Leadership and Controversy in Fianna Fáil’s Presidential Race
Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, has expressed his belief that Bertie Ahern would have faced significant challenges if he had been chosen as the party’s presidential candidate. This statement came after a series of events involving the party’s original candidate, Jim Gavin, who dramatically withdrew from the race.
The withdrawal of Gavin sparked widespread disappointment and frustration among Fianna Fáil members. Many questioned Martin’s leadership, especially since he had publicly supported Gavin over other party politicians. However, Martin has acknowledged that the decision to run a candidate was made collectively by the party.
During an interview on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, Martin stated: “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 explained that before the summer recess, the party did not have a candidate, and no one expressed interest in running for the presidency until the end of July.
This included MEP Billy Kelleher, who eventually contested against Gavin for the party’s nomination. Kelleher narrowly lost to the former Dublin GAA boss in early September after a vote by the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
Other prominent figures who had expressed interest in the nomination included former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin, and former singer and campaigner Bob Geldof.
Martin commented on the possibility of Ahern being selected, stating: “I don’t think Bertie would have made it, nothing against Bertie at all, I have great respect for Bertie Ahern because of what he did for the peace process. It’s one of the single greatest achievements in Irish society, that peace process, and he deserves huge credit for that. It would have been incredibly bruising for him, I don’t know why he would want to bring it upon himself.”
He added that Gavin’s incident was just one issue, and there were other potential problems that could have arisen if Ahern had been the candidate.
When asked about the tenant issue that led to Gavin’s withdrawal, Martin replied: “‘Are you aware of’ was the type of question and the answer was, ‘no, we’re not.’” He mentioned that the issue was raised with Gavin, who denied it. Martin also noted that there were other rumors, which made it difficult for those who put themselves forward for public office.
He admitted that he had not spoken to Gavin since Sunday but planned to do so soon. Martin expressed sympathy for Gavin, stating, “I feel very sorry for him. It’s been very traumatic for him because this is a man who has achieved a lot.”
The tenant who made the allegations was confirmed to be Niall Donald, the Sunday World Deputy Editor and co-host of the Crime World podcast. Donald spoke about the matter publicly for the first time on the podcast on Wednesday morning.
Donald explained that he rented an apartment in Smithfield from 2007 to 2009 and canceled one rental standing order when he moved out, but not the second one. He called Fianna Fáil on Saturday, expressing dissatisfaction with their claim that Gavin could not remember the matter. Donald chose not to publish the story in the Sunday World due to a conflict of interest.
After Gavin partially acknowledged the matter, Donald was surprised to see him participate in Sunday’s debate on RTE. He said, “I can’t understand why they didn’t make the decision at that point, one way or another. I felt sorry for him on Sunday. I mean, I’m not going to overdo it, but I felt sorry for him because he’s under pressure. People make mistakes.”
Gavin withdrew from the Presidential Election in the wake of the news breaking, stating he had “cause to reflect.” This leaves only Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys campaigning to be Ireland’s next President. However, Gavin’s name will remain on the ballot paper, and votes for him will still be counted.
