The main individual behind “malicious smears” concerning Fianna Fáil presidential candidate Jim Gavin is a right-wing environmentalist and “Trump loyalist” who wants to set up a new Irish political party.
Kieran Kelly, a former Waterford fisherman who lives in Indonesia, has suggested his posts were in response to what he claimed were attempts by the Irish Coalition to interfere in the US presidential election.
Contacted on Monday, he declined to share any evidence for the claims, saying it would be made available at a later date.
Various derogatory posts about Mr Gavin, a former Dublin GAA manager, have been shared and viewed hundreds and thousands of times on the X platform alone. No evidence whatsoever has been put forward to support the claims, which concern Mr Gavin’s personal life.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Gavin’s campaign called the claims “invented and utterly false”.
[ Facebook posts about Jim Gavin removed for violating standardsOpens in new window ]
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has removed several posts after being contacted by the Gavin campaign.
“I refuse to accept that the price of participating in public life should involve having to put your family and friends through waves of online abuse and malicious smears. This is not the cost of service – it is a failure of our digital culture,” Mr Gavin said in a statement.
“I will continue to take whatever action is necessary to confront this appalling feature of social media. We all need to call it out for what it is: totally unacceptable. Social media companies must do far more to protect people from such nasty and destructive behaviour online.”
Mr Kelly worked as a fisherman in Waterford before moving to the United States in the 1990s. He later set up a company, called Ocean Integrity, focused on removing waste from the oceans. The company claims to have removed more ocean waste than any other organisation and Mr Kelly says he is an “award winning environmentalist”.
Online, he says he is a naturalised US citizen and variously lists Indonesia and Dubai as his residence.
He describes himself as a registered Republican and “Trump loyalist”. He frequently shares conspiracy theories, along with criticism of An Garda Síochána and Irish political figures.
He has said he intended to establish a new political party in Ireland. “We’re not going to compete. We’re actually going to win,” he said in a video. He also claimed the United States was going to force the Irish Government to allow Irish emigrants to vote in elections.
Mr Kelly first started posting unsubstantiated claims about Mr Gavin on September 14th. Much of the material has been removed, but posts remain on some platforms. One post on X had been viewed almost 700,000 times as of Monday afternoon.
Mr Kelly said he has stepped down as chief executive of Ocean Integrity, but remained as its chairman. The company has been contacted for comment.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Kelly said it was his “duty” to make the claims about Mr Gavin.
Asked what evidence he has to support the claims, Mr Kelly said material would be made available on October 23rd, the day before polling day. He also claimed he will release more “very damaging reports”.
Asked why he would not release his evidence now, Mr Kelly ended the conversation.
In his statement, Mr Gavin said online hate and disinformation “is one of the forces driving the growing division and conflict in many societies. It is the cause of mental health issues among our young people due to online bullying and harassment”.
“We’ve seen this in recent weeks where the Ceann Comhairle felt it necessary to convene discussions on confronting abuse and threats towards political figures, and it’s something every parent confronts when trying to ensure that their children are safe online.”
A spokeswoman for Coimisiún na Meán said it could not comment on individual complaints, but it encouraged candidates or members of the public “who believe they have encountered illegal content online, to report it”.
“Contacts to us during election periods are passed to our supervision function who will follow up promptly,” it said.
According to TikTok, Mr Gavin’s letter was sent to an old address and did not immediately come to its attention, but the company is actively investigating and in contact with his team. It has also taken a number of steps, including blocking certain terms from appearing in search suggestions.
Meta and X have been contacted for comment.