Jim Gavin says he has 'no regrets' over presidential election

Vivienne Clarke

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

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

“I left secondary school, doing 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. But yeah, so I'm disappointed the way it turned out, but I've always put my hand up to do things as difficult as they might be.

"One thing he had learnt was that he was not a good follower, he said. With a project like the presidential campaign, there was a lot of change, during which he realised “I'm probably better off leading than leaving it to somebody else. Like the football rules, I'm very comfortable in that kind of, that space of leading. That can be quite complex and chaotic.”

Gavin said 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 I 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.

“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.

“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 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.”

To have received 103,500 (spoiled votes) had been remarkable, he said. "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.

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

When asked if he would do it again, his response was emphatic. “No, I'd never do it again. But I've no regrets of 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.”

Gavin has spoken of how “tough” the campaign had been on him, his family and friends.

“It was so bruising,” he told Off the Ball’s breakfast podcast.

When asked if he thought his experience would dissuade others from going forward for election, he said: “Yeah, and I wouldn't blame them for that perspective.

“Nonetheless, if you have that sense of duty in you and sense of service to the country, to Ireland ...”

He had been shocked about how bitter and intense the experience had been. “I probably had a romantic view of public service and duty from my time in the Defence Forces, yeah, it's that sense of honour I suppose.

“No, no, no, no, I'd never do it again. But I've no regrets of what I did,” he replied when asked if he would go forward for the position again.