World of Politics with Harry McGee

This week’s column is brought to you from under the bus where Jim Gavin’s presidential campaign finished up. Normally in the week that’s in it, I’d be sharing exciting facts and figures about the Budget and the destination of the €9.4 billion, and the new duties put on a packet of fags (or vapes in this week’s example) and what it all means in terms of hard cash.

But not this week – because this budget was completely overshadowed by Jim Gavin’s dramatic withdrawal.

The story took fire over the weekend as details poured out. Gavin and his wife had bought an apartment during the Celtic Tiger years in Smithfield in Dublin 7. They rented it out. However, when the crash began to bite, they lost the flat and had to hand it over to the banks. It was, he said, a ‘traumatic time’ in his life.

However, tenants who were vacating the flat in 2009 forgot to cancel the standing order and ended up paying an additional €3,300 in rent.

Their efforts to retrieve the overpayments proved to be fruitless despite repeated efforts over a prolonged period of time. The overpayment was never repaid.

The Irish Independent spoke to one of the tenants and then put the questions to Fianna Fáil last Thursday. When Fianna Fáil contacted Gavin about it, he said he had no recollection of it and that was how the party’s response was framed.

However, on Saturday, the tenant himself contacted Fianna Fáil and produced evidence that Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers had “absolute veracity”.

How could Gavin forget that he owed a former tenant €3,300?

In an effort to give a rationale for it, the Taoiseach suggested that somehow he had psychologically blanked it or blocked it out.

“There was an issue in his life, around 2009. He clearly did not deal with it at that time or since and probably buried it somewhere in the recesses of his mind and didn’t deal with it. And the consequences of that have now come home.”

He wasn’t wrong there; the die was cast. The campaign was over.

Admitting that he owed the relatively small sum – even 16 years later – was fatal. Presidential races are cruel and venal but even in a general election, Gavin would have been on thin ice. And this was known to Fianna Fáil on Saturday.

Pictured: Jim Gavin…out of his depth and out of the race.