Jim Gavin repays former tenant who was owed €3,300

Kenneth Fox

Former Fianna Fáil presidential candidate Jim Gavin has repaid the €3,300 he owed to a former tenant.

A source close to the former tenant, Niall Donald, confirmed Mr Gavin had repaid him the €3,300.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Mr Gavin dramatically withdrew from the presidential race following claims he owed former tenant Mr Donald more than €3,000 for a rental arrangement that was not properly registered.

Mr Donald — co-host of the Crime World podcast with Nicola Tallant — addressed the controversy on the show on Wednesday.

In the podcast, released earlier on Wednesday, Mr Donald said it was a “complicated story in one way, but simple in another," explaining he began renting the apartment with a friend in Smithfield, Dublin, in 2007, paying via a standing order.

Mr Donald had “very little dealings” with Mr Gavin and was unaware of his sporting past. When his friend moved out, his partner moved into the apartment.

“Whatever way the standing orders were changed, I had two standing orders. There was an increase in the rent, and instead of changing my standing order, I just added another one.” Mr Donald lived there until 2009, at which point — as reported by the Irish Examiner — the couple were expecting a baby.

In 2010, Mr Donald engaged a solicitor to write a letter to Mr Gavin demanding the return of the money and threatening legal action.

As he did not have Mr Gavin’s home address, he said he sent the letter to the apartment and to his then workplace: the Air Corps base in Baldonnel, Co Dublin.

He said he also delivered a copy in an envelope, marked private and confidential, to Mr Gavin’s parents at their home and asked them to pass it on to their son.

“I said: ‘I’m really sorry to call to your house. I’m a former tenant of Jim’s. I’m just looking to get a letter to him.’ They were really, really nice,” said Mr Donald.

However, some hours later, after midnight, he received a call from Mr Gavin, who, he said, was “really, really irate” about Mr Donald calling to his parents’ home.