Deputy Editor of the Sunday World, Niall Donald, has confirmed he was the former tenant who is owed money by former Fianna Fáil presidential hopeful Jim Gavin, reports RTE.
His confirmation comes after a report in the Irish Independent revealed that a tenant of a property owned by Mr Gavin 16 years ago never received a rent overpayment refund worth €3,300.
Mr Gavin withdrew from the presidential race on Sunday, reports RTE.
Appearing on the Crime World podcast hosted by Nicola Tallant, Mr Donald said that “loads of people” were aware of his past experience with Mr Gavin.
He said that by the time the Presidential Election was underway, anyone who knew him had already heard the story, reports RTE.
He shared that when he spoke about it in the newsroom — shared by the Independent and Sunday Independent — political journalists began to ask questions.
“Every time Dublin won an All-Ireland or whatever, people would say, ‘Oh, there’s your mate Jim Gavin,'” reports RTE.
Though he acknowledged he could have written about it during Mr Gavin’s peak as Dublin Manager, he said he chose not to, as it wasn’t relevant to managing a team or running the country.
“If you’ve ever been in those circumstances where you know, you feel that you’ve been ripped off, like it gives you this feeling of being powerless, and you know, I was really struggling financially. That’s the truth of it,” reports RTE.
In a statement, Mr Gavin’s solicitor said: “We have reached out to Mr Donald and explained to him that we have been instructed to make the payment of €3,300 to him subject to clarifying two issues. We await hearing back from Mr Donald and once those two issues are clarified we can then proceed to close out on the matter. From Mr Gavin’s initial consideration of the podcast it is clear there are inaccuracies,” the statement added, reports RTE.
Mr Donald said on the podcast that he recently discovered the apartment he had rented from Mr Gavin had been repossessed by the bank.
He expressed frustration when Mr Gavin initially claimed to have no recollection of the matter.
“Like all through those years, I had a recollection of it and I had a bad feeling about it,” reports RTE.
That said, he noted that learning about Mr Gavin’s financial troubles at the time helped him understand the situation better, and perhaps Mr Gavin didn’t have the means to repay him.
He questioned why he wasn’t contacted just weeks ago to settle the issue.
Mr Donald said he rang Fianna Fáil on Saturday to express dissatisfaction that Mr Gavin had stated he couldn’t remember the incident, reports RTE.
He added that he didn’t report it in the Sunday World because he considered it a conflict of interest.
However, after Mr Gavin gave a partial acknowledgement, Mr Donald said he was shocked to see him take part in RTÉ’s The Week in Politics on Sunday.
“I can’t understand why they didn’t make the decision at that point, one way or another. I felt sorry for him on Sunday. I mean, I’m not going to overdo it, but I felt sorry for him because he’s under pressure. People make mistakes,” reports RTE.
Mr Donald said he had moved out of his family home and began renting an apartment in Blackhall Square, Smithfield, with a friend.
He said they met their landlord, who came across as “very nice, polite, kind of quiet and shy”, and agreed to rent the apartment.
His friend later recognised the landlord as Mr Gavin, a former Dublin footballer, reports RTE.
He noted it happened a long time ago and said he has “sympathy with Jim Gavin” because he too didn’t remember all the dates precisely, estimating the period to be around 2007.
When the lease came up for renewal, Mr Gavin proposed a rent increase, which Mr Donald said he was fine with, reports RTE.
Eventually, his friend moved out and Mr Donald’s then-partner moved in.
Rent was paid by standing order, and due to how it was updated, Mr Donald said he ended up with two standing orders running at the same time.
This meant two payments were leaving his account, reports RTE.
He recalled a second small rent increase and said he had limited interaction with Mr Gavin as a landlord.
He stayed in the apartment for around two and a half years, moving out in early May 2009, and cancelled the standing orders.
“I must have cancelled one of the standing orders, and I failed to cancel the other one. So that money was coming out of an account that I didn’t check. Now, a normal person probably would check it,” reports RTE.
“People can say my stupidity has played a role in it, and they would be 100% right,” reports RTE.
He said the total amount, including the rental increase, came to €550 per month, and continued to come out of his account for six months — from May to November.
That amounted to €3,300.
“That was the full extent of my savings. Let’s put it that way. I mean, I didn’t have anything else,” reports RTE.
Once he discovered the issue, he contacted Mr Gavin immediately.
He reached out to Mr Gavin and asked: “I’m really sorry for the mistake, but can I have my money back? Basically.”
When there was no reply, he tried to contact Mr Gavin again but got no response, reports RTE.
“You expect him to get back to you or whatever. And it didn’t happen. And then I phoned him a couple of times, didn’t get back, send him emails, send him texts, all that sort of stuff. He just stopped answering,” reports RTE.
He said this continued for weeks, eventually stretching into months.
Mr Donald wrote a detailed email to Mr Gavin — which he still has.
He then approached the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), where landlords were expected to be registered, reports RTE.
He explained that part of that process included mediation for landlord-tenant disputes.
“But ultimately I found out it wasn’t, uh, he wasn’t registered there,” reports RTE.
After about three months, he sought legal advice.
However, he said he couldn’t send a legal letter because he didn’t have Mr Gavin’s home address.
He had his workplace address, the address of the rental property, and Mr Gavin’s parents’ address, reports RTE.
He decided to visit Mr Gavin’s parents’ house and handed over the letter, explaining he was a former tenant.
“And they were really, really nice. They asked me to step in. They said, ‘Do you want a cup of tea or anything?’ and said, ‘Is there any problem?’. I said: “There’s no problem, no issue at all. And I won’t stay for a cup of tea. Thank you very much. I just want to make sure he gets this letter,” reports RTE.
That night, Mr Gavin rang him and was “irate” that he had gone to his parents’ home.
“Which I can actually understand. So I wouldn’t actually hold that against him at all,” reports RTE.
Eventually, Mr Gavin calmed down and admitted he owed him the money.
Mr Gavin said he would transfer the amount soon. “And the money just never arrived,” Mr Donald said, reports RTE.
The letter had been sent in late February 2010.
At that time, Mr Donald said he was completely broke and tried again to reach out to Mr Gavin, but got no further response.
He ultimately didn’t take any legal action, reports RTE.
He confirmed that he has still not received the money.
“I haven’t heard anything,” reports RTE.
Still, he said he wouldn’t be following up.
“Does the punishment fit the crime? Probably not. I kind of feel sorry for him that he wasn’t handled better,” reports RTE.
But he added that perhaps Fianna Fáil didn’t have all the facts either.
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