“IT FEELS LIKE the sting has gone out of it”, said one Fianna Fáil TD after last night’s marathon parliamentary party meeting where the disastrous presidential campaign was the only item on the agenda. 

The Fianna Fáil review into the Jim Gavin campaign was sent to TDs, senators and MEPs, shortly before the meeting began at 7pm, giving them time to dive into the detail and timelines of who knew what when. 

The report gave the timeline around the events, such as how Gavin’s name came to be in the mix, how Micheál Martin let it be known that the former Dublin GAA manager was his preferred candidate, but also details about when information began to surface about an issue with a tenant. 

The issue of overpaid rent not being returned to a tenant resulted in Gavin spectacularly departing from the presidential campaign, leaving the party in disarray. 

The report also dealt with how the party carries out its due diligence when it comes to vetting candidates. One section outlines how the candidate’s “core narrative” is verified, and how the party ensures there are no undisclosed legal or ethical issues from their past.

Interestingly, the Americanisation in the report has some scratching their head.

It states the party carries out a comprehensive search for criminal records to see if there are any “felonies” or “misdemeanors” as well as searches for any civil litigation, “lawsuits, bankruptcies… [or] domestic/family court issues, like custody battles or divorce records”, could result in “public attacks”. (The Journal has inquired if AI was used to generate any of the report, but no response has been forthcoming).

CSI Fianna Fáil, you could say. But the big question is will this whole affair be viewed as a felony or misdemeanor by the party leader?

Tense meeting

Tense is how some in the room described the meeting which went on for well over four hours. One TD said Martin only got defensive once, stating that overall, they thought the party leader handled it well overall. 

However, another took a different view, stating that there were plenty of “lickarses” at the meeting last night, telling Martin how amazing he was. 

There are clear divisions on view within the party. While there has always been pro-Micheál/anti-Micheál groups, it appears this whole debacle has only entrenched the views of the two camps. 

While lots of names feature in the report issued last night, Martin’s name is notably absent throughout. 

It notes he met Gavin in July about his potential candidacy, but he is not mentioned when it comes to the handling of the rent issue, only immediately afterwards when he tells the presidential candidate that he no long has the parliamentary party support. 

What could be pointed to as a leadership failure is Gavin appears to be selected on a hunch alone that he would do well, with the report noting how the party leader believed their candidate, who turned out to be Gavin, would transcend politics and bring in a big vote.

The party conducted no polls that showed he could win. Some at the party meeting last night were critical that it appeared Martin only met Gavin once throughout the selection process, which raised some eyebrows. 

There’s little in the report that points to why the review was delayed until the week before Christmas. It runs to just 25 pages and does not include the minute detail that some might have hoped for.

For instance, in the section dealing with RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, it states that Gavin decided to proceed with the TV debate. But there’s no detail about whether anyone tried to stop him, just that the doomed candidate was set to walk the plank with no new details or explaination to offer as to what went on with his previous tenant.

Just a few short hours later, Gavin would withdraw from the race.

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In a blitz of radio interviews this morning, the Taoiseach attempted to draw a line under the whole mess and move on. 

He denied that he tries to centralise everything into into his own hands and those of his close advisors, something which party members regularly point to.

While he was contrite this morning in taking full responsibility for the catastrophe, he ruled out putting down a motion of confidence in himself, stating: “I don’t need to.” 

Pushing the report out this late is viewed by some in the party as a genius move, whether it was Martin’s doing or not. 

“It’s the week before Christmas, everyone is wrecked. Sure who would want a heave before Christmas,” said one TD. 

Martin will be hoping that the long Christmas break takes the heat out of this omnishambles.

But it’s difficult to put the genie back in the bottle. The leadership conversations are happening. And in the new year, they might only get stronger.