Fianna Fáil will not seek to stop Bertie Ahern from canvassing in advance of the Dublin Central byelection despite his remarks on immigration, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed.The controversy comes as Fianna Fáil gathers in Dublin for its 84th ardfheis being held on the centenary of the party being founded in 1926.Former taoiseach Ahern has been widely criticised for his comments and Martin and other senior Fianna Fáil figures like Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers have distanced themselves from his remarks. Footage surfaced of Ahern speaking to a woman about immigration during a byelection canvass for Dublin Central last week.During the video, which was made without Ahern’s knowledge, the woman raised concerns about immigration and sharia law, with the former taoiseach saying he believed there were too many migrants coming into the country.He said the “ones I worry about are the Africans”, adding “we can’t be taking in people from the Congo and all these places. I think there’s too many from those places.”[ ‘I’ve no problem with people from the Congo or Africa’: Bertie Ahern addresses video commentsOpens in new window ]He also said he was concerned about second-generation Muslims born to people who came into the country.Ahern said on Wednesday he had “no problem” with people from Africa or “the Congo” but that he felt the immigration system should move more quickly. During an interview on Indo Daily podcast Ahern published on Friday he said: “I reject racism in all its forms. This is not who I am and it’s not what I stand for.”He added: “My comments were never intended to target or demean any group of people and in particular I should not have singled out any one nationality or group of people. That was wrong”.Ahern also confirmed that he intends to go out canvassing in the final week of the byelection campaign. Speaking to reporters in advance of the ardfheis, Martin said Ahern’s comments in the video “don’t represent the views of the party”.He said: “we’re not stopping people from canvassing, but we are making it very clear to all our canvassers what the party position is and what is permissible and what is not.”Martin also said: “we can’t physically stop people from canvassing”.Fianna Fáil appears to be struggling to make an impact in the byelection campaigns in Dublin Central and Galway West. Opinion polls carried out for The Irish Times and TG4 by Ipsos B&A showed the party’s candidates in both constituencies trailing rivals. The Dublin Central poll published on Thursday has Fianna Fáil’s candidate Cllr John Stephens on 4 per cent.Cllr Cillian Keane, the party’s Galway West candidate was on 8 per cent in a poll published last week. Martin responded to the figures saying: “polls are not elections”.He said: “We’re out there competing. We’re knocking on the doors. We’re getting a warm reception and a positive reception.“I’ve been on the doors myself and I must say I have received a very positive engagement with people both in Galway and indeed in Dublin Central.”He brushed aside a question on whether he expected more questions from within Fianna Fáil about his future as leader of the party should the opinion poll results be reflected in the actual results after election day on May 22nd.“If you go back over previous byelections, I think you’ll see similar results, similar outcomes to those polls. I don’t anticipate that on this occasion,” Martin said. “Each constituency is different” and “there are certain issues in terms of the strength of the party in different situations.”