Seán Gallagher

Seán Gallagher (2011)

Seán Gallagher (born July 7, 1962 ) is an Irish businessman and politician (former member of Fianna Fáil ). He ran for the Irish presidential election in 2011 as the youngest of seven candidates and was defeated by Michael D. Higgins .

Gallagher lives with his second wife in Blackrock, south of Dundalk , Co. Louth .

Life

Seán Gallagher was born in Monaghan County in 1962, the son of John Gallagher from Killygordon, Co. Donegal , and his wife Anne, b. Bracken from Tullamore , Co. Offaly was born. He was born with a congenital cataract of the eye (clouding of the lens ) and therefore had to undergo an operation at the age of three. According to his own statements, as a result of this he cannot clearly see individual faces in a group of people. He grew up and went to school in Ballyhaise , County Cavan . His Latin and French teacher was Seán Brady , now the Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh . After graduating from school (ir. Leaving Cert) in 1980, he attended the Agricultural College in Ballyhaise in Cavan, where he first came into contact with the Fianna Fáil Party (FF) through the Ógra Fianna Fáil youth association . This contact continued for the next 25 years, so that many years later, in 2009, he even made it to the Executive Council of the Fianna Fáil National Executive Party . He does not deny today that he was closely allied with this party, which led Ireland to the brink of national bankruptcy (Gallagher described himself on a TV show as " coming from the gene pool of Fianna Fáil "), insists but on being a fully independent candidate today. In the early 1980s he bought a farm and initially worked as a farmer. In 1985 he attended NUI in Maynooth , where he took courses in Youth and Community Development (social work). After working in agriculture and social and community work, he was finally hired for the full-time job of campaigning for Fianna Fáil MP Rory O'Hanlon in his constituency of Cavan-Monaghan and then rose to the position of deputy head of the Louth County Enterprise Board. O'Hanlon, who was Irish Minister of Health from 1987 to 1991, also appointed him " political secretary " in this context . When O'Hanlon's career ended in 1992, Gallagher also disappeared from public scrutiny for the next 14 years.

The 1990s

He now completely changed his profession, initially working as a “massage therapist and fitness instructor”. Then he wanted to become a businessman and planned to open a chain of fitness centers. However, nothing came of these plans. From 1995 to 2000 he was employed by the Louth County Enterprise Board as assistant chief executive . In 1997 he married Irene McCausland, whom he met while working on the Louth County Enterprise Board . However, the marriage did not last long and ended in divorce and annulment in 1999. Gallagher later said that the brief interlude in marriage allegedly taught him to "be more upright and tell the truth faster".

From 2000

In 2000 he earned an MBA ( Master of Business Administration ) from the University of Ulster and the Dundalk Institute of Technology . In 2002, his business interests then attended sharper contours and Gallagher, together with his old friend from Louth County Enterprise Board -Tagen, the toolmaker Derek Roddy, in Dundalk, the company for Home Electronics Smart Homes . But already in the year before, 2001, he had founded a predecessor company Home Wiring Systems (HWS) , which was held by the same Louth County Enterprise Board , where both were previously employed and Gallagher from 1995 to 2000 as " assistant chief executive " even one of the key positions occupied, had received a loan in the amount of 20,000 euros, which was converted into 25,395 shares in the company HWS at one euro per share. A year later, he founded Smarthomes and later stated that both companies were ultimately running the same business. He founded the company under the new name because he feared that people would misunderstand the name HWS and think of a very common electrical installation company. After all promising and lucrative activities had previously been postponed to Smarthomes, HWS ceased its business activities in the year after the establishment of Smarthomes. Back at HWS, however, remained the ownership stake that Louth County Enterprise Board had there. In 2005, Louth Enterprise Board wanted his money back from Gallagher, but Gallagher refused, because he said that the stake had consisted of company shares and since the company HWS no longer existed, the money was gone. A legal dispute that lasted for years followed, which was only resolved in 2008. Allegedly Gallagher is said to have refunded part of the sum. However, both parties are silent about the amount.

FF reloaded

Little is known about the contacts he had with Fianna-Fáil between 1992 and 2006. That the relationship continued, however, shows his participation in an FF meeting in Killarney in November 2005, where he is even mentioned as the head of an FF group from Louth. In 2006 he returned publicity in the Fianna Fáil Policy after the Dáil -Abgeordnete Séamus Kirk , who feared his seat for Louth on Sinn Fein to lose, Gallagher had asked for him the election campaign as " director of elections " to to organize. Gallagher's almost saber-rattling Republican campaign strategy worked and Kirk won the election. The company Smarthomes had developed so positively in the first four years after its founding (also thanks to the winding up of HWS) that Gallagher not only became a finalist for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ernst & Young , but also became the finalist in December 2006 Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (also FF) was able to open the new Smarthomes company headquarters in Dundalk with grandiose promises for the future. In 2008, Seán Gallagher was announced as a jury member (so-called dragon ) on the RTÉ One TV version of " Dragon's Den " ( Dragon's Den ) and started his TV career with it. In the TV format, which is still running today, business ideas are presented which are then evaluated by venture capitalists ( dragons ). Gallagher took part in both the first season in 2009 and the subsequent seasons in 2010 and 2011. In 2009 he was elected for the constituency of Louth as a delegate to the Ard Comhairle (English: Fianna Fáil National Executive ), the National Executive Council of Fianna Fáil. However, in an interview with RTÉ News at One in July 2011, in order to keep his interdependence profile low , he claimed that he was actually not interested in the Executive Board and that he had only attended two meetings. When asked why he was elected to the council in the first place, he commented with the claim that he wanted to do something for subcontractors from his Louth constituency who had been ripped off. However, inquiries with local party officials in Louth revealed that this was not his job at all. However, as can be read in the interview in the Irish Independent of October 11, 2011, he is sticking to the fact that he was so busy on site in Louth, taking care of various groups such as volunteer initiatives and community groups, as well as small start-ups support that there was no time left for the Council. In fact, there is a letter of complaint from the Comhairle Dáilcheantair ( Constituency Council , a kind of electoral district council) to Fianna Fáil's party headquarters in the summer of 2010, calling for Gallagher to resign because he could not be seen at the meetings. He then verbally assured in September 2010 that he would resign, but wanted to wait until January 2011 with formal confirmation. It has not yet been clarified whether this delay in leaving the company was related to any financial options that might be in question or whether he only wanted to tactically wait for the further development of the significantly worsening situation. Even so, he claimed in a number of interviews that he hadn't played an active role at FF since 2009. His membership of Fianna Fáil's National Executive Council officially ended on January 5, 2011, when he announced his withdrawal in a letter to Secretary General Seán Dorgan. However, in the letter there is no mention of leaving the party. On the contrary. He said he did not have time to attend the local constituency meetings in Louth and would therefore like to leave the FF Executive Board. In the letter of January 5, 2011, he expressly writes that he “would like to continue to support Dorgan and his colleagues in the Fianna Fáil, especially in these difficult times for the party”. However, in retrospect, he interprets this passage in such a way that actually only wanted to express that he wishes his former colleagues all the best for their future path, but that he will go his own way in the future. His departure from the party took place over several stages. Accordingly, he had only attended two meetings of the FF Executive Board, in July and December 2009. On March 1, 2010, he then left the Ravensdale Cumann , his local FF organization in County Louth, as a member . (In retrospect, he regards this as the actual exit from the party.) Orally in September he announced his departure from the Executive Council, which was formally confirmed in writing on January 5, 2011. After that, he seems to view the January 5th letter not only as a withdrawal from the Executive Council, but also as the final step in the resignation and thus also as a formally completed resignation from the party. As can be read at Politics.ie , a Gallagher spokesman stated when asked that this was Gallagher's last letter to FF and that Gallagher was no longer a member of the party. The spokesman also confirmed the renewed reference that the letter only announced the withdrawal from the Executive Council, but not a resignation from the party, but at the same time continued to insist that Gallagher was no longer a party member. According to information from local activists, however, by December 2010 he was still seriously considering running for FF. However, when he felt strong headwinds from his own local ranks, he changed his mind. In fact, in the local vote on the presidential candidacy, his four FF colleagues did not vote for him as a candidate, but for Mary Davis , who in the past did not have such strong FF interconnections as Gallagher, but had received various positions through FF support.

FÁS

On January 21, 2010, Seán Gallagher was appointed director of Foras Áiseanna Saothair (FÁS), the Irish state employment agency, by Mary Coughlan , the responsible Fianna Fáil minister and then also Tánaiste . From more than 200 (!) Applicants, the "steadfast and convinced FF supporter Gallagher" (according to the comment of the Dundalk Democrat , his home newspaper) was selected to take a seat on the eleven-member FÁS board. He also announced that the new post would not prevent him from participating in a second season of the TV show Dragon's Den ( Dragon's Den ). In October 2011, regarding the payment, he stated that he had not kept the compensation for the position. Instead, he donated more than 11,000 euros, as FÁS had suffered enormous financial damage (so-called “golden handshake deals”) through questionable, corrupt management in the past. Any pension entitlements arising from the item were not discussed further.

On the way to the candidacy

All this has given many observers the impression that Gallagher is now trying to get into the office of President via the ticket of an "Independent", but has not convincingly detached himself from his FF past, but actually only in classic FF manner act opportunistically. In view of the miserable poll results, Fianna Fáil decided not to put up her own candidate for the Irish presidential election 2011 and can assume that many ex-FF voters who have become “homeless” will now turn to the also “homeless” because “independent” Gallagher or will hold on to Mary Davis to a lesser extent. The latest pre-election polls seem to confirm this. Bizarrely, he said on October 3rd during a visit to Trinity College in Dublin that he had not been a member or otherwise active in FF since 2009 because the party had "lost contact with the common people". Nevertheless, he looks back with pride on his time at FF and advised the students to participate in parties, even if he no longer does it himself. At the same time he warned against “demonizing” people who had to do with parties that were once in government responsibility. In mid-October, he repeated his allegations in a TV debate that the party had lost its roots. A certain talent for demagogy cannot be denied. In early February 2011, a few weeks before the FF election debacle, he managed to deliver such a sparkling pro-FF speech that David Funcheon, the FF mayor of Castleblayney , Co. Monaghan, spoke up on February 3rd was carried away by the tweet: “ Sean gallagher rallying the troops the atmosphere is electric. “The Irish Times also reports that during this FF campaign for the election to Dáil in February 2011, he took part in elections for FF candidates Billy Kelleher, Dara Calleary, Charlie McConalogue and Margaret Conlon and supported their campaigns.

Announcement of the candidacy

In May 2011, various newspapers reported that Seán Gallagher was striving to be nominated for the 2011 presidential election. He is said to have explored the possibility of a “ semi-detached arrangement ” with FF Oireachtas members , i. H. support from 10 FF Oireachtas members and 10 independent Oireachtas members so that he could receive a nomination as an independent candidate. In the following period he intensified his efforts to obtain a candidacy through the approval of four councils and when the Cork City Council finally approved his candidacy, he had the necessary fourth council vote for his candidacy. On September 27, 2011, he submitted his papers.

Withdrawal from its business activities

Gallagher withdrew from the management of Smarthomes in April 2010. Smarthomes cabling company equipped houses with modern lighting technology and entertainment electronics ( cable TV , broadband ) and grew strongly during the boom times of the Irish real estate bubble , but shrank just as impressively after the bubble burst. While it was announced in 2006 that the number of jobs would be increased from 50 to 150, the company's loss in 2009 totaled € 543,000 and the number of employees has shrunk to currently 20 positions. According to the Irish Times, the company's losses have now accumulated up to € 1.2 million. On July 19, 2011, he also resigned as director of Smarthomes Group, Smartwatch and a consulting firm called Beach House Training & Consulting Services. Smartwatch , a company founded in 2007, was previously owned by Gallagher and Derek Roddy, his smarthomes partner. The consulting company Beach House Training & Consulting Services was founded by Gallagher in of 2008. The company owns a 10% stake in Surf Seeds International , the health food company that Gallagher sponsored on the TV show " Dragons' Den ". So far, Gallagher and his partner Trish O'Connor have occupied the two leading positions at Beach House . Gallagher's place has now been taken by his smarthomes partner and friend Derek Roddy. Companies involved in his involvement in the TV show " Dragons' Den " are: Pedigreecattle.ie, Flatpack Garden Solutions and Boilerbleed . After this withdrawal from his active business activities, Gallagher has given up all executive and managerial positions, but remains a shareholder in certain parts of the company. He is said to have sold his shares in smart homes in the course of 2011. In addition to the FÁS post, he continued to have a seat with the Drogheda Port Company and in 2007 was also a temporary director of InterTrade Ireland , an organization involved in trade between the Republic and the North. Smarthomes has received funding of over € 41,000 from InterTrade Ireland .

Marriage and family

In August 2010 he married 37-year-old Trish O'Connor, who comes from Kanturk in Co. Cork and previously worked in sales for the cosmetics company Lancôme . She still holds a leading position in one of Gallagher's companies.

Web links

• official homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Candidates concede defeat as Higgins on course to win , The Irish Times , October 28, 2011
2. ↑ Ógra Fianna Fáil - Gallagher's first contact with FF ( memento of the original from July 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
4. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
5. ↑ Gallagher settled investment dispute with former employer - sbpost.ie ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ [1]
7. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
8. ^ Irish Independent - Gallagher
9. ^ Irish Independent - Gallagher
10. ^ Sean Gallagher's Fianna Fail National Exec resignation letter - Gallagher's resignation letter at Politics.ie
11. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
12. ↑ DUNDALK DEMOCRAT 25 January 2010 - Sean Gallagher appointed to the new FAS board ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ^ IT-3 October 2011 -Gallagher, Davis reveal earnings
14. ↑ [2]
15. ^ IT-13 October 2011 distancing from FF
16. ↑ D. Funcheon
17. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
18. ↑ Nomination for election
19. ↑ 'Dragon' seeks FF support for Park bid
20. ↑ IT May 13, 2011
21. ↑ Two Independents receive Áras nominations
22. ↑ rte.ie May 7, 2011
23. ↑ IT September 27, 2011 - Gallagher hands in nomination papers
24. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
25. ↑ Gallagher withdraws from his business connections - The Post.IE ( Memento of the original of October 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
26. ↑ Intertrade Ireland
27. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
28. ↑ Irish Times of October 20, 2011 - The many faces of Seán Gallagher
29. ^ Irish Independent - Gallagher