Jim Gavin 'asked about rental dispute three times before selection'

A review into Fianna Fail's handling of its presidential election campaign has found its candidate, Jim Gavin, was asked three times about an issue with a former tenant before he was selected as the party's presidential candidate.

The controversy surrounding the former tenant later led to Mr Gavin's withdrawal from the campaign.

He abandoned his campaign after it emerged he owed a former tenant money which was mistakenly overpaid. Mr Gavin has since repaid the money.

His name remained on the ballot paper and Mr Gavin received 7.18% first preference votes in the 24 October Irish Presidential Election.

Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin has come under increasing pressure from his backbenchers in recent weeks over the party's election campaign and how Mr Gavin was selected and supported by the leadership.

A fact-finding review by senior counsel into the party's handling of the campaign, seen by BBC News NI, has found Fianna Fáil was asked twice through media queries about issues surrounding a former tenant.

The party was asked on Friday 5 September, and Monday 8 September, about an issue with a tenant by a journalist from the Irish Independent newspaper.

A backbench Dublin TD, John Lahart, also sent a text to deputy leader and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers on 8 September referring to "a potential issue with a tenant who was a journalist and the return of a deposit".

When those three queries were put to Mr Gavin, he said he was not aware or had no memory of such issues.

Mr Gavin went on to be selected as the party's presidential candidate the very next day.

This detail in the review is likely to cause further fractions within the Fianna Fail backbenches, as some TDs were unhappy with how the candidate was backed by the leadership.

Mr Gavin received 41 votes and veteran MEP Billy Kelleher received 29 votes in a vote which was viewed as very close.

The Irish Independent published a story detailing the issue around rent which was mistakenly overpaid to Mr Gavin in 2009 on Saturday 4 October.

In the article, a statement from Fianna Fáil said Mr Gavin had no "recollection or any records" of any dispute with a tenant.

The former tenant got in touch with Fianna Fáil after publication of the story and said he had records relating to the dispute.

The review finds Mr Gavin "appeared to recognise" the tenants name when he heard it and after further enquiries, retrieved "some relevant records".

These "indicated and he accepted that he had received at least some of the payments in question".

Chambers, Mr Gavin and the party's general secretary Sean Dorgan met "to discuss the situation and review the records in party headquarters that evening".

The following day, Mr Gavin appeared on RTE's The Week in Politics debate, where he said he was looking into the issue.

The review details how he met the taoiseach and Chambers later that day and both told him that "continuing with the campaign would lead to 10 very difficult days and that it would not be fair to ask party members to continue to campaign for him".

He withdrew from the election that night.

About €350,000 (£306,471) to €400,000 (£350,253) is estimated to have been spent on Mr Gavin's campaign.

The review also says how "people were informed An Taoiseach had a preferred candidate".

Mr Gavin was not interviewed for the report and was not involved in its preparation.

"Perspectives and conclusions set out in the report should not be taken to represent Mr Gavin's views of events referred to within it," it states.

However, the report was sent to Mr Gavin's lawyers before it was shared with members of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party on Tuesday evening.