The most startling moment of the presidential campaign arrived late last Sunday night with a candidate ending his bid for the Áras in dramatic fashion.

The decision of a former tenant to contact Fianna Fáil on Saturday to tell the party he was owed overpaid rent by the party’s candidate, Jim Gavin, was a key moment in the collapse of his bid for the presidency.

Over a number of days, when questions were asked about the former tenant, Gavin’s campaign began to unravel, ultimately leading him to end his presidential bid and becoming a major crisis for party leader Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

2009

In early 2009 journalist Niall Donald ended his tenancy of an apartment at Blackhall Square on North King Street in north inner-city Dublin owned by Gavin.

However, direct debit payments mistakenly continued to be made to Gavin’s bank account. When Donald sought the return of the overpayment – €3,300 – Gavin did not repay the money.

Donald let the matter drop but continued to tell the story to friends and colleagues. By 2025 he was based in the Dublin newsroom of the Mediahuis group, which owns the Independent titles and the Sunday World, where he is deputy editor.

August/September 2025

Martin was considering Gavin as the party’s candidate in the presidential election. Mediahuis Ireland editor Fionnán Sheahan spoke with Donald and began making inquiries about Gavin’s financial affairs. Donald had records from when he was seeking the return of the overpaid rent.

Once Fianna Fáil had identified Gavin as a possible candidate by mid-August, the party started what Jack Chambers, the party’s deputy leader and its director of elections, called “extensive and robust due diligence”