Gallagher set to clarify Áras plan

BUSINESSMAN Sean Gallagher will make an announcement on whether or not he will contest the 2018 Presidential election in the next ten days, the Irish Daily Mail has learned.

Sources close to the businessman say that he is still actively considering the matter, but will be weighing up ‘a number of factors’ before he makes a final decision.

Mr Gallagher was the frontrunner in the 2011 race for the Áras until his campaign became embroiled in a Fianna Fáil fundraising controversy – exacerbated by an infamous tweet from a fake Sinn Féin account.

A source close to Mr Gallagher said: ‘Polling is ongoing. Some people have been saying “well he’s hardly going to do that and not run”.

‘That’s not true, what he is doing is taking a measured decision.’

One factor being investigated by Gallagher’s pollsters is President Higgins’s likeability factor, and whether or not it would be possible to defeat him at the ballot box. The source said that the former Dragon’s Den star has been encouraged by the results of the polls so far.

SOURCES close to Seán Gallagher, who came second to Michael D Higgins in the Presidential election in 2011, say the businessman will make up his mind within a week or ten days as to whether he will attempt a second tilt at the Áras. As we know, the field of those looking for nominations wherever they can get them already is a little crowded, so a bit more urgency is required.

If Mr Gallagher doesn’t stop dithering soon, he very likely will find the electorate will make up his mind for him.