Jim Gavin expected to seek Fianna Fáil Presidential nomination
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
JIM GAVIN WILL seek Fianna Fáil’s nomination to contest the presidential election, as deputy leader Jack Chambers has endorsed his candidacy.
The former Dublin football manager was rumoured to have support from senior members of the party this week. It comes as former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher have confirmed they too are seeking the party’s backing.
Chambers said: “I understand Jim Gavin will seek the Fianna Fáil Presidential nomination. He is a person of integrity, humility and distinction with a strong record of public service throughout his life and career.
“He has my full support to be the Fianna Fáil candidate and I believe he would make an exceptional President of Ireland.”
Gavin, a former commandant in the Air Corp and the current operations boss at the Irish Aviation Authority, has yet to comment publicly on reports of his candidacy.
Chambers, the finance minister, is the second senior Fianna Fáil TD to confirm his support for the GAA player and coach after higher education minister James Lawless also endorsed Gavin earlier today.
The timetable for Fianna Fáil’s decision is expected to become clearer once party leader Micheál Martin sets out the procedure for nominations and selection in the coming weeks.
Among the names circulating are former ministers Mary Hanafin and Eamon Ó Cuiv, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher and Gavin.
Ahern has not ruled himself out of the race. Speaking to reporters in Dublin this afternoon, he expressed disappointment with the Fianna Fáil leadership and claimed he has been waiting for months to hear whether the party would back his candidacy.
Ahern detailed that he met with the party management in December last year and asked them to indicate if they would support his Áras bid by Easter. Subsequent meetings, in April, May, June and July, did not provide answers to the former party leader.
Referencing a report in the Irish Times this week, which said the party were reportedly opposed to an Ahern candidacy, he said: “I got in the Irish Times last Tuesday, which was very disappointing.
“Seven months after I asked it. And the question was simple: would the leadership back me or not?”
Despite the reported writing on the wall, Ahern has not ruled himself out of the race: “I never ruled myself out, so that means — if you never rule yourself out, you’re still in.
Kelleher called on the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party this month to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the forthcoming election. Today, he wrote to his colleagues to “formally confirm” his bid for the party’s nomination.
“While I have already spoken to a great many of you in recent days, I will endeavour to speak to the rest of my fellow Parliamentary Party colleagues today and over the weekend,” Kelleher said.
“As soon as our internal process is announced, I am looking forward to engaging with you and discussing my candidacy and also my vision for the Presidency,” he added.
With reporting by Andrew Walsh & Christina Finn
Written by Muiris O’Cearbhaill and posted on TheJournal.ie
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