Seán puts imagination ahead of legislation
Ex-Dragon wants to ‘breathe new life into role of Presidency’
SEÁN Gallagher believes you can achieve more in politics with ‘imagination’ than legislation. The Áras candidate was responding to a query about why he had not just run for the Dáil in order to effect societal change in Ireland.
Mr Gallagher said: ‘I do not believe that it’s as much about legislation as it is about imagination.’
The wealthy businessman added of the Presidency that he doesn’t ‘think it has to be about legislation’, as ‘the role of President is above that, but I believe it can set a tone, set a value’.
The father-of-two and 2011 failed candidate added that any business controversies he has been involved in are part of the normal
‘Cut and thrust of business’ ‘Cynicism does not create change’
‘cut and thrust’ of corporate life.
The High Court recently heard a claim that the businessman threatened to shut and demolish a building he owned which was being rented by Nokia Ireland if a dispute was taken to court by the company.
The dispute arose out of problems with the provision of heating and air conditioning in the premises in Blanchardstown, west Dublin.
Mr Gallagher rejected the claim and said he had simply warned that if there was a dispute the building might close as architects and builders engaged in fire-safety works would have to move on to other jobs if there was an injunction.
Mr Gallagher officially launched his presidential campaign in Dublin city centre yesterday, just over a week after the row was heard in the High Court.
Since announcing his intention to make another run for the Áras, he has also faced questions about an €83,000 cheque that ended up in the wrong bank account in 2010. The issue was first raised by businesswoman Glenna Lynch during the infamous Frontline presidential debate in 2011 but Mr Gallagher last week declined to answer further questions on it.
Yesterday, when asked if the public wants a president whose business dealings have been subjected to such questioning, Mr Gallagher said he does expect it will be ‘an issue that will arise’.
‘Any of the controversies or any of the issues that you address, are being addressed through the normal processes of business in the day-to-day cut and thrust of business,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘I have already outlined very clearly that I have stepped back from all of my business interests and I have clearly made it clear to our legal team who are working on divesting all of my business interests and shares in those businesses, so that is not an issue that will arise.’
Mr Gallagher has been criticised for appearing to have been largely absent from public life since his 2011 presidential bid ended in disaster, but yesterday he defended his record over the last seven years as he insisted he has ‘been incredibly active’.
‘In the last seven years, I’ve gotten up very early and went to bed very late, every night and every day of those seven years,’ he said. ‘I’ve continued to work in business, I’ve continued to mentor and encourage and coach entrepreneurs – men and women.
The former Dragons’ Den investor added: ‘I’ve continued to promote SMEs in communities, and I have continued and repeatedly helped communities, voluntary groups and organisations doing that very same thing.
‘And I think fundamentally, if we are going to have a caring society, if we learn anything from the downturn, [it] is that to have a caring society, you do need hospitals, you do need roads, schools and you need to provide for those that can’t provide for themselves – that takes wealth.’
He said this wealth is ‘created by the small businesses’ and that they are central to sustaining our communities.
He added: ‘Those small businesses sustain our communities, keeps our shops open, our schools open, keep our young people in areas where the whole swathes of the country who have not yet experienced the recovery, the divide between the urban and the rural, the east and the west – that to me has been incredible public service.’
Flanked by his wife Trish as he launched his campaign, Mr Gallagher also said ‘cynicism does not create change’ and that is why he will run ‘a positive campaign focused on re-imagining the future of our country’.