It’s hard to think of an election campaign that sank so quickly with all hands on board. If this had happened with a group of innocents who had no experience of the election world, you might excuse it. But Jack Chambers is no fledgling and Micheál Martin is canny old crow. But this one has left both men up shit creek without a sign of a paddle.
It’s been all about that €3,000+ that Jim Gavin apparently didn’t return to its rightful owner, a tenant in a flat Jim owned then. There are two questions that lep out at you: Why didn’t Jim come clean in his initial discussions about running with Fianna Fail? And why did Fianna Fail accept his word for it ? The phrase ‘due diligence’ comes to mind, a phrase FF appear to have difficulty pronouncing let alone enacting.
But maybe it was all down to Micheál Martin. He resurrected Fianna Fail after the financial crash, so he probably thought he could handle any party matter. The talk is of him screwing the arm of Fianna Fail TDs to go out there and declare their praise of this wonderful candidate, no questions asked or answered.
So over a short period, Jim Gavin was forced on the FF TDs, like it or not. And then, too late, they realised that this candidate was wearing an explosives vest. A tenant of a flat owned by Jim years ago had not received the €3K+ he was entitled to. The tenant knew that, the Indo knew that, but Micheál and Jack appear to have been blissfully ignorant of it all.
There is a difference and a similarity between Micheál and Jack. The difference is that one is at the end of his long political life, whereas the other is at the early stages of his political life. The similarity is that both men have been riddled with electoral shrapnel as Jim’s vest exploded.
This will This is going to encourage a lot of FF voters to stay at home on Friday 24 October. . Those who do trek to the polling booth will see Jim Gavin’s name on the ballot paper. Which will reignite their rage, and face them with a choice: vote for Heather the Blueshirt or write somehing rude about Micheål and Jack.
Jude, I was not born a cynic, but life’s experiences have taught me a few lessons!
Poor Mickey Martin only found this flaw in Jim Gavin’s candidature when the crap hit the fan.
But this old fox isn’t usually left out of the info circle, and it is possible that he was sitting on the news to see how the polling was going. When he saw that Kate Connolly was likely to romp home a winner, that meant he would lose, so he leaked the info, and Jim Gavin had to fall on his sword, and take the blame for it!
Is this too far fetched?