Cork TD: 'Jim Gavin should have never found himself on the ballot paper'

Jim Gavin should never have been on the presidential ballot paper, a Cork Fianna Fáil TD has claimed, echoing statements made by others in the party.

It comes as fallout continues from Mr Gavin’s shock announcement late on Sunday night of his withdrawal from the presidential race.

That followed reports that the former Dublin GAA football manager had owed a former tenant €3,300 for a rental arrangement that was not properly registered.

Mr Gavin was selected on September 9 as Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate after being strongly backed by Taoiseach and party leader Micheál Martin and deputy leader Jack Chambers.

Members of the 71-strong Fianna Fáil parliamentary party had voted for Mr Gavin over Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher by a margin of 41 to 29.

Yesterday, Cork city Fianna Fáil TDs Pádraig O’Sullivan and Seamus McGrath, both of whom are considered politically close to Mr Kelleher, strongly criticised the party leadership for its handling of the entire debacle.

Mr O’Sullivan said Mr Gavin had been “thrown in at the deep end, completely unprepared, due diligence clearly wasn’t done”.

He added that there had to be repercussions, and “a radical rethink about the way the party is treated and the way party business is conducted”.

Mr McGrath said Mr Gavin “should never have been the party candidate”.

“He was a total political novice and asked to run in the most brutal of all political campaigns, and I think that was poor judgement.” 

Now Cork East Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor, who has long had a fractious relationship with Mr Martin, has joined what has become a chorus of backbench voices criticising the leadership.

In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, Mr O’Connor said: “Jim Gavin should have never found himself on the ballot paper.

“He was there due to the extensive pressure put on Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators by Micheál Martin and Jack Chambers.

“They repeatedly phoned each member of the parliamentary party in the days before the selection convention on the 9th of September.” 

Mr O’Connor said he regretted “the treatment bestowed on Mr Gavin and his family in the past two days”.

“Elevating him one day and then throwing him under a bus the next, has to be the most unceremonious dumping on a party candidate in modern Irish political history.

“It is clear from what we have learned over the past 48 hours that Gavin was very poorly advised on how to handle this matter. We owe it to him, his former tenant, to the members of Fianna Fáil, and most of all to the public, to fully explain how that happened and then ensure it is never repeated,” Mr O’Connor said.

Last night, Mr Martin said he accepted ultimate responsibility for the selection of Mr Gavin, but he said the decision had been made following a democratic vote by the parliamentary party.

Denying that Fianna Fáil had failed to carry out due diligence on their candidate selection, Mr Martin said: “We do everything we humanly possibly can to get to the bottom of those [issues].

“But ultimately if you put the question to an individual or to a candidate, you depend [on their answers].” 

Mr Martin, who is due to complete his term as Taoiseach in November 2027, said he did not believe his leadership was in danger, adding that he intended to lead the party into the next election.

The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party is due to hold what is expected to be a fractious meeting on Wednesday evening.

As a validly nominated candidate, Mr Gavin’s name will remain on the ballot paper for the presidential election, and a vote for him which does not have any identifying marks will not count as a spoiled vote.

His second and third preferences will also count as valid votes and will transfer to Independent candidate Catherine Connolly or Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys accordingly.

In theory Mr Gavin could still actually win the election, although that is highly unlikely at this point, not least because he was trailing third in opinion polls even before news broke of his difficulties with his former tenant.

If it were to occur that a candidate who had attempted to withdraw from the election were elected, and did not wish to be president, it would be open to housing minister James Browne, under election law, to declare “an emergency or special difficulty” with the election, but that seems, at this juncture, in the realms of political fantasy.