Sean Gallagher announces second bid for presidency
Sean Gallagher has announced he will run for president of Ireland for a second time.
The businessman and entrepreneur came second to Michael D Higgins in the 2011 election despite controversy during his campaign.
Mr Gallagher grew up in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, and in 2002 he founded Smarthomes, a home technology business, with Derek Roddy.
The company won numerous awards for innovation and Mr Gallagher was a finalist in the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year contest.
Today I can officially confirm my decision to seek a nomination as an Independent candidate for the 2018 Presidential Election. It is my intention to seek a nomination from four local authorities pursuant to Article 12 of the Constitution.
-- Seán Gallagher (@seangallagher1) August 29, 2018
The 56-year-old became a public figure during his time as an investor on RTE One's Dragons' Den from 2008 to 2011.
He was a member of Fianna Fail at different stages of his life, including the party's youth wing, and served on the party's National Executive.
He said that although he had been a member, he disagreed with many of the decisions made by the party in government, and added: "The party had moved away from the grassroots."
He announced he would run as an independent candidate in the presidential election on the morning of September 27 2011.
My focus now is to meet and speak with Councillors to seek their support and to listen to their views about the type of leadership they wish to see from the Presidency over the next seven year .
-- Seán Gallagher (@seangallagher1) August 29, 2018
Appearing on RTE's The Late Late Show alongside the other candidates, Mr Gallagher confirmed he came from the "Fianna Fail gene pool".
After he announced his intention to run, the Irish Times reported that since 2008, Gallagher had been given 41,550 euro when he was appointed to various state boards by Fianna Fail ministers.
He later said any fees he had received had been given to charity.
Mr Gallagher topped two polls the weekend before the presidential election - the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll and the Sunday Times/Behaviour & Attitudes poll. He poll 40% and 38% respectively.
The televised debates were dominated by sustained questioning by the audience and the other candidates on Mr Gallagher's business record and links to Fianna Fail.
He suffered a major setback in the last debate when a tweet from a fake Martin McGuinness Twitter account alleged he collected a cheque for 5,000 euro from businessman Hugh Morgan, for a Fianna Fail fundraiser which gave access to the Taoiseach.
During the debate, Mr Gallagher conceded that he may have personally collected a donation of 5,000 euro from Mr Morgan for the party.
The next day, Mr Gallagher claimed he had been the victim of a smear campaign and he had not received any cheque from Mr Morgan and denied he was the party "bagman".
Despite the negative media attention, he won 28.5% of first preference votes in the election, leaving him in second place behind Michael D Higgins.
Mr Gallagher received "substantial" damages and an apology from RTE in 2017, under a settlement against the broadcaster arising from the "Tweetgate" incident.
Mr Gallagher claimed the programme was deliberately and unfairly edited, presented and directed by RTE to damage his electoral prospects.
RTE later admitted the tweet should not have been broadcast.
