FOLLOWING AN APOLOGY tonight from Micheál Martin during a mammoth five-hour-long parliamentary party meeting, Fianna Fáil has agreed to carry out a review of its botched presidential election bid.

Party leader Martin’s apology to his colleagues came after days of chaos within Fianna Fáil as a result of Jim Gavin’s shock withdrawal from the presidential election.

Fianna Fáil TDs, Senators and MEPs met tonight in Leinster House for the first time following the weekend’s dramatic events.

Despite suggestions from some in the party that Martin’s leadership could be in trouble, he appears to have survived the meeting bruised but intact.

“No fireworks tonight,” was how one source in the room put it.

Over the course of the meeting, during which members took to the floor to voice their issues, it was agreed that a review of the process by which Gavin was chosen as the candidate will be carried out.

It’s understood Fianna Fáil members have requested that this review be conducted by individuals who have not been involved in the presidential election process and that it be a time-limited review.

Gavin, the former Dublin GAA football manager, was selected as the party’s candidate after being backed for the position by Martin.

At the outset of tonight’s meeting, party leader Micheál Martin told colleagues he is “devastated” by what has happened and that he is open to suggestions on how the presidential selection process can be changed for the future.

It’s understood he told the meeting that he can sometimes get things wrong and that he outlined in detail the due diligence that was done around Gavin’s selection as a candidate.

“The word process has been used a million times,” one source in the parliamentary party meeting said.

Martin was described as “emotional” by some in the room as he spoke about his love of the party and his respect for the grassroots.

In the lead-up to tonight’s meeting, a number of the party’s TDs publicly called for action from the leadership following the “calamity”, and some voiced concern over their belief that Gavin was “thrown under the bus” by party leadership.

There is a feeling among some in the party that the higher-ups put too much pressure on members to back Gavin, while many believe that the party did not engage in adequate due diligence.

It’s understood that many of the parliamentary party members who spoke tonight shared their concern for Gavin and his family following the short but brutal election campaign.

Gavin’s shock departure from the race, at 10.30 pm on Sunday night, came after it emerged that he owed a former tenant over €3,000.

Shock was the initial emotion among Fianna Fáil members as they digested the news earlier this week, and for some, this turned into anger at the party leadership.

But Micheál Martin has weathered the storm and lives to see another day as leader of Fianna Fáil.

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