Former presidential candidate Jim Gavin has said he has no regrets about his bid for the presidency, but ruled out running for Áras an Uachtaráin again.
Mr Gavin, a former Dublin GAA manager, was Fianna Fáil's candidate for the election last year after beating MEP Billy Kelleher in a selection vote, but withdrew from the race amid controversy over money owed to a former tenant of his.
In a statement at the time, Mr Gavin said he "made a mistake that was not in keeping with my character and the standards I set myself".
During the campaign it emerged that a tenant in a property Mr Gavin owned 16 years ago did not receive a refund they had sought after an overpayment of rent amounting to €3,300.
Speaking on Off The Ball's 'OTB Breakfast' podcast this morning, Mr Gavin said he was "very disappointed" with how his presidential bid "turned out".
"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," he said.
Mr Gavin said that he would not blame anyone for being put off running for high office after they saw how bruising the experience turned out to be for him.
"I wouldn't blame them to have that perspective.
"Nonetheless if you have that sense of duty in you and sense of service to the country, to Ireland..." he said.
He said that he "probably had a romantic view" of public service and duty and so he did not expect the intensity of the campaign.
Asked if he would make another attempt to be elected President, Mr Gavin replied: "No, I'll never do it again ... but I've no regrets of what I did."
Mr Gavin said he is "very appreciative" of the 7% of votes he got in the presidential election, more than 100,000 votes, despite no longer being a candidate.
"I got phenomenal support," he said.
"So that was very comforting ... I will always be grateful to those people who reached out and had my back I suppose."
In December, following a review by Fianna Fáil into the presidential campaign, party leader Micheál Martin said he accepted "we didn't get this right", about the process to select Mr Gavin as the party's presidential candidate and that he had "taken full responsibility for that".
After his withdrawal from the campaign, Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys contested the election, with Ms Connolly inaugurated as Ireland’s 10th President last November.
