Fianna Fáil has chosen former Dublin GAA coach Jim Gavin to be its candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
A special meeting of the party’s 71-strong parliamentary party took place in Leinster House on Tuesday to choose between Mr Gavin or Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher.
The party’s TDs, Senators and MEPs heard pitches from Mr Gavin and Mr Kelleher before voting in a secret ballot. The result was 41 votes in favour of the GAA stalwart, compared to 29 for the Co Cork-based MEP.
Prior to the vote, Mr Gavin had the declared support of more than 30 members of the parliamentary party, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin and all senior Cabinet Ministers.
Mr Kelleher had just five party colleagues who had publicly declared support for him – MEP Barry Andrews, TDs Pádraig O’Sullivan, James O’Connor, Peter Cleere and Senator Paul Daly.
Speaking as he arrived at Leinster House, Mr Gavin said he had a “great two weeks” visiting Fianna Fáil members “up and down the length of the country” and there has been “great energy” wherever he went.
Mr Gavin (54) is best known for his involvement with the GAA. He was part of the Dublin team that won the Sam Maguire by defeating Tyrone in 1995. He had a hugely successful stint as Dublin football boss with the team winning six All-Ireland titles during his tenure.
Raised in Clondalkin, his parents were from west Clare.
He had a career in the Defence Forces, joining the Air Corps as a cadet officer. Mr Gavin trained as a pilot, rising quickly through the ranks. He became chief flying instructor and chief of military aviation in the Air Corps. He also served in overseas military operations, most notably in Chad.
A trained commercial jet pilot, he has spent his post-Defence Forces career on the public service side, as a senior aviation regulator. He is currently chief operations officer of the Irish Aviation Authority where he has overall operational responsibility for air safety in Ireland.
In 2022, he chaired a Citizens’ Assembly examining the case for a directly elected mayor for Dublin. He has also chaired, since 2023, a taskforce seeking to improve services, facilities and the quality of life in Dublin’s northeast inner city.
The presidential election will take place on Friday, October 24th. Nominations opened last Friday and will close on Wednesday, September 24th.
The other confirmed candidates are Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys and Independent TD Catherine Connolly.
Speaking as he arrived at Leinster House before the vote, Mr Gavin said he was confident.
“I’m just looking forward this morning to putting my view towards the party. I think competition is really good and I hope to talk to your afterwards,” he said.
Billy Kelleher arrives at the Dáil before a vote to decide Fianna Fáil’s candidate for the presidential election. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times
When Mr Kelleher arrived he said he was feeling “excellent”.
He said he has been engaging with colleagues, “highlighting my credentials, how I feel the presidency should go in terms of the values our party promotes across the country, the type of campaign we would be running”.
He also said he would seek “to ensure that they understand the importance of the presidency not in terms of just the constitutional powers it has but more importantly the soft power the president has in terms of speaking for citizens, advocating for citizens and those on the margins is an important aspect of the presidency as well as obligations constitutionally and ceremonial as well.
“I’m just looking forward to presenting that to my parliamentary colleagues.”
He said “good robust debate” is positive and that the party would make a “democratic decision”.
The mood within the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in advance of the vote was taut, with some TDs leaning into the suggestion that the result would carry weight for Mr Martin and even influence the future leadership of the party.
One TD known to be supportive of Mr Kelleher argued that the result would be a broader indication of who was ahead in a race to succeed Mr Martin – Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, who has been a key figure in the Gavin campaign, or Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Mr O’Callaghan also backed Mr Gavin, but was the last Cabinet Minister to do so.
Others were more positive about the potential fallout, scotching suggestions that the vote signified a divide within the party. A source backing Mr Gavin said that there was “strong and widespread” support for the former Dublin GAA manager.