Gavin confirmed as Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate

Former Dublin GAA boss Jim Gavin will be Fianna Fáil’s candidate for next month’s presidential election.

Gavin saw off competition from Cork MEP and former Junior Minister Billy Kelleher.

Gavin is most notable for being the manager of Dublin’s Gaelic football team between 2012 and 2019, winning 5 All-Ireland titles in a row.

Prior to that, Gavin served as a senior officer in the Irish Air Corps and chaired a Citizens’ Assembly on whether Dublin should have a directly-elected Mayor in 2022.

Kelleher had advocated for a vote by Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party to decide the candidate, with the secret ballot taking place on Tuesday morning.

The Irish Independent reported that Gavin won by 41 votes to Kelleher’s 29.

It is understood there was tension within the party about Taoiseach Micheál Martin backing Gavin instead of fellow Corkman Kelleher.

Fianna Fáil’s top Dublin TDs, such as Minister and Deputy Leader Jack Chambers and Dublin North-West TD Paul McAuliffe, rowed in behind Gavin, with Martin spending political capital to get his candidate over the line.

Gavin will be joined on the ballot by Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, who replaced former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness who withdrew on health grounds, and left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly who has been backed by the Social Democrats, People Before Profit/Solidarity and Labour.

Sinn Féin will not make its decision about the presidency until September 20th, while a smattering of independents are making their pitch to the councils to appear on the ballot.