{"id":50960,"date":"2025-09-29T16:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T16:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/50960\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T16:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T16:32:08","slug":"i-cant-understand-why-jim-gavin-is-running-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/50960\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I can\u2019t understand why Jim Gavin is running\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayo man Fergus Burns ponders on an amusing scenario should former Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin<\/a> secure the presidency next month. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder would he have any influence on the teams in the parade for the All-Ireland football final when he goes out to shake their hands,\u201d the 66-year-old says, laughing, of the former GAA<\/a> man now running for Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> in the October 24th presidential election. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe could possibly be undermining the two managers of the teams that are competing, telling the players \u2018this is what I would do\u2019 and \u2018you should be doing this or that\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Irish Times has travelled to Mayo to see how a presidential hopeful is going down in a county where his sporting record may not be fully appreciated \u2013 and how voters are swinging in the county generally.<\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il candidate led Dublin to six All-Ireland football championships, beating Mayo in three of those finals, so it\u2019s understandable if Gavin\u2019s candidacy isn\u2019t going down well here. <\/p>\n

Burns is standing in the Mall Park, a focal point in the centre of Castlebar town, less than a kilometre away from the county\u2019s own GAA grounds, MacHale Park, on a sunny September morning.<\/p>\n

While he is likely to vote for the left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly, he says there is \u201ca lot of gr\u00e1 for Gavin up here because of the GAA\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t hold that against Gavin, a lot of the pain was self-inflicted,\u201d says Burns of his home county\u2019s record against Gavin and the Dubs. \u201cWasn\u2019t it in the 2016 final two of Dublin\u2019s goals were own goals from Mayo?\u201d<\/p>\n

The retired Revenue worker adds he \u201ccan\u2019t understand\u201d why Gavin (54), a former Irish Defence Forces officer and chief operations officer of the Irish Aviation Authority, has decided to run. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs for Heather [Humphreys], the minister for the Gaeltacht from 2014 to 2017 who never learned Irish. Now she\u2019s saying she\u2019ll learn Irish. I\u2019m not l\u00edofa as Gaeilge, but why when you were minister did you not make it an aim to learn it in three years? Connolly seems honest enough.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Doherty, Ann Marie Doherty and daughter Grace Griffin from Claremorris. Photograph: Michael McLaughlin <\/p>\n

Connolly (68), an Independent TD for Galway West and barrister and clinical psychologist, proves popular among others in the town. <\/p>\n

John Doherty (64), from Claremorris, says he will be voting for her as she\u2019s \u201cnot part of the main parties\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like Fianna F\u00e1il and I don\u2019t like Fine Gael,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame Maria Steen didn\u2019t get a chance,\u201d he adds, of the conservative campaigner\u2019s failed attempt to get on the presidential ballot. \u201cShe should have had the option to run, even though I don\u2019t think I would have voted for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the people The Irish Times spoke to in Castlebar said they were more focused on the person rather than the party in the presidential election.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Message from the Editor: Battlelines drawn in presidential electionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about the president is you don\u2019t know much about them,\u201d says Doherty. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew nothing about Mary McAleese and she was a great president. It was the same with Mary Robinson. I think we should definitely have a woman president, they seem to do much better than the men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doherty\u2019s daughter Ann-Marie (38) describes the three candidates on the ballot \u2013 Gavin, Connolly and Humphreys \u2013 as \u201ca poor selection\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cOut of the three, I don\u2019t really like any of them but I probably will go for Jim Gavin,\u201d she says. \u201cI certainly wouldn\u2019t go for the other two candidates. He seems to be the least worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

She takes issue with Connolly\u2019s comments on the Palestinian militant group Hamas when the candidate said the group was \u201cpart of the fabric of Palestinian life\u201d and criticised British prime minister Keir Starmer\u2019s assertion that it could not be part of the government of a future Palestinian state. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Connolly\u2019s views on Palestine really let her down, she shot herself in the foot with that, for sure. As the president of Ireland, you can\u2019t really come out with those kind of statements,\u201d says Ann-Marie, who would like a candidate who focuses on equality and women\u2019s rights issues with less conservative views.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Gordon (81) from Castlebar. Photograph: Michael McLaughlin <\/p>\n

John Gordon (81), originally from Mallow, Co Cork, has voted for a mix of parties \u2013 Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and Labour \u2013 over recent years. This time around he plans to spoil his vote after Steen failed to secure a nomination from Oireachtas members. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to write Maria Steen Number 1 on the ballot,\u201d the retired civil servant says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to vote Jim Gavin 1 and give Maria 2. I\u2019ve been voting for 60 years and I\u2019ve never spoiled a vote but I\u2019m going to do it this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon felt Steen being blocked from securing the nomination was the two main political parties \u201cdictating what to do\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt annoyed me that she didn\u2019t get the nomination, she was very unlucky. I\u2019m very definite once I make up my mind,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\"MikeMike Danagher (53) from Castlebar. Photograph: Michael McLaughlin <\/p>\n

Mike Danagher (53), a healthcare assistant originally from Co Clare and living in Mayo for 20 years, shares a similar sentiment. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very controlled in relation to the parties telling their TDs and county councillors they can\u2019t vote for anyone,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a disgrace. The reputation of the presidential election has been torn to shreds by Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il and it\u2019s a disgrace Maria Steen wasn\u2019t allowed to be on the ballot paper. I think she would have been an ideal candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danagher says he will be voting for Connolly but would have given Steen his second preference had her name been on the ballot paper. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Connolly is a great woman and a leader in all quarters \u2013 LGBT rights and ordinary people on the street, her knowledge of the European Union,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think she would be a great asset to the people of Ireland going forward. I think Catherine Connolly has all the attributes to be our next president.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NoelNoel Moran (61) from Castlebar. Photograph: Michael McLaughlin <\/p>\n

Noel Moran (61), from Castlebar, describes the current candidate selection as \u201cthe worst ever\u201d and says he would have liked Adi Roche, the founder of Chernobyl Children International, to run again. Roche was unsuccessful for the Labour Party in the 1997 presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three candidates and none of them are an ambassador for Ireland or would be fit to go out and shake hands to represent our country,\u201d says Moran. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Presidential election 2025 has smallest field of candidates in 35 yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He says he has voted in every election since 1981 but is so disappointed with the candidates on offer this time around he doesn\u2019t know whether he will vote on October 24th.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have liked to have seen five or six candidates, give people a choice. What we have is absolutely shocking,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean no disrespect to anybody running but I don\u2019t think they fit the bill. The next thing we\u2019ll have is Dustin the Turkey.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TrionaTriona Brennan (50) from Castlebar. Photograph: Michael McLaughlin <\/p>\n

Triona Brennan (50), a local phlebotomist, says she will probably vote for Gavin but adds, joking: \u201cDon\u2019t tell anyone in this town I said that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seems more connected with the people, possibly, through his public service,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good age and might have a better understanding of younger people coming behind us and the challenges they face. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe choice is very slim. In terms of the presidency, I think they need to focus on more opportunities for the younger cohort, we have to look after them a bit better so we can keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the few people who say they will vote for Fine Gael\u2019s Heather Humphreys is Bernard, aged in his 70s. He describes the Cavan-Monaghan TD and former minister as \u201ca genuine lady who did well in government\u201d. <\/p>\n

Bernard says he would typically vote for Fianna F\u00e1il but doesn\u2019t like how the party handled its selection process. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would have considered voting for Billy Kelleher as he served the party well,\u201d he says. \u201cJim Gavin was brought in from the outside and you shouldn\u2019t be bringing in these celebrities. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve nothing against Jim, he was a great footballer but, as someone said, \u2018He inflicted enough pain on Mayo.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayo man Fergus Burns ponders on an amusing scenario should former Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin secure the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,7038,43],"class_list":["post-50960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-politics","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50960","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=50960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}