*Canvassers for Jim Gavin outside Cusack Park on Sunday.
FIANNA FÁIL members in Clare have been left “shocked and disappointment” following Jim Gavin’s (FF) withdrawal from the Presidential election.
Shortly before 11pm on Sunday night, the five in a row All-Ireland winning Dublin senior football manager released a statement to announce he was withdrawing from the Presidential election.
This came hours after he appeared on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics debate where he was unable to clarity reports which emerged in The Irish Independent that he allegedly did not repay a tenant €3,300 in rent mistakenly paid over a decade ago.
Pressure was mounting following this debate with Gavin deciding to cancel his scheduled appearance in Ennis next Sunday where he was to give the keynote address at the Eamon de Valera commemoration.
As Gavin was fielding questions from RTÉ’s Áine Lawlor during the second Presidential debate, a Clare canvass took place outside Cusack Park prior to the Clare SHC final between Éire Óg and Clooney/Quin.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) led the canvass where he was joined by Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF), Cllr David Griffin (FF), PRO of the party’s Clare branch, Michael McTigue and some of Gavin’s cousins.
Speaking to The Clare Echo on Monday morning, Deputy Crowe admitted, “When I heard the news I was shocked and disappointed, I was in the process of WhatsApping other Fianna Fáil members to co-ordinate for a canvass during the week. As I sent out WhatsApp messages, someone replied to say ‘he was gone’ and I didn’t believe it but I checked my phone and minutes earlier I got a text from the Taoiseach which he had sent to all parliamentary party members to confirm the news”.
“I’m shocked and very disappointed, I was very invested as one of Jim’s nominators. I was very committed to canvass night and day for him so I naturally feel disappointed. I know Jim a long time, I thought he would have made an excellent President, he has great leadership qualities and was going down well with the public, I was canvassing for him on Grafton Street with Timmy Dooley last week and he was getting a very warm reception on his home turf. Despite the opinion polls, he was getting a good reception and there was a very nasty smear campaign which was quickly shot down,” Deputy Crowe added.
Reports that Gavin did not repay a former tenant over €3,300 “was a serious error,” Deputy Crowe acknowledged. “It should have been put right in the first instance and it should have been disclosed in the second instance during due diligence that all candidates do when going for election”. During the Cusack Park, Crowe and his colleagues “could detect that people were not happy with his response”. He watched the back on Sunday night and admitted, “it made for difficult viewing. On a personal level, I have a degree of sympathy, politics is a rough game, it is tough on the candidate and family. I also have huge sympathy for the former tenant, that situation needs to be put right outside the political sphere”.
Ireland South MEP, Billy Kelleher (FF) who was defeated by Gavin in a party contest to get the nomination said it was “a serious miscalculation” and criticised the selection process and lack of due diligence prior to selecting the former Chief Operations Officer of the Irish Aviation Authority.
Meelick native Crowe did not believe the episode would dent the standing of Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) as party leader. He expected the “shock, frustration and disappointment” would be evident at a parliamentary party meeting this week when the outcome “will be analysed in detail”.
He stated, “I don’t think there’s any question over Micheál Martin’s leadership. He is in a strong position and he gave us a strong mandate after the last election. Clare is a very good example, we gained a seat in Co Clare, most of that can be attributed to myself and Timmy and how our campaign teams worked, that was the biggest factor but the vibe behind the party leader is also a major factor in rallying the party, Micheál Martin has that in abundance. I don’t think his leadership is under threat”.
As one of the chief supporters of Gavin in the party, Deputy Crowe stood by his decision to nominate him as opposed to MEP Kelleher, ex party leader Bertie Ahern and former Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin all of whom had expressed an interest in securing the party’s nomination. “I was openly Jim Gavin’s one of biggest supporters, there was argument locally and nationally that Jim only joined the party, Billy and Mary were there longer and Bertie led party, that argument was voluminous three or four weeks ago, it never went away in certain quarters, I know Jim an awful long time, I thought he would be biggest vote getter and would win”.
“You can only make a decision at a time with set of information in front of you. Everything I knew of Jim, his popularity and ability told me he was the best person to run and win a seat, it is disappointing he has withdrawn and that this issue in background hadn’t been reconciled, we’ll never truly know if Billy, Bertie or Mary would have won, it is a dead heat and Fianna Fáil voters will have big say on whether Heather Humphreys or Catherine Connolly is the next President”.
