Tag Archives: Sean Gallagher

Enter Bagman

Posted on by
Reply

The damage delivered to Seán Gallagher’s presidential ambitions as a result of the revelations on RTÉ’s Frontline Presidential Debate is continuing to send disruptive ripples across the media and bloggosphere but it remains to be seen if the outcome will prove fatal. Gallagher was accused by Martin McGuinness of personally receiving a five thousand euro cheque from a local businessman in County Armagh for a Fianna Fáil fund-raising drive. Despite several opportunities to confirm the accusation Gallagher denied everything until in a series of increasingly desperate about-faces he admitted the substance of the charges.

Slugger O’Toole carries a transcript of the latter exchanges between the two candidates:

“Gallagher: You’ve described me also as a businessman, yes and I’m proud of that, and I’m proud that I created jobs. With regard to the fundraising, the fundraising event in particular, was set up by Fianna Fáil headquarters, I was asking as a local businessman to inform those in the community that might wish to attend, I suggested and invited perhaps three or four… There were not thirty… There were not thirty people there, Pat….

Kenny: Can I ask you for… for a clarification by the way… Seán have you been to Cairde Fáil dinners, have you bought tables at Cairde Fáil dinners.

Gallagher: I was, I believe at about two Cairde Fáil dinners over the last twenty years.

McGuinness: Pat… Pat I actually spoke to a gentleman who attended that fundraiser in Dundalk in the Crown Plaza Hotel, two hours before I came to this studio.

Kenny: When was that fundraiser?

McGuinness: It was two years ago.

Gallagher: It was 2008 I believe.

McGuinness: It was two years ago according to my information. This gentleman told me there was between 30 and 35 people in the room, he also told me that after the event, that Seán called around to his house, and took a cheque for five thousand euro.

Gallagher: Not true.

McGuinness: Seán didn’t even address in the course of [Interrupted] his, in the course of his commentary,

Gallagher: I’m just finishing…

McGuinness: He says it’s not true, he’s begging… he’s begging for someone to come forward, and say that it was true, and I would caution you Seán at this stage, that you’re on [Sic] very murky waters, because one thing is for absolutely certain…

Gallagher: Perhaps you….

McGuinness: If I’m elected president of Ireland, I will stand against croneyism, I will stand against greed and self- [Inaudible]. [Audience applause] …and I will stand against, I will stand against the brown envelope culture that effectively destroyed our economy.

Gallagher: I have never been involved in that culture let me explain to you. Let me ask Martin, perhaps he might identify the name and background of the individual he’s referring to. I can tell you quite clearly, that I invited perhaps 2-3 people to that event, at the event, people were asked would they like a photograph as is normal at these functions. I personally delivered, if that’s the case then I don’t remember it, delivered a photograph… I can tell you…

McGuinness: But that confirms what the gentleman told me, he also said that when you arrived at his house you took away a cheque for 5,000 euro…

Gallagher: That is not correct…

McGuinness: That is not correct?

Gallagher: Absolutely not…

McGuinness: Alright then… I have to say I think you’re in deep, deep trouble.

Kenny: I want to try and move on but I think we can clarify some of the….

[Programme break]

Kenny: A development which I want to put to Seán Gallagher, on the Martin McGuinness for President Twitter account, Sinn Féin are saying they are going to produce the man who gave you the check for 5,000. Do you want to change what you said or are you still saying that it just simply didn’t happen. Are they up to dirty tricks or what?

Gallagher: “Well, you know I’ve always tried to stay above any negative campaigning and I understand from a query during the week in one of the newspapers and when my campaign team sent back the information on the said character, I don’t want to cast any aspersions on him….”

Kenny: “So you know who he is?”

Gallagher: “He’s a convicted criminal, a fuel smuggler, investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau and rented the office out to Gerry Adams, Martin’s colleague, in the last general election. I don’t want to get involved in this, I don’t believe….”

[Audience noise]

Kenny: “Can we put this to rest now. Did you get a cheque from this guy or not?”

Gallagher: “I have no recollection of getting a cheque from this guy…”

[Audience boo and hiss – someone shouts “Liar!”]

Gallagher: “I can tell you, let me explain this very simply.”

McGuinness: “The man said you went to his house Sean.”

Gallagher: “I explained that they’re were two or three people that I asked….invited, I don’t know the man very well that’s in question…”

Kenny: “Hang on a second, you’re saying you went around to a fuel smuggler and all sorts of things and invited him to a Fianna Fáil do?”

Gallagher: “I’ll tell you quite simply Pat, I was asked…”

Kenny: “No, You labelled him one thing and yet you invited him, so which is it? Or are you happy with both?”

Gallagher: “I wasn’t aware at the time 3 years ago. I’m just making the point that I was asked to pass the information on to local business communities which I did. I want to say one thing. This is not what the presidential election should be about.”
[Audience clap – someone says “absolutely”]

Kenny: “Martin McGuinness, do you want to…..? Briefly?”

McGuinness: I think Seán should answer the question. And the question is, did he go to a man’s house, a man who spoke to me on the telephone several hours ago, and collect a cheque for €5,000 euro?”

Gallagher: “What Martin has said is that I drove to the man’s house to deliver a photograph of the event and that he gave me a cheque. I may well have delivered the photograph if he gave me an envelope… I…”

[Audience laughs]

Gallagher: “The point is, if he gave me the cheque, it was made out to Fianna
Fáil headquarters and it was delivered, and that was that. It had nothing to do with me.”

McGuinness: “That’s a clear admission of what I said earlier.”
[Audience claps]

Kenny: Michael D Higgins, do you want to say anything on this, Michael D
Higgins?

Michael D Higgins: “I think that it’s very important that there be absolutely full and total disclosure and resolution of this and as quickly as possible. You know, what you say when you take the office of President… I dedicate my abilities to the welfare ofthe people of Ireland… That’s all of the people of Ireland and it’s far beyond any of this kind of thing, quite frankly, and I do think we should, in a way if we can, I think these matters should be clarified, they’re quite urgent…”

Kenny: “Hang on a second Michael, it’s all very well to be pious and all the rest of it.”

Higgins: “No, it’s not pious, it’s a man being straight.”

Kenny: “No, hang on, you want to be judged on your record. If there are things that we need to know about all the 7 candidates, about their record, we need to know it. So, you want to walk away from this particular controversy…”

Higgins: “No, I don’t at all. Could I have said more clearly that the matter needs to be clarified? And as a matter of urgency and immediately. And I think that’s very… that’s what the public want, you know in the end it isn’t about us seven here, it’s about what’s good for Ireland and what’s good for the Irish people.”

Since the dramatic revelations in the debate the Gallagher campaign, and the candidate himself, have been desperately spinning their PR machine trying to deflect the storm of criticism while rounding on McGuinness and anyone else with the temerity to question the new Golden Boy of Irish politics (who is actually looking very much like just another Old Boy).

However Hugh Morgan, the businessman it is claimed gave Gallagher the cheque for Fianna Fáil, has issued his own detailed statement:

“I wish to clarify and set the record straight in relation to the dealings I had with Sean Gallagher which resulted in my attendance at a Fianna Fail fundraiser in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dundalk, on the 1st July 2008.

Sean Gallagher , who I had never met previous to this, contacted me by phone. He first phoned me on the 6th June 2008 and invited me to attend the above fundraiser. In the course of the call he requested a donation of €5,000.00 for Fianna Fail. He advised me that this type of fundraising would replace the annual Galway Tent Fundraiser. In return for the €5,000.00 donation I was promised a private audience with the Taoiseach and I would get a photograph taken with him.

He told me that the Taoiseach would give an up-date on the economy in the South which in his words was ‘beginning to wobble’

On the 9th June he again phoned me to confirm my attendance . I confirmed that I would attend and was prepared to give the donation he requested. He left two mobile phone numbers for me to contact him on.

On the 27th June Sean Gallagher visited my business premises at Killean, County Armagh. I wrote a cheque for €5,000.00 and gave it to him personally. I still have the stub of the cheque , This payment is declared in my Company accounts and was cleared through my bank on the 1st July 2008.

I then attended the fundraiser which was also attended by other businessmen from South Armagh, North Louth and across the Northeast. Sean Gallagher greeted the guests on arrival and directed us to the room at the top of the Hotel where the fundraiser was held.

Brian Cowen gave a speech on the economy and predicted a soft landing. At the end of the night Sean Gallagher introduced me to Brian Cowen and facilitated a photograph to be taken of myself and him. Approximately one week later Sean Gallagher called back to my business and gave me the photograph.

It is a fact that approximately fourteen years ago I was convicted of tax evasion in relation to fuel smuggling in Northern Ireland. As a consequence to that, I have repaid the Exchequer and paid a substantial fine. I was never investigated by CAB or any other agency in the Republic.

Since that time I have developed a successful international business known as Morgan Fuels.

I employ over eighty people in Ireland ,both North and South. I have business interests in Ireland , Britan and Europe and the Morgan Fuel card can be used up to 4,000 service stations in fourteen countries across Europe.I am also the official sponsor of the Armagh County teams of the GAA.”

Meanwhile the Irish Independent reports further on Seán Gallagher’s particular ways of earning a wage which are very far from the entrepreneurial image he likes to project:

“PRESIDENTIAL frontrunnerSean Gallagher charged GAA clubs in his home county of Louth as much as €5,000 to help out with applications for sports grants, the Irish Independent has learned.

Mr Gallagher charged the fees for as little as 20 hours’ work in order to help the clubs get funding from state agencies, such as theNational Lottery, when Fianna Fail led-governments had enough money to hand out the cash.

Local sources last night told the Irish Independent: “He was inside with Fianna Fail and the ministers and (he had) the inside track, he had been (Dr Rory) O’Hanlon’s secretary. Once you got him to do it, you were going to get the grant.

“We weren’t going to him looking for ham sandwiches, you know. There was unspoken word.”

Mr Gallagher charged the fees to clubs seeking to expand around 2002, near the time he was setting up his ‘Smarthomes’ business.”

Is this the end of Seán Gallagher’s presidential hopes? Judging by some online commentators and activists a significant number of people seem unconcerned by the many, many questions hanging over the nominally Independent candidate. What this says about the citizenry of Ireland, and the morality of our society corrupted as it was by the Celtic Tiger years, is open to question.

Only the election day will tell us whether the Irish people are prepared to turn their back on the squalid crony politics of the last three decades or whether they are willingly prepared to be hoodwinked yet again.

Related articles
About these ads

From The People Who Brought You The IMF And The ECB – President Gallagher

Posted on by
1

Well, we’re in the final stretch of the race for Áras in Uachtaráin and it is claimed that the great Irish public, or at least a sizeable minority of it, may have decided to plump for the “Independent” candidate Seán Gallagher. No amount of revelations about his decades old allegiance to Fianna Fáil, his receipt of government largesse through investments in his companies or membership of cushy quango boards, his less than inspiring business record, his somewhat unorthodox accounting methods, his unapologetic loyalty to the Anglo-American form of exploitative capitalism and cultural narcissism that all but destroyed our nation, indeed his contempt for the history of our nation full stop with his wish to dump our national anthem born of a democratic Revolution, none of these things will deter those eager to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Will this report from today’s Irish Independent outlining Gallagher’s career in the political party that sold away the sovereign independence of our Republic, carry any weight? Or are we really, as a people, so far gone that we are beyond even saving ourselves?

“In a newly obtained letter, Mr Gallagher instead gave countless examples of his work for Fianna Fail at the highest levels.

“I have a long record of involvement and commitment to Fianna Fail over the past 30 years,” he said.

The two-page letter, complete with Mr Gallagher’s personal mobile number and email address, was sent just two years ago to the heads of Fianna Fail branches (cumainn) in Louth. At the time, Mr Gallagher was seeking their votes ahead of the party’s Ard Fheis that year to get elected on to the party’s national executive as one of the Louth representatives.

Mr Gallagher pointed out his service with former Health Minister Rory O’Hanlon as a full-time political secretary and his work with Charlie Haughey.

In his letter, Mr Gallagher also wrote freely about his fund-raising work for Fianna Fail.

“I later worked full time for the party in Fianna Fail headquarters, supporting members like yourself in raising much needed funds for the work of the party,” he said.

Last week, Mr Gallagher admitted he had invited guests to a secret corporate Fianna Fail fundraiser attended by then Taoiseach Brian Cowen in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk in 2008 — but strongly denied that he had asked them for any money.

In his letter Mr Gallagher talked about his role in helping Fianna Fail’s Seamus Kirk retain his seat in the 2007 general election by acting as his director of elections.”

I’ve highlighted much of this before and in detail, has have many others, but one fears that the message isn’t getting through. It may be a cliché but it is one that applies here: “If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem”. Seán Gallagher, and the party and organisation he was associated with for decades, were not just part of the problem – they were the problem. He, and they, are most assuredly not part of any solution we need to find.

A vote for Gallagher is a retrospective mandate for those who brought us the excesses of the Celtic Tiger years, those who poisoned and disfigured the moral and cultural soul of our nation. This isn’t just about a seven-year term for a president. This is about how we view ourselves as a people and how we wish to go forward into the future. To vote for Seán Gallagher is to take a step back into a past that we wish to leave behind, an era that fed on the worse impulses in men and women and not the best, an era that transformed us from an Irish nation into a crude American and British clone. Urged on by an establishment elite we abandoned our own sense of ourselves and took upon us a distorted image of Ireland and Irishness derived from the views of others. We defined what we were not by our own history, or culture or language, but by what we saw on British and American television shows, read in British and American newspapers and magazines, and what we imagined they wanted us to be.

We became the wage-slaves of others, of international corporations and an unregulated global market. Our indigenous businesses, our indigenous entrepreneurs, were abandoned in the beggarly pursuance of their foreign counterparts lured here by glorified bribes. We kowtowed to their every wish and whim and in the process became their prisoners, as our own people were rendered nothing more than tradable commodities, assets and numbers on a balance sheet.

That is the Ireland we created in the Celtic Tiger age, and that is why, when we ran out of barterable means, or others offered greater prizes than we could compete with, the international businesses we enrichened by coming here abandoned us with such alacrity and ease. Cosseted corruption at the top, cosseted corruption in the middle, while those at the lowest paid for all of it.

If you think of Seán Gallagher think of the IMF, think of the ECB. Think of voodoo economics and property busts, think of ghost estates and boarded-up shop windows. Think of factory closures and crying parents and their offspring in our airports. Think of motorways through Tara, or demolished monuments in Moore Street. Think of crippling taxes and slashed budgets. Think of young men taking their lives and young mothers seeking refuge in hostels away from broken partners. Think of rising crime, rising alcoholism, a rising black tide of despair that seems ready to engulf us all.

Then remember. Remember those who brought us to this place. And then go out and cast your vote.

Related articles

Seán Gallagher And Health Rights USA

Posted on by
Reply

I wrote a substantial piece earlier dealing with the Fianna Fáil background of the “Independent” presidential candidate Seán Gallagher, a background which dates to the early 1980s. However in my researches some weeks ago I came across some information that I have been debating whether or not to discuss. Firstly it is (as far as I can tell) a strictly personal matter for Mr. Gallagher and therefore should be off-limits. Politics I do, people’s private lives, whatever area they work in, are their own concern. Unless (yes, a caveat) those private affairs effect their public work. In this case the information I’m going to write about is not a secret but is in the public domain, available on the internet (and on other media), and may be of some concern to the candidate. Especially should he succeed in his campaign and be elected to Áras an Uachtaráin.

In August 2007 Gallagher took a trip to Israel, staying at the Lot Spa Hotel. While there he apparently met one Matthew A. Katz, who later went on to found Health Rights USA, one of those very American medical outfits that claim a not-for-profit status, mixing a “wonder diet” with trips to the Dead Sea health resort mentioned above. According to a November 2007 blog posting by Katz:

“If you are suffering from psoriasis then you know how this can complicate your life. However, this need not be lifelong affliction. In fact, if you take a look at this video of my own recovery, you will see the results. Meanwhile, I came across this remarkable video on YouTube about a group of young people whose parents paid for their treatment overseas. They, too, saw their psoriasis clear up in record time.

The mission of this blog is to invite Jewish and Christian philanthropists to lend their support to assist as many people as we can to experience the same benefits rather than suffer. It is known that many cannot afford this treatment because it is not covered by health care plans in the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland. Contact us for more information regarding giving to this worthy cause at…”

He also posted in November 2007:

“Sean Gallagher from Ireland and Matthew Katz from New Haven, CT landed in Tel Aviv early this past August on a sweltering 110 degree day. Both were bound to the Lot Hotel spa and clinic on the Dead Sea the. Neither man knew the other nor what was about to happen in the next 21 days. Each experienced nearly 100% remission.

Each man had left home with an extreme case of psoriasis which they had lived with for more than 2 decades and within 21-days they were clear of most lesions!

As remarkable as this may sound, it’s common place at the Dead Sea clinic where Dr. Harari and his team has been working to help cure patients for over 15 years. It is a popularly accepted cure in Israel and in some European countries where healthcare pays for nearly 100% of this full-month stay at the hotel and spa/clinic. It can run as high as $3,500 for room, board and medical care, plus airfare. So, you can imagine how Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Katz felt shelling out this many “sheckles” in Israeli dollars with no guarantee of success and without any medical reimbursements in either Ireland or the U.S.A.

But, with the effort they made, they were rewarded with a clean bill of health and there is no price that they can put on this.

Returning to their homelands, Mr. Katz and Mr. Gallagher have remained close friends and each are encouraging everyone they meet who has either psoriasis or arthritis and rheumatism conditions to make the journey to the Dead Sea clinic.

Mr. Katz is even returning with a group next summer. For information about his treatment plan before and after for more information about this healing or to order the booklet please contact Mr. Katz at…”

Since then Katz has moved on to a business website (which repeats the description of the meeting with Seán Gallagher, who is pictured) with a more professional look, offering a means to reverse psoriasis, arthritis and type 2 diabetes, and treatments for $11,995.

“We will train you in 21 days how to “Eat Right” – “Exercise Properly” and “Reduce Stress.”

The Dead Sea and sun are known for positive effects on skin and joints. Look at this YouTube to see families around the world who go for their skin clearing.

HealthRightUSA, Inc. also includes a five-year follow-up by board certified family physician, Dr. Joel Fuhrman to commit to keeping you on track with continued wellness. This is our commitment to you! You need to be as committed to your success in order to remain clear-skinned and strong.

This 5 year program begins with a 21-day Dead Sea spa vacation and tours of historic sites plus includes:

  • All doctor fees, weekly checkups and prescribed creams.
  • Dead Sea and sun solarium treatments daily.
  • Hotel room rental fees and taxes.
  • All Meals (Kosher “vegan” prepared for autoimmune diseases).
  • Educational programs (each evening lectures after daily sun/sea treatments).
  • Access to exhibit hall during meals for questions with professionals.
  • Discount on all products (ie: books, CD’s, vitamins, water filters, juicers)
  • Free daily classes (yoga, guided meditation, group discussions, funny movies!).
  • Hiking and outdoor educational programs designed for fitness, stamina and confidence building.
  • Vegan food preparation and cooking lessons.
  • Site-seeing included to historic Israeli sites.

“ALL INCLUSIVE 5 year Wellness and Health Support Vacation Program” with a 3-week stay at our Dead Sea clinic is $11,995 per person. ONLY $995 extra per spouse/partner* Airfare is NOT included due to multiple departure locations. Group rates are available via our airline company.”

All of which profit-making for a non-profit organisation seems to have caused trouble with Google, as this appeal by Katz in 2010 makes clear:

“Dear Team,
We are a new non-profit with Google Grant acceptance #994-225-6178.

We would like to go through an appeal process with staff person at Google who knows about IRS 501c3 criterion for accepting us as a non-profit. We have been highly scrutinized by the IRS and they have checked our mission (see this link please). It’s a treatment approved for decades by Dermatologist around the world and doctors at the Dead Sea in Israel along with our Medical team in the U.S. has 30 years of documented success with diet for Psoriasis, Arthritis and related issues.

But GoogleAds system will not allow us to use the keywords such as “Psoriasis” in our ads. They don’t understand our “scholarship” program and alternative treatment choice. This is the right of patients to choose their own type of treatment. They kicked out our proposed keywords as “medical claims for miracle cures.” This rejection of direct advertising terms like Psoriasis or Eczema Treatment forces us to come up with other ways to promote our treatment, such as our books on diet, etc.

Why can’t GoogleAds allow us to do our mission? See our 501c3 letter on our “Why Donate” page, which demonstrates that we don’t make claims of cures, but we are providing a service to those interested in alternative treatment. Please give us a reasonable way to promote our safe treatment program using keywords that get patients to learn exactly what we offer.

All that we have worked with you for months is to get help to give FREE scholarships to those who cannot afford care.

I greatly appreciate your support.

Matthew A. Katz
http://www.HealthRightUSA.org
203-508-2423

makatz54@yahoo.com”

The free scholarships referred to above are explained here:

“Your tax-deductible donations go to scholarships and spreading the word about our mission for general wellness and a natural, non-drug Psoriasis treatment.

Many cannot afford this treatment because it is not covered by health care plans countries like the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland. Our mission is to invite individual givers as well as large philanthropies to lend their support.Our initial goal is $1.4 million to cover the costs of a full year of program planning, professional fundraising and advertising. Any amount that brings us closer to this is greatly appreciated. This goal includes 50 patient scholarships per month. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. (see our 501c3 certificate below the Donate button).

Would you be able to give:
$18, $36, $72, $100, $150, $200, $250,
$500
$5,000
…or another amount?

Every scholarship patient must have income less than $45,000 per person, $75,000 per couple, $85,000 per family. Each individual at this program costs $8,995 and any partner or spouse costs $995 which includes hotel, food, and all program fees for a full 21-day stay. Airfare is not included. This is what your scholarship dollars support.”

I’m presuming the donations (via a payment through a Chipin login, a somewhat unusual method) help with running the organisation in addition to the payments made by patients themselves though I find the arrangement somewhat puzzling. Maybe that is just a cultural thing as the organisation – and its functioning – is very American as can be seen elsewhere on the business website:

“Qualified College Students Can Apply for Internship Experience from anywhere around the World who speak these languages!

Seeking qualified college students who speak multiple languages (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Slavish & English) to assist in blogging, social networking and contacting other nutritionists who can refer chronic psoriasis patients for treatment tours to the Dead Sea.

Demographic studies show that there are 125 million in India, China, Japan and in Europe which includes 7.5 million alone in the U.S.

To discuss Internship options, please fill-out the form on the right and we will email you a “getting started” package.

Once trained, you may also qualify for our “Payment Plan” by becoming a Tour Marketing Salesperson.

HealthRightUSA, Inc. pays Intern/Salespeople $200 per patient referred who registers for at our Dead Sea clinic for one of these sessions. An additional $50 if the partner/spouse joins them at the clinic.”

The website also includes links to several videos on YouTube where diet books and other materials available for sale from Health Right USA are discussed. In fact the diet part of these offers seem to be based (or linked) to the much-debated American nutritionist Dr. Joel Fuhrman as the site makes clear:

“We offer FULL SCHOLARSHIPS* for Psoriasis, Eczema, Psoriatic Arthritis and type-2 Diabetes patients programs to help them heal at the Dead Sea in Israel. We use natural methods of sun treatments, special sea mineral baths and physicain supervised healthy vegan diets.

We teach them “healthy living” through proper vegetarian style diet, exercise,meditation and attitudes that will help them maintain their general health and maintain clear skin for years to come.

We have in place ”Five Year Wellnes Program” to enhance long-term remission and further document the value of Dr. Fuhrman’s natural treatment program

*Scholarships are based on the economy and our fundraising efforts currently underway. Please give generously to help others receive this treatment!”

Okay. I’m not questioning the validity or otherwise of the treatments or programs offered by the American-based organisation, HRUSA, Inc. Nor do I question the ways by which it raises donations or earns revenues. It states that it is registered in the United States as a “501(c) organization”, that is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation so presumably it has been examined in some way by US federal authorities to see if it qualifies for that status (there is a letter of confirmation from the Internal Revenue Service, though it  is addressed to the organisation via one Sandra L. Cox and a PO Box number rather than a company address).

My only question centres on the very public association of a man wanting to be the next President of Ireland with this group and the need for this relationship to be clarified. It does not touch upon whatever private medical condition or treatment that Seán Gallagher may have had in the past (or currently still does). That is no ones business but his own, and rightly so. We all have private lives, even politicians, and not everything needs to be known.

However, what does need to be known is how Seán Gallagher is linked to Health Rights USA, Inc. and why does it use his name and image in its promotion? Are there no links? If so should he not request that they alter their website to remove his name and photographs? This is not a “muck raking” exercise since, as far as one can tell, there is no muck to rake. It is a simple matter of clarification and the need for someone who may hold the highest office in this nation to be above reproach. It may well be (and I presume it is) that Mr. Gallagher is unaware of the unusual prominence he is given on the Health Rights USA site. Or perhaps he is a donor and wishes this philanthropy to remain private (a laudable stance, if so, and I apologise for raising it)? Whatever the case a speedy answer will put this question to rest.

Related articles

Seán Gallagher – A Fianna Fáil Sockpuppet?

Posted on by
1

If one were to believe the polls (and some commentators) the “Independent” candidate for the presidency, Seán Gallagher, may be a serious contender for becoming the next Uachtarán na hÉireann. We are told that he is well-ahead of his nearest rival, Labour’s Michael D. Higgins; so much so that the Higgins’ campaign came up with a rather slick trick to downgrade the other runners in the hopes of siphoning off some of their votes (or at least transfers). However, just how independent is this particular Independent? In fact, as we shall see, he is anything but.

In 2009 Seán Gallagher, as a Louth member of Fianna Fáil’s Ard Comhairle (the party leadership), appeared at the Ógra Fianna Fáil National Youth Conference in Bundoran. His account of the event was posted on Fianna Fáil’s website and I include it in full so there can be no doubts about where he stands:

“Last night I had the honour of speaking at the Ógra Fianna Fáil National Youth Conference in Bundoran. It was a fun night, full of excitement as we watched the Ireland match unfold and as always with these occasions there was plenty of cheer and goodwill as the Ógra members celebrated another successful conference.

This wasn’t the first time I had attended a Fianna Fáil Youth Conference, back in the 1980s I was also a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil and served on the National Youth Committee. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the lessons I learnt back then have stood to me over the years and have certainly helped me in my business career.

The thing about Ógra Fianna Fáil, and about politics in general, is that it teaches you all about people. It gives you great experience in meeting new people, making contacts and forming friendships. Any businessman, salesman or manager will tell you just how important those skills are. People are the foundations upon which any successful business operation is built and it is the relationships you form and how you foster them that will determine whether your business lives or dies.

I was also reminded of the other ways that my Ógra involvement has helped shape my career. It obviously thought me the fundamentals of public speaking, a skill that will stand to anyone who has to make presentations or pitches. You learn how to address an audience and to get your message across. That’s a skill that a lot of businesspeople I encounter still haven’t mastered – you only have to take a look at some of the presentations on the Dragon’s Den to see that.

There certainly was no shortage of dynamic young talent at the Ógra Fianna Fáil Conference. I came across so many impressive, confident and intelligent young men and women, busting with ideas. I was greatly encouraged that the political and business leaders of the future will certainly help move this country forward.”

So, how politically “independent” does that sound to you?

In 2010 the Irish Independent reported that Gallagher was the favourite to stand for Fianna Fáil in the Louth constituency, and just how integral he was to the party machine there:

“The businessman is considering seeking the Fianna Fail nomination in Louth following Mr Ahern’s announcement of his retirement.

Mr Gallagher masterminded the vote management strategy at the last general election in the constituency, which saw Mr Ahern’s vote kept down to ensure Fianna Fail TD Seamus Kirk got elected.

Despite Mr Ahern’s high profile, Mr Kirk actually finished ahead of him on the first count in 2007.

Mr Ahern claimed credit for the plan working, but Mr Gallagher is attributed as the real brains behind it. Fianna Fail sources say there is little love lost between the pair.

Local party activists said they were “not sure” Mr Ahern would back Mr Gallagher’s candidacy.

Mr Gallagher is regarded in Fianna Fail as potentially part of a new wave of politicians. He has experience from county enterprise boards, youth work, disabilities and north-south bodies, so there’s a broad mix of enterprise and community involvement.

The 48-year-old was also appointed to the new board of FAS earlier this year.”

Seán Gallagher was more than just a Fianna Fáil appointee to FÁS. In fact they lauded him with several cushy quango positions including the Drogheda Port Company and Intertrade Ireland, augmenting his (debatable) business interests. Unfortunately that last one has got him into a wee bit of trouble as the Irish Independent has detailed:

“ONE of Independent candidate Sean Gallagher’s firms got cash from a state enterprise quango he served on.

He was appointed to the board of North-South body Intertrade Ireland at the end of 2007 — and annual accounts for that year reveal they gave €41,970 to his Smart Homes company.

Yesterday, Mr Gallagher became impatient and declined to answer the question when asked if getting the funding was a conflict of interest, and said to speak to Intertrade Ireland.

He also became irate when asked why he had missed so many of the board meetings.

“I have been working for the last four years,” he told the Irish Independent.

“Did you ask about the subcommittees, the equity network and the work that I do to help fund small businesses?

“Give me the dates and come back and ask me for specific reasons and I’ll give you the dates that I was probably doing stuff.

“I would love if you guys would go and do positive stuff.

“Do you have any other understanding of the amount of schools I have spoken to, the enterprise agencies I have spoken to, of the universities I have spoken to, of all the small companies I have helped, and these are the questions you want to ask me?” he added.

Intertrade Ireland said the grant from its technology transfer fund was approved before Mr Gallagher joined the board in December that year — and denied there was a conflict of interest.

But it also emerged that he managed to miss half of all Intertrade Ireland board meetings over the past two-and-a-half years — despite getting €30,000 in fees.”

And Gallagher didn’t just mastermind the campaign of FF Louth TD Seamus Kirk in 2007. He also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with FF Mayo TD Dara Calleary during his re-election run earlier this year, as examined by the Herald:

“HE INSISTS he’s no longer a member of Fianna Fail, but that didn’t stop Sean Gallagher from claiming that it was the only party to get the country back on track.

Launching the election campaign of Dara Calleary, Gallagher stood shoulder to shoulder with the Fianna Fail TD and announced that he was the ‘face of change’ that would fix the future.

Speaking at the time to hundreds of party faithful, Gallagher showered praise on the Fianna Fail politician.

“I believe that Dara is the face of change in the political environment,” he said.

“What we have had up to now to get us here, will not work to get us to the future. But it can change, and with people like Dara it will happen and it will work again.”

The Dragon’s Den star went on to describe the outgoing Minister of State as “a fabulous, outstanding debater and communicator at all levels”, during the official campaign launch held in Downhill House Hotel in February.”

Such was Seán Gallagher’s long involvement with the Fianna Fáil party that he virtually became synonymous with it. If there was a Fianna Fáil opening of an envelope Gallagher was there to hold it (though no brown envelopes, I should add). This perhaps explains his inability to condemn Fianna Fáil’s deplorable record in government on RTÉ’s now infamous Primetime Debate while his campaign PR staff went into hysterics (or so I’ve been informed). But he was soon back into voter-friendly mode after some late night, erm, discussions, as the Irish Times outlined:

“INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE Seán Gallagher has moved to distance himself from Fianna Fáil’s performance in government over the last four years after appearing to equivocate on the issue when questioned on the RTÉ Prime Time debate.

Mr Gallagher said yesterday that he “abhorred” the decisions made by the previous FF-led administration and said he was disillusioned with the party’s loss of contact with its grassroots when he resigned from Fianna Fáil earlier this year.

Asked by Miriam O’Callaghan if he felt Fianna Fáil had let the country down, Mr Gallagher said that he couldn’t answer for the party.

He said the reason he was seen to hesitate when asked the question was that he was seeking to distinguish between Fianna Fáil ministers in cabinet and its ordinary rank and file members.

“I was asked to condemn Fianna Fáil and the first thing that came into my mind was the thousands of ordinary decent men and women who are the grassroots of Fianna Fáil . . . and I didn’t want to condemn them because they weren’t in government, they weren’t in cabinet.””

Hmm…

Another Gallagher problem as been his memory (not the first Fianna Fáil member to have that problem, of course). He has been somewhat confused about when exactly he quit the party. Gallagher’s campaign had initially claimed that he had quit FF in March 2010. Except he hadn’t. He had in fact quit in January 2011. The Journal reports that:

“SEÁN GALLAGHER HAS clarified the timing of his departure from Fianna Fáil – insisting that in practice he left the party 18 months ago.

The Independent presidential candidate acknowledged that he resigned in writing only in January of this year. But he said this was merely a formality and he effectively left his local cumann in March 2010.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Gallagher said: “I left officially on March 1 2010. That was my last meeting when I stepped down at a meeting of my local cumann.” He added that he had “officially resigned in writing earlier this year because my position [on the national executive] hadn’t been filled and I thought it prudent to tidy that up.”

Questioned about his role on the party’s national executive, Gallagher insisted it was merely an organisational role and “doesn’t deal with issues or policies”.”

Okay. First things first. Seán Gallagher “officially” left his cumann (local branch) of Fianna Fáil in March 2010. He then “officially” left Fianna Fáil’s Ard Comhairle (national leadership) in January 2011. Yet he was campaigning for Fianna Fáil candidates in Mayo (the FF TD Dara Calleary mentioned above), Donegal (FF’s nominee Charlie McConalogue) and Monaghan (FF candidate Margaret Conlons) in February 2011. A year after he left the party?

No surprise then that Celia Larkin should pen an impassioned public defence of Gallagher and Fianna Fáil, calling for both to take on their opponents.  Or that in return Bruce Arnold (!) can point out the many holes in the claims of the ”Independent” candidate Seán Gallagher, as he details in an article for the Irish Independent:

“Sean Gallagher’s picture of himself and Fianna Fail is now being amended in the light of facts previously muddied. He says on his campaign website — or did until this weekend — that he was ‘a sporadic’ party member.

Yet his Fianna Fail career was full-on and privileged. It lasted much longer than he says; it was anything but sporadic.

He says he “got involved in the 1980s”. This was with Ogra Fianna Fail, which he headed, in Cavan, “for a year”. This would be difficult without becoming a party member. He does not tell us about that or when it happened. He gives the impression that he drifted away, coming back to help in the government’s ‘alcohol education programme’ and to work with Rory O’Hanlon and Seamus Kirk.

He claims he left Fianna Fail “in terms of being a member of the party, or being active, back in 2009″. And he gives the reason: “The party had moved away from its grassroots, the ordinary people who were struggling.”

Yet in January 2011, he was still a member of its National Executive, which is not possible without being a party member. When he ‘resigned’, on January 5, 2011, by letter to the Fianna Fail Party Secretary Sean Dorgan, it was simply as “a constituency delegate” to the National Executive.

He concluded: “I want, however, to express my continued support to you and your colleagues in this challenging period for the party.”

Fianna Fail was then in political freefall, facing an annihilation it richly deserved and got. Yet Gallagher remained a member, sympathetic to the senior leadership. He helped senior figures in the following general election.

His campaign team has so far been unable to establish whether he has resigned from the party, and if so, when. None of the above has anything whatsoever to do with the reasons he gave on October 3 for the parting of the ways in 2009. What he said about that did not in fact happen.

Moreover, he has rejected all political parties because their fight is “about who was going to be in power”. Yet he went on being heavily involved for a further two years in Fianna Fail — both as a National Executive member and still longer as a party member.

In July of this year… he told Pat Kenny yet another, quite different, story about his Fianna Fail membership.

He joined “to advance the introduction of important legislation”. So there were now two completely different and distinct reasons, the first being the legislation, the second representing Louth.

“Let me explain about Fianna Fail,” he told Kenny. He then gave yet another reason for his Fianna Fail membership: the need for youth services.

What he did not tell Kenny was the story of his close and continuing relationship with Fianna Fail throughout the whole period of his presidential challenge.

This was because the party held the key to his gaining the councils on which his nomination depended. In some of them, the Fianna Fail party whip was imposed in his favour.

Gallagher represents Fianna Fail. He is their default candidate. He has made little of close ties with the party.

He cannot tell us, through his campaign team, when he left Fianna Fail, suggesting he has not left.

Fianna Fail is also being coy. Last Saturday night, the party said it would not comment on whether Gallagher was still a member of the party, saying it was up to him and his campaign team to deal with this issue.

The team is silent on this.”

Well they might be silent for they know the answer as well as we do. Based upon the evidence above most readers would conclude that Seán Gallagher is nothing more than a Fianna Fáil sockpuppet. This campaign is not about the election of a head of state. It is about the re-launch of the Fianna Fáil brand, repackaged for the old party grassroots and the newer converts. It is about reinvigorating the party locally and giving an electoral dry-run to a person who, if he doesn’t succeed this time, will undoubtedly run for Dáil Éireann in the near future. Seán Gallagher, next president of Ireland? Or Seán Gallagher, next president of Fianna Fáil?

Related articles

Michael D. Higgins: “Hamas Is More Advanced Than The IRA”

Posted on by
3

What a week it’s been in the race for the Áras. We’ve had a mystery whodunit (Dana), a shocking televised trial (McGuinness), an uncomfortable tragicomedy (Norris), a disturbing authoritarian drama (Mitchell), some touchie-feelie fuzziness (Higgins), an Irish version of The Hills-meets-The Kardashians (Davis), and a really bad memory act (Seán Gallagher).

Indeed it is to the latter candidate that I turn as we look at how the Fianna Fáil Independent nominee has fared in recent days. If we are to believe the news media establishment (which has grown rather fond of Gallagher as their Anyone-But-McGuinness campaign has faltered) he seems to be a winner. We are told that he is now the favourite. At least that is what the Irish Independent is claiming in a report that should take the reward for the best spun article of the election (so far):

“The fight to be the ninth President of Ireland is now a two-horse race between Labour’s Michael D Higgins and Dragons’ Den star Sean Gallagher, according to the latest Sunday Independent/ Quantum Research nationwide poll.

Several candidates including Mary Davis, Dana Rosemary Scallon and Senator David Norris have all seen large drops in support, while Martin McGuinness remains well behind the leaders.

… Mr Higgins remains the front-runner on 36 per cent, up nine points on the previous poll.

But close behind him is Mr Gallagher, who has seen his support rise spectacularly from 9 per cent in mid-September to 29 per cent this weekend. His support almost doubled last week alone.

The bad news continues for Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell. Despite having the Fine Gael party machine behind him, his support has dwindled further, dropping from 10 per cent to 6 per cent.

Mary Davis fares the worst. In our last poll, her first-preference share stood at 12 per cent but now her support base is down to 4 per cent.

Dana Rosemary Scallon’s support is also in meltdown; her vote has gone from 7 per cent to just 2 per cent.

Former front runner, Senator David Norris, has also seen his support decimated, down from 20 per cent last time round to 10 per cent now.

Sinn Fein candidate Martin McGuinness has seen a marginal rise in his support from 11 per cent to 13 per cent, but it would seem he has far too much ground to make up between now and polling day.”

From reading the above piece, and the placing of the reporting of McGuinness’ polling numbers behind all the other candidates, it would be hard to credit that McGuinness is actually in third place and his support has gone up; and that despite a week of terrible reporting and some undoubted PR setbacks (the survey was conducted on Friday by Independent Newspapers controversial in-house polling group).

However RTÉ is reporting that:

“Independent candidate Seán Gallagher has moved into the lead in the Presidential election, according to a Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post…

The poll suggests that Seán Gallagher has jumped 18 points since the last Red C poll nine days ago, and is leading on 39%.

The Red C poll shows Michael D Higgins is in second place with 27%.

Martin McGuinness is down three points to 13%.

Gay Mitchell is down two points to 8%.

David Norris is down seven to 7%.

Mary Davis has lost five points to 4%.

Dana Rosemary Scallon is down three points to 2%.

The poll was taken on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before the RTÉ Prime Time debate was held.”

Ah, statistics, damned statistics and lies. Anyone have a coin to flip?

Given the media establishment’s long-term love affair with a certain political party (until an unceremonious – and rather timely – dumping of the latter) it is no wonder that some newspapers and journalists have started to row in behind Gallagher. A strong showing in the Presidential election will set him up nicely for a run at Dáil Éireann in a few years time and then the leadership of a certain political party.

And people thought that certain party was foolish not to field an official candidate? Sinn Féin isn’t the only organisation in Ireland adept at pulling deft political strokes. Or planning for the future.

The most important part of the RTÉ article is the fact that the poll took place before the controversial Prime Time debate which has sparked so much criticism amongst the online chattering classes (not too mention the old school phone-in radio shows). It will be interesting to see how Martin McGuinness’ numbers change in reaction to the hostile grilling he got from presenter Miriam O’Callaghan and the negative reaction it drew from many viewers. Despite several attempts to turn the story against the Sinn Féin candidate by some Establishment journos many believe there will be something of a sympathy vote added to McGuinness’ core support.

Talking of support, the Labour candidate Michael D. Higgins, that well-known supporter of non-Irish terrorists international freedom-fighters, from Latin America to the Middle East,  has spoken out via the Irish Independent about his concerns that Martin McGuinness’ election would give a retrospective mandate to the Irish Republican Army’s thirty-year armed struggle:

“Michael D Higgins, the Labour candidate, has raised concern that Martin McGuinness is using the presidential election to “rationalise” and “endorse” the Provisional IRA campaign of terrorism.

In a strategic intervention, Mr Higgins – one of the two clear frontrunners – has also told the Sunday Independent that it would be “quite wrong” for Sinn Fein to “claim ownership” of the peace process for “electoral purposes”.

He said there was a “clear conflict” between accounts given by Mr McGuinness of his “paramilitary career” and information available to successive Governments.

“Irish people want a President who will be honest and open… I believe it would be helpful if the conflict over different accounts was faced up to and answers given,” he said.

Mr Higgins said that he, personally, was “absolutely and unequivocally opposed to the campaign of violence carried out by the IRA” and highlighted his “political opposition” and “personal revulsion” at that violence.

On the IRA campaign of violence, he said: “I would be particularly concerned if this presidential election campaign was to be used to seek some sort of rationalisation of or endorsement for that campaign.”

In what was last night interpreted as vindication of the strategy to highlight the terrorist past of Mr McGuinness, the former Labour minister added that he expected the electorate would “want to consider not just the recent record of Martin McGuinness but also his record overall”.”

Oh-ho. Is that so, Michael D? Well, let’s have a look at your record shall we? Hmmm, where to begin…? Why not with your 2004 statement following the death of the Palestinian terrorist guerrilla freedom-fighter Yasser Arafat, which is still sitting proud on the Labour Party’s website:

“Responding to the death of Yasser Arafat, Labour Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michael D Higgins TD said his historic achievement will be to have held together a disparate coalition of groups under the umbrella of the PLO and to have transformed that group into a recognised political entity.

After the 1967 War, his achievement in organising a demoralised Palestinian people had as its crowning moment his address to the United Nations General Assembly in 1974. From that moment on, the struggle of the Palestinian people had international recognition.

Later, as many different countries came to recognise the PLO, it became clear that Yasser Arafat would be recognised as the symbol of the Palestinian people’s struggle.

In later years he has been a virtual prisoner in Ramallah, spending most of his time under house arrest. The refusal of Ariel Sharon, supported by President George Bush, to negotiate with Yasser Arafat as the representative of the Palestinian people had the effect of stalling the peace process and led to international condemnation.

The contradiction of Arafat’s being kept under house arrest, being deprived of resources, and yet at the same time being required to exercise control over disparate militant groups involved in attacks on Israeli civilians, was not lost on the international community.

His critics will stress his slowness to deal with the findings as to corruption among elements of the Palestinian Authority, and his alleged autocratic style of leadership. Nevertheless, he will be seen as the uniting figure of Palestinians in their struggle, the iconic figure around whom different groups organised, the person who established the Palestinian struggle internationally, and undoubtedly the major founding figure of a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state”, he added.”

Umm. Did Michael D. Higgins just excuse Yasser Arafat for any responsibility in the killing of Israeli civilians by Palestinian “militant groups” during the latter part of his leadership of the PLO? Actually he has a point there, albeit a narrow one. But when did the killers of civilian men, women and children become militants not terrorists? Or is such neutral language only reserved for exponents of political violence outside of Ireland?

At the same time Michael D. Higgins, then an opposition spokesperson for Labour, turned out in Galway for a candle-lit vigil in Arafat’s honour with some, um, interesting folk:

“The Islamic community of Galway marked the death of the Lion of Ramallah with a candlelit vigil in Shop Street last night, organised by the noted anti-war activist, Nuria Mustafa Dunne. Co-religionists from Egypt, Palestine, Iraq and Pakistan met in solidarity, with activists from the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a representative from Amnesty International… the Irish Centre For Human Rights in NUI Galway along with Michael D Higgins, Mary Kelly and Green Party City Councillor Niall Ó Brollachain to bear witness to the fallen scourge of Zionism.”

So, Arab terrorist-turned-statesman good; Irish terrorist-turned-statesman bad? Interesting world view Michael D.

You were also pretty unhappy about Hamas, the Palestinian political party, being added to the European Union’s list of terrorist-supporting organisations in 2007, as this Oireachtas Report makes clear:

“Deputy Michael D. Higgins: Several questions immediately arise from the Minister of State’s response. …Does he agree that the credibility of the European Union is badly damaged by, in the first instance, the clearing house decision that added Hamas to a proscribed list, with no accountability to this Parliament or any parliament in Europe, and, following that, its failure to recognise the result of the election, which was acknowledged as free and fair by several international bodies, including the Carter Centre? All we had from the EU was a mealy-mouthed statement expressing gratitude that no lives had been lost in the course of the election. It is absolutely absurd to suggest it is dealing with all the parties. What contact has the EU with Hamas?

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, suggested in a previous reply to a question on this issue that he had made the Irish position known. However, we do not know what the Irish position is. Is it our position not to recognise the results of the election? Is it our position not to have any contact with Hamas? Is it our position never to remind Israel that as an occupying force, it is in breach of international law by cutting off vital structures for Gaza?”

You go for it, Deputy Higgins. Free Occupied Palestine! But don’t mention Occupied Ireland. Oh, you sort of did.

“Deputy Michael D. Higgins: Hamas is more advanced than the IRA.”

You what now?

Okay. Deep breadth.

In fairness, I find little to disagree with when it comes to the political, social and economic views of Michael D. Higgins. However the absolute obsession of many on the Irish Left with Palestine I don’t get. I find my sympathies lie more with Israel as I see in that state (or perhaps I should say people?) something much more empathic to an Irish person given our similar histories and nature. Admittedly those sympathies are harder to sustain when one see’s the deplorable treatment of the people of Occupied Palestine under Israeli rule and the failure of Israel to engage in any meaningful process towards making peace with their most immediate Arab neighbours. But that is a discussion for another day.

What irritates me is the utter hypocrisy of many on the Irish Left (and some on the Right) who will gnash their teeth and cry tears of blood for a foreign people under an occupation in a foreign land. But Irish people living under an occupation in Ireland? Eh, no thanks. We’re not into that sort of thing.

Yes, Higgins facilitated the scrapping of Section 31 in 1993, the piece of Irish government media censorship that banned Sinn Féin from the airwaves (and which probably added another decade and a few thousand more casualties on to the Northern conflict as Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour protected their own electoral backs). But the removal of that anti-democratic law was a necessary part of the unfolding Peace Process, not some selfless benevolent act on behalf of the political establishment.

Sorry, but when all is said and done, hearing Michael D. Higgins question others on legitimizing acts of political violence is more than even I can stomach. To paraphrase the late, great Carl Sagan:

“If we like them, they’re freedom fighters… If we don’t like them, they’re terrorists. In the unlikely case we can’t make up our minds, they’re temporarily only guerrillas.”

Related articles