Fianna Fáil’s former presidential candidate Jim Gavin has repaid €3,300 owed to a former tenant, a debt that led to him withdrawing from the race in dramatic circumstances last weekend.
A source close to Mr Gavin confirmed he had repaid the money to Sunday World journalist Niall Donald who had rented an apartment from the former Dublin GAA manager more than 16 years ago.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who was to the fore in pushing the candidacy of Mr Gavin, has confirmed that he now plans to vote for Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys in the forthcoming election.
Speaking during a visit to Millstreet, Co Cork, on Friday, Mr Martin was coy in relation to whether it would be his first time voting for a Fine Gael candidate in an election.
He said his “personal position” was to vote for Heather Humphreys.
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“In terms of my own personal position, and it will be a personal decision, I am pro-European passionately, I am pro the European Union. I am pro the enterprise economy,” he said.
“Of the two candidates the person that is closest to those perspectives is Heather obviously. Heather is closest to that orientation. And that is important as the European situation is central to the transformation of Ireland over the last 50-odd years.”
Mr Martin denied that the presidential election was a referendum on the Government.
Head-to-head: Presidential election gets confrontational
“People actually do distinguish between a presidential election and every other type of election. So it [a referendum on the Government] is a false premise to put [to voters].”
He said while some Opposition parties were trying to do so, the sentiment “undermined” the office of the president.
The Taoiseach also stressed he would not be giving any direction to Fianna Fáil members on how they should vote on October 24th, following the withdrawal of Mr Gavin from the race.
Ms Humphreys, meanwhile, dismissed suggestions her party was involved in a smear campaign against her rival Catherine Connolly.
She was responding to reporters’ questions following former Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates’ suggestion that he would “smear the bejaysus” out of Ms Connolly if he was still in politics.
“I’m not involved in any smear campaign,” said Ms Humphreys, speaking in Wexford.
“This to me is a fair campaign between myself and Catherine Connolly and ultimately people will have to make up their own minds as to which of us will be the best 10th president of Ireland.”
Ms Humphreys also condemned as “misogynistic” a video in circulation of Joe Brolly performing what is being referred to as a sex act.
Mr Brolly later clarified that the impression “had nothing whatsoever to do with the presidential candidates”.
In response, Ms Humphreys said it “was against women and I think for women to have to endure that type of comment is not right – it’s wrong, I will stand up for the women of Ireland and I’m certainly not let it stop me in my tracks in forging onwards and trying to win this election campaign.”