavish Irish getaways.

Extra.ie has learned that Ms Noone has already begun sounding out members of the organisation in a bid to secure the nomination again.

The recently appointed Chair of the association, Laura Bowe, said a decision would be made on whether to nominate Ms Noone at a meeting in February.

‘The board have not yet made a decision and are meeting next month [February] to discuss,’ she said.

Senator Noone denied that she had begun lobbying members for the nomination but said she wouldn’t rule out seeking a second term in the Seanad after the general election.

‘I’m just trying to get through the general election first. I haven’t been in touch with anyone from there,’ she said.

However, she added that she ‘wouldn’t rule it out’ when asked about the prospect of running for the Seanad again.