The Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s handling of the selection of its presidential candidate Jim Gavin was heavily criticised at a party meeting in Leinster House last night which lasted for almost five hours.
Several TDs and Senators expressed frustration at the process and accused Mr Martin of sidelining the parliamentary party.
This meeting was at certain moments a tetchy and even nasty affair, as the party met to consider the review of its botched presidential campaign.
There was shock expressed that Mr Gavin was nominated without any polling data and the fact that the party leader’s imprimatur was given after he had just a single meeting with Mr Gavin.
A revelation by the Irish Independent of a historic dispute with a tenant ultimately derailed Mr Gavin’s campaign.
The report found that Mr Gavin was asked five times about a reference to a dispute with a tenant, including twice before he was selected, according to the party’s review into the campaign.
He was asked about the dispute on 5 September and on 8 September.
Mr Gavin did not participate in the compilation of the report and declined to be interviewed.
Report findings
The report says that on 5 September, Chief Of Staff at Department of the Taoiseach, Deirdre Gillane received a call from journalist at the Irish Independent Fionnán Sheahan.
He said that there may be an issue with a tenant.
The matter was put to Mr Gavin by General Secretary Sean Dorgan and Mr Gavin states that he is not aware of any such issue.
Mr Gavin did not participate in the compilation of the report and declined to be interviewed.
Nominations for consideration as Fianna Fáil’s presidential election candidate closed at 5pm that day.
Then on 8 September, Mr Sheahan sent an email to Fianna Fáil saying: “Following on from the request for an interview, would you mind letting me know when Jim Gavin will be responding to media queries.”
The email continued: “I have some specific questions I wish to put to him about property interests and a particular issue arising with a tenant when he was a landlord.”
Mr Dorgan put the matter to Mr Gavin again.
Then Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart sent a text message to Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers referencing a potential issue with a tenant, who was a journalist, and the return of a deposit.
This text was sent to Mr Dorgan who again put it to Mr Gavin.
To both of these queries Mr Gavin professed no recollection of any such issues, of a deposit not having been returned.
Expected cost of campaign is over €350,000
The report says the expected cost of the campaign is €350,000 to €400,000. As Mr Gavin’s vote did not reach the required threshold, the party will not be able to recoup some of these costs.
The review found that Mr Gavin was first mentioned as a candidate in the week of 9 June, when former Dublin footballer Keith Barr contacted Mr Chambers, recommending Mr Gavin as a candidate for Fianna Fáil.
This was followed by a text dated 15 June from Mr Gavin himself to Mr Chambers seeking to follow up on the initial contact.
Due diligence on the candidate was carried out by Fianna Fáil general secretary Seán Dorgan, advisor Peter Dorgan and Assistant General Secretary Darragh McShea.
The report says they believed the process was “exhaustive”.
Several TDs and Senators accused Mr Martin of sidelining the parliamentary party
“This included providing a warning regarding the intense scrutiny and media attention that would be applied to a candidate, and the consequential need to brief the party on all relevant matters at an early stage,” it says.
Due diligence was done by research, the examination of public documents, media articles and several meetings with Mr Gavin, it says.
During the course of the process, a variety of questions on Mr Gavin’s position as a landlord and a variety of matters that might arise as a result were raised.
“It was stated that any disgruntled tenant would almost certainly raise their grievance publicly,” it says.
“Mr Gavin did not recall any potential issues when the topic was addressed even in the light of Deputy Lahart’s and Mr Sheahan’s communications and nothing further was done.”
25-page report
The report was published and emailed to members of the parliamentary party at 6pm yesterday.
It runs to 25 pages, has chapters on the process by which it was decided to run a presidential candidate, the steps taken during the identification and selection process, the extent of the due diligence carried out, and the basis for the identification and selection of a candidate.
It also has a chapter on potential changes to the procedure for selecting candidates for future presidential elections.
The review was established to consider the steps taken during the identification and selection process of Jim Gavin as Fianna Fáil’s presidential nomination, and examined the basis on which he was selected as a candidate.