Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told his parliamentary party he is “sorry for how Jim Gavin’s candidacy ended” and that he fully understands their disappointment, as Fianna Fáil continues to deal with the fallout from a week of political turmoil.
The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party met on Wednesday night, just three days after their presidential candidate Jim Gavin dramatically withdrew from the race. The meeting lasted several hours and was described by attendees as tense but honest, with members expressing frustration over how the nomination and vetting process had been handled.
Mr Martin is understood to have apologised directly to party colleagues, saying he was deeply sorry for how the campaign unfolded and that he had “the best interests of the party at heart.” He also told them he was open to suggestions on how Fianna Fáil’s presidential selection process could be improved in the future.
Party members have been voicing anger and confusion, both publicly and privately, over how Gavin – a respected aviation official, former military pilot, and Dublin GAA manager – was chosen as the party’s candidate. Many said the process was rushed, while others criticised the lack of transparency about his background.
Gavin pulled out of the presidential race on 6 October, following media reports that he allegedly owed a former tenant €3,300 in overpaid rent from nearly two decades ago. The property in question was not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, something Gavin later admitted was “a mistake born of financial hardship and unfamiliarity with new rules.”
In a statement released on Sunday, he said the controversy had been “a very, very stressful time” for him and his family, adding that many people were in “financial difficulty” during that period.
Speaking to RTÉ, Taoiseach Martin said he was “devastated” by what had happened. “We’ve been through tough times before… and this is a tough day for the party,” he said.
Martin also addressed claims that Fianna Fáil had known about the issue for weeks, saying the party had only become aware of it in early September after a media query. “The question was, ‘Are you aware of this?’ and the answer was, ‘no, we’re not,’” he told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny Show. “We put it to Jim, and he denied it. There were other rumours as well, and this is very difficult for people who put themselves forward.”
Mr Martin insisted that “comprehensive due diligence” was carried out before Gavin’s selection and that no concerns about a previous tenant ever emerged. “We didn’t know about that specific issue. We knew he was a landlord. Repeatedly, Jim was asked, ‘Have you ever had any issue with a tenant?’ And he said ‘absolutely not.’”
The former tenant, Niall Donald, spoke about the controversy this week on his podcast Crime World with Nicola Tallant. Donald said he had no ill will towards Gavin and actually felt sorry for how the situation had unfolded. “Does the punishment fit the crime? Probably not. I kind of feel sorry for him that he wasn’t handled better,” he said.
Donald added that he was “astonished” by how Fianna Fáil had managed the situation, claiming the party had been aware of the story for weeks. “Why didn’t they just contact me a few weeks ago and sort it out, or explain it to me, or explain it to somebody?” he asked.
In response, a legal representative for Gavin told RTÉ that they had “reached out” to Donald and had been advised to pay him €3,300, “subject to clarifying two issues.”
Within Fianna Fáil, the fallout has caused serious strain. MEP Billy Kelleher said before the meeting that the integrity of the presidential election had been “undermined” by having a candidate on the ballot who was no longer in the race.
Others, however, have urged compassion. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said it was an “extremely difficult time” for Gavin and his family. “I don’t believe anyone in Fianna Fáil has thrown Jim Gavin under a bus,” he said. “My abiding concern, and the concern of everyone in Fianna Fáil, is about his welfare and to ensure that he gets through what is an extremely difficult time.”
O’Callaghan also said that while being party leader was something he “aspires to in the future,” it was not an “immediate concern,” amid questions about Martin’s leadership after he had publicly backed Gavin.
Mr Martin, meanwhile, told the meeting that he had not spoken to Gavin since Sunday as he was “taking a few days out,” but that he planned to do so soon. “I feel very sorry for him. It’s been very traumatic for him because this is a man who has achieved a lot,” he said.
The Taoiseach also reflected on how Gavin became the party’s choice, revealing that before the summer recess, Fianna Fáil had “no candidate at all”. He said no one in the party had expressed interest in running for the presidency until late July, despite speculation about other potential nominees including Bertie Ahern, Mary Hanafin, and Bob Geldof.
Martin said he did not believe Ahern could have made it through a modern campaign without significant controversy. “It would have been incredibly bruising for him,” he said. “I don’t know why he would want to bring that upon himself. It’s one of the single greatest achievements in Irish society, that peace process, and he deserves huge credit for that.”
Despite the embarrassment, Mr Martin stood by his belief that Gavin was a strong candidate. “I did recommend that. I’m not responsible for everything that unfolded, obviously, because we would have been totally unaware of the issue despite very comprehensive due diligence,” he said.
With Gavin now out of the race and his name still set to appear on the 24 October ballot paper, the presidential election has been reduced to a two-way contest between Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys and independent Catherine Connolly, who is backed by several opposition parties including Sinn Féin.
As Fianna Fáil reels from the fallout, Martin’s leadership faces new scrutiny. Yet many within the party hope this latest crisis will spark meaningful reform rather than further division. For now, the Taoiseach appears determined to steady the ship — and to remind his party that, even after one of its most bruising weeks in years, “we’ve been through tough times before… and we’ll come through this one too.”
