Sean Gallagher joins frontrunners in Irish presidential race

Support for Dragons’ Den star, who says he is ‘wholly non-party political’, has risen in an increasingly acrimonious campaign If Ireland elects Sean Gallagher as its next president in less than a fortnight’s time it will be akin to the UK replacing the Queen with Duncan Bannatyne as its head of state. Gallagher is instantly recognised across the country because he was one of the famous faces of the Irish version of TV show Dragons’ Den. He joins a leading pack of three presidential contenders that includes former IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness, who has faced controversial questions relating to his past, in particular having presided over an organisation that killed nearly 2,000 people during the Troubles. Despite constant queries over his leadership of the Provisional IRA, McGuinness has scored between 16 and more than 20% in opinion polls. The Observer has learnt that a Dublin newspaper is to publish extracts of a tape recording McGuinness gave to an American radio reporter in the 1970s in which the then self-confessed second in command of the Derry Provisionals describes civilians caught up in bombs and shootings as “nosey parkers” who should not have got in the way of IRA operations. The Sinn Féin MP will also face challenges from opponents this week to publicly reverse an oath of allegiance he swore to the IRA in the 1970s which refused to recognise the legitimacy of the southern Irish state or its security forces. While McGuinness remains one of the most famous faces in one of the most controversial presidential elections in Irish history, Gallagher has accepted that TV fame as a Dragon has also been part of the reason he has become the dark horse in the race. On Friday morning, Gallagher, who has been enjoying rising support in opinion polls, called on Moneygall in Co Offaly to seek the imprimatur of another famous president – or at least Barack Obama’s distant Irish relations. During a tour of the village Obama traces his Irish roots back to, Gallagher received the backing of the most powerful man on the planet’s cousin several times removed. Henry Healy, who was instrumental in tracking Obama’s family back to Moneygall and bringing him to the village, said he could relate to Gallagher. “He has emphasised building up local communities and reviving business activity in Ireland. If Sean is elected president, he will know what he is doing on trade missions around the world promoting Irish business. Sean is a businessman who understands the pressures people are under in this recession. That is why he is the best man for the job.” Asked if his famous relative in the White House was keeping an on eye on the Irish presidential race, Healy said: “I’ll write and ask him to accept Sean’s invitation for another visit to Ireland. They will make a great double act.” After meeting parents from a local school who had organised a fund-raising “skipathon”, Gallagher told the Observer that his profile as a Dragon “had been very helpful.” However, the 49-year-old entrepreneur said he was well known throughout the state before his appearance on Dragons’ Den. “I am recognised because of my work with communities and organisations representing disabled people before being on the programme. What I want to do for the economy is what Mary McAleese did for the peace process during her presidency. I have on-the-ground experience of creating jobs and building communities. My ambition is to work alongside the government in bringing jobs and investment to Ireland during this recession.” Born with congenital cataracts, Gallagher was almost blind as a child and only pioneering surgery saved his sight. He went on to become one of Ireland’s most famous self-made men and now owns a home technology business worth €10bn that employs 70 people. Gallagher denied that his former membership of Fianna Fáil – the party in government during the boom, later punished severely at this year’s general election for the economic crash – would turn off voters. “My message is wholly non-party political. I am an independent and I want to represent all the people of Ireland,” he added. At this stage it appears the contest to succeed Mary McAleese as the country’s next president is between Labour’s frontrunner and former arts minister Michael D Higgins, Gallagher and McGuinness. McGuinness’s campaign has been dogged with questions over his role as a Provisional IRA commander. The Sinn Féin MP has said he left the IRA in 1974 – a claim challenged by, among others, a former head of the Garda Síochána who insisted he was still on the organisation’s supreme decision making “army council” until at least the late 1990s. The campaign became even more acrimonious on Wednesday night during a live debate on RTE television when Ireland’s answer to Jeremy Paxman, the presenter Miriam O’Callaghan, asked McGuinness how he squared his Catholicism with supporting IRA murders. McGuinness complained to RTE that he had been subjected to “trial by television” and demanded a one-to-one meeting with O’Callaghan after the broadcast. Terry Prone, Ireland’s most prominent PR and communications expert, said she believed McGuinnness had made a fatal error: “His core vote will be solidified by a sense of injustice. His floating vote, on the other hand, would have begun to ship water and the episode radically reduced his capacity to attract transfers. Not so much because of his rage on screen, but because, after the programme, he attacked ‘one of our own’. Irrespective of your view of Miriam O’Callaghan, she is a respected constant in the minds of the Irish public – their representative on TV, and a woman. An enraged McGuinness demanding – and getting – a post-programme private meeting with her argued a coercive sense of entitlement which did him no good at all.” Ireland Europe Martin McGuinness Dragons’ Den Sinn Féin Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.