FF’s Jim Gavin dominates the national airwaves in early stages of the presidential election campaign

Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin has emerged as the candidate with the strongest national radio footprint in the run-up to the 2025 Presidential election, according to new research from Irish PR intelligence platform Everhaze.

Analysis of 2,500 radio clips over the past twelve weeks shows that while Independent Catherine Connolly leads overall mentions (36.3%), Gavin (33.5%) pulls ahead in terms of national airwaves share, with 34.9% of his coverage on national talk formats. By contrast, Connolly’s campaign is more heavily weighted to local outlets (68.6% of her coverage) and Heather Humphreys’ profile is even more locally concentrated (71.3%).

This national advantage translates into strong presence across high-reach talk shows such as The Pat Kenny Show, Newstalk Breakfast, and The Anton Savage Show, where margins between candidates are typically slim but Gavin remains consistently competitive.

On local radio, however, Connolly retains the edge, leading in 13 counties including Donegal (+22pp) and Galway (+18pp). Gavin posts selective peaks (notably Louth, where he dominates with 77.5% of mentions) and converts his national presence into 8 county leads overall. Humphreys, meanwhile, has a more concentrated footprint, with standout strength in Cavan/Monaghan (+12pp lead).

Sentiment analysis underscores a three-way contrast: Humphreys records the most positive net tone (+12pp), Gavin trends neutral-positive (+5pp), while Connolly faces a more polarised balance (?3pp).

Speaking about the findings of the report, James McCann, CEO of Everhaze said:

“With nominations closed and facing into the four week sprint, each candidate will be looking to own the share of voice across the national airwaves to capture undecided voters. Outside of Dublin the counties of Longford, Leitrim and Roscommon have heard the least from all candidates so far which is unsurprising given the battle for the urban centres of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. As the campaign heats up its every candidate’s race to lose in presenting a clear narrative and message to the public.”

Everhaze is an Irish-built PR intelligence platform that tracks real-time media coverage across radio, print, and online sources in Ireland and the UK. Its technology combines broadcast capture with AI-driven analysis to map who is getting talked about, where, and in what tone. The platform is widely used by communicators to monitor campaigns, understand sentiment shifts, and measure share of voice.

As part of the 2025 Presidential campaign, Everhaze has launched the “Battle of the Airwaves” tracker, a live view of how each candidate is performing week-by-week on radio. The tracker highlights:

Share of voice across national vs local stations

County-by-county exposure showing where candidates are winning or lagging

Sentiment balance, capturing whether coverage is favourable, critical, or neutral

Programme battlegrounds, where margins between rivals are razor-thin

Updated weekly, the Battle of the Airwaves gives voters, journalists, and campaign teams a transparent lens on who is winning the media war as the race for Áras an Uachtaráin heats up.

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