Jim Gavin: ‘I’d never do it again, but I have no regrets’ after presidential bid

Former candidate reflects on controversy, withdrawal and emotional toll of campaign while defending decision to enter public life

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with former Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin during the presidential election campaign, at Leinster House in Dublin. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

“I’d never do it again, but I have no regrets,” Jim Gavin has said in his first interview since the 2025 presidential election campaign.

The former Fianna Fáil candidate withdrew from the election in October last year after failing to inform his party about a previous dispute with a tenant, in which he had failed to return rent overpayments worth €3,300 in 2008. 

The issue caused controversy within the party and led to a 10-week internal review process. The review found that Mr Gavin was asked five separate times about the issue but did not provide a full account.

The report found that, as part of ongoing due diligence, Mr Gavin was asked on September 5 and September 8 about a reference to a dispute with a tenant. This reference arose in a telephone call to Micheál Martin's top adviser, Deirdre Gillane, from a journalist on September 5, as well as in an email received by Fianna Fáil's press office on September 8.

However, the report did not state whether Mr Martin knew about the issue before it came into the public domain.

“My thoughts are that I have no regrets. Like it is in my DNA to serve,” he told the Off the Ball Breakfast Podcast on Wednesday. 

“I left secondary school, did third level for a few weeks and then joined the Defence Forces. So that sense of duty is just in me because of my professional career. 

"I've no regrets, and I was honoured to be asked, and it was a privilege. And yeah, very disappointed the way it turned out, and yeah, it's been tough.

“It's been tough and tough on the family and tough on my friends and people who are close to me, but I got great support.

“So if somebody asked me, would I do it again, I'd have to pause because of that sense of duty and give back, but I obviously wouldn't, having gone through what I did," Mr Gavin said. 

The former candidate said that one thing he learned was that he was not a good follower and that, during a presidential campaign, which involved significant change, he realised that he was "probably better off leading than leaving it to somebody else."

"Like the football rules, I'm very comfortable in that kind of space of leading. That can be quite complex and chaotic," Mr Gavin said. 

He added that he had no regrets: "We need people in public service to put their hands up and go for things to make a difference in the country.” 

When asked if he thought people would be dissuaded from going for public office because of his experience, he said he would not blame them for that perspective.

“Nonetheless, if you have that sense of duty in you, the sense of service to the country, to Ireland. I probably had a romantic view of public service and duty from my time in the Defence Forces," Mr Gavin said. 

“I'm not a career politician, and I don't want to become one, and I didn't want to become one. And maybe that's what, you know, one of the things looking back is maybe I didn't differentiate myself with other candidates, I'm not a politician, I'm not one of them. But, as I said, I've no regrets about my life.” 

The aftermath of the campaign had been very emotional, he added: “I suppose as a family, we were aware of what I was going to do and put my name forward. I'm in some ways a private enough person, but that sense of duty was overriding; it took over everything."

“So it was a very emotional time. Because, you know, I do care about Ireland so much. That's in my DNA," Mr Gavin said. 

“But you just have to put one foot in front of the next and move on. As I've told the Dublin players often enough in games, the most important thing is to do the next thing. 

"There is that space between that, whatever chaos you've experienced, what I experienced or in a sporting sense or in life sense, you have the power between that stimulus and the next thing you do, you do have the power to make a choice. I suppose resilience or people of high resilience will understand that.

“I've seen the north-east city kids who are surrounded by chaos but keep making a choice to put themselves back in the driving seat. That's what I try to do.” 

The presidential election, which still had his name on the ballot, saw Mr Gavin receive 103,500 spoiled votes, which he said “had been remarkable.”

"I was very appreciative of that. I got phenomenal support beyond the scenes. All different walks of life that I never probably even knew were looking at the election. So that was very comforting. 

"Not that it helped in the campaign, but it was very comforting, the support that I got," he said. 

“It was phenomenal. I'll always be grateful to those people who reached out and had my back, I suppose.” 

When asked if Mr Gavin would do it again, his response was emphatic: “No, I'd never do it again. But I've no regrets about what I did and what I was asked to do."

"Not so much the honour of it but that sense of service, of representing one's country was just overpowering for me.”