FIANNA FÁIL PRESIDENTIAL candidate Jim Gavin has addressed criticisms of his recent commentary on Gaza, telling reporters today:

“Let me be clear, there is genocide taking place in Gaza.”

Last week, Gavin said he believed that the Israeli army’s “military objectives have probably been reached” in its nearly three-year-long assault of Gaza, and that it was “unconscionable” that the bombing was continuing.

Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty took issue with Gavin classing the onslaught as part of its “military objectives” in a post on X. Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin jumped to Gavin’s defence stating that this was an “appalling distortion” of what Gavin said.

Asked about the comments he made and whether it was an appropriate way to describe what is happening in Gaza, Gavin said: 

“The Israeli government are committing war crimes and that needs to stop. The fighting needs to stop, the hostages need to be handed over, unconditionally.

“We need to get aid into Gaza and we need to get medical relief and care to the women and children in Gaza.”

He went on to commend the Irish government stating that it has led a very strong campaign in terms of endorsing a two-state solution and recognising the state of Palestine. 

Housing

Housing is something that the presidential candidate said has been raised with him while out canvassing. 

He said the government’s actions on housing are “not good enough” and “need to be improved”.

In Marina Market today, Gavin said he spoke to young people about the housing crisis, stating:

“So for me, it’s about expressing what I can do as a president from that unifying perspective.

“I was out at the market there earlier on today, met a lot of students on their lunch break and had a chat about it with them, and that does come up about what’s going to happen when they go to college and the rent.

“I met two people that have come back from Sydney and are going back again so I just need to relate to them and to listen to their story. And so we had great discussions this morning, as brief as it was, about the future of Ireland. So as the president, you know, I need to advocate for that.”

Asked whether he would speak out about such issues, he said he would use the “unifying power” of the president to speak up “without fear or favour”.

Gavin said President Michael D Higgins and his two predecessors had shown there is “a balance to be got” about speaking on behalf of people who do not have a voice.

Asked how Housing Minister James Browne was doing, he said housing was “a huge challenge”.

“I spoke to young women and men down in the market there earlier on, and they’re concerned when they get out of college, they need to have houses.

“Housing is a huge issue, the party have made it very clear that it is one of their number one priorities, and we need to get it right, we all know that, so that must be the focus of the party.”

He added: “All I can do from my perspective, if I am fortunate enough to get elected, is to keep the pressure, keep the focus on housing, that ultimately needs to be solved.

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“It’s not good enough yet. Housing needs to be solved. It’s not good enough, it needs to be improved,” he added.  

Defence forces

Separately, Gavin was questioned about his role in the defence forces and whether he was aware of abuse of women in the military. 

Gavin was deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic where he spent six months working as the Chief of Military Aviation Operations as part of the UN-mandated MINURCAT peacekeeping mission.

The Journal has also learned that Gavin flew the government jet to Sudan carrying Martin, then Minister for Foreign Affairs. 

Gavin told reporters today that he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with women in the defence forces, stating that the Women of Honour group have done a “great service” in highlighting these issues. 

He said he is glad tribunal a has been set up stating that the defence forces must learn from the findings. 

Asked did he witness any incidents or report any while he was a member of the military, Gavin said he had a positive experience in the arm, but acknowledged that not everybody did. 

“If I had any sense of that I would have taken very strong action,” said Gavin. 

The Women of Honour group has said that Gavin has never personally reached out to the group, adding that it is hard to believe that anyone who worked in the military could be  entirely oblivious to what was going on.