![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0021c126-614.jpg\"\/)
\nBertie Ahern said the Fianna F\u00e1il leadership never lose out ‘in these things’<\/p>\n
Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern was reluctant to express clear support when asked whether he would be giving his backing to Fianna F\u00e1il’s presidential candidate Jim Gavin, after his own bid for the party\u2019s nomination failed.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahern dropped out of the race earlier this month after Taoiseach and party leader Miche\u00e1l Martin said he would support former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin.<\/p>\n
“I suppose [Miche\u00e1l Martin] saw in his view that there was a candidate 20 years younger and somebody from outside the party.<\/p>\n
“In all my time in Fianna F\u00e1il, I’ve never seen a period where the leadership really lose out in these things,” Mr Ahern said in a message to supporters when he dropped out.<\/p>\n
\nBertie Ahern said the Fianna F\u00e1il leadership never lose out ‘in these things’<\/p>\n
Speaking to RT\u00c9\u2019s Drivetime, Mr Ahern said he wishes Mr Gavin well, but “I don’t think I’ll be throwing too much weight behind anyone, quite frankly, but I know Jim very well”.<\/p>\n
“I also know Heather Humphreys very well, so, we’ll see,” he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahern said he would keep his vote “to the sanctity of the polling booth”.<\/p>\n
He also said that he was “very disappointed” that he did not receive backing of the party\u2019s leadership after preparing for a potential \u00c1ras run for two years.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahern added that MEP Billy Kelleher stood for the nomination “to make a point that there should have been a process”.<\/p>\n
“I spent two years preparing for it, Jim Gavin came into the reckoning in late July, Billy Kelleher came in in late August.<\/p>\n
“Maybe the lesson for future people…is that you should wait maybe until September before you decide if you’re thinking about the presidency.<\/p>\n
“Because if you think about it and plan too early or you think you’re suitable, well you’ll probably get the same answer as I did – which was nothing,” Mr Ahern said.<\/p>\n
![\"Bertie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/00231786-614.jpg\"\/)
\nBertie Ahern said MEP Billy Kelleher made a point of forcing a selection process<\/p>\n
He added: “It’s no good crying over spilled milk, that would be seen to be bad faith.<\/p>\n
“I had a campaign ready, I had groups throughout the country, we probably had 200 or 300 people dedicated to the campaign. We were ready to go.<\/p>\n
“I thought some of my legacy issues 30 years ago might get a change of heart – but anyway, you live and you learn, so I just have to get on with it,” Mr Ahern said.<\/p>\n
He added that no senior party officials have contacted him following his attempt to secure the party’s nomination.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Ahern suggested that around 25 members of the Fianna F\u00e1il parliamentary party said they were ready to help support him if he had secured the nomination.<\/p>\n
Asked if he believes Mr Martin’s future as Fianna F\u00e1il leader is linked to how Mr Gavin performs in the Presidential Election, Mr Ahern replied: “That’s all a matter for the parliamentary party.<\/p>\n
“I wouldn’t dare get involved in that. I might have lots of opinions, but…to be honest, as you see…my opinion doesn’t matter too much in the leadership of Fianna F\u00e1il.”<\/p>\n
Despite his seeming reluctance to clearly express support for the Fianna F\u00e1il candidate, Mr Ahern later said he would not ignore him either.<\/p>\n
“I could not ignore somebody who won five-in-a row medals for Dublin,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern was reluctant to express clear support when asked whether he would be giving his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-31944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}