Why Business should vote for Sean Gallagher

maxer68

The quiet uassuming dark horse is really just a normal DECENT Irish guy.

He's been working for years with the voluntary sector -- community organisations, disability groups, the unemployed, start-up businesses. And he's been a farmer, an entrepreneur, and he's been unemployed himself.

His mantra is jobs jobs jobs.

He understands the prseidency cannot do anything political, but it can for damn sure represent the country's business interests and give us that extra non-political edge in inportant trade missions and state visits.

As business people, isn't that what we need at present?

whydoibother?

He's my favourite candidate.

I think the most helpful thing a President can do, given the constraints on them politically is go foster good relations with business leaders from our vital export markets. He is someone who I believe has the experience and competence to do that effectively.

The only thing I'm not crazy about is his FF associations, but I think that given that he's decided to run independently, he's left them aside. He was never too involved anyway i.e. he wasn't a politician for them.

HellFireClub

Have to say, his accent originally threw me off completely, I know it's not right but that Cavan/Louth accent just makes me shudder.

But I decided lately to try to get beyond that and look at the man a bit more and listen to what he was saying and EVERYTHING he has been saying completely resonates with me.

I was going to vote for Martin Mc Guinesss as I hadn't put any real weight behind Sean Gallagher as a candidate, but the more I hear from Gallagher the more I am inclined to vote for him.

Vincent Browne commenting the other day that he was somehow or other unqualified because he didn't have any "public experience", I can't think of how a person could be any more qualified for the job on that basis.

Our whole system of government, from the delivery of public services to the administration of our banking polocies, is infected with an utterly defective and self defeating "public service" mentality, that is based on everyone covering their arses and participating in the game for their own selfish interests to the detriment of everyone else, with the country run by dicktats from unions and vested interests.

What we need is someone to stand up for those who take the biggest risks of all, those who create small businesses. Forget about the failed policies that have been pursused until now, such as throwing wads of cash at FDI, at some stage we will have to realise that we need to create businesses for ourselves, the only thing stopping this from happening at the moment is the Irish public/civil service.

knighted_1

[QUOTE=whydoibother?;74799262

The only thing I'm not crazy about is his FF associations, but I think that given that he's decided to run independently, he's left them aside. He was never too involved anyway i.e. he wasn't a politician for them.[/QUOTE]

he was a full time political advisor to Rory o hanlon when he was health minister
http://www.rte.ie/tv/dragonsden/profile_sean.html

golfwallah

Sean Gallagher is demonstrating true leadership, a quality that is sadly lacking among many of Ireland’s political figures today.
He is the only candidate with an innovative approach and an example of how problems can be solved from our own resources, using imagination and drive.
Rather than waiting for a political party to provide an election war-chest for posters, fliers, adverts., etc., he has prepared himself well, has been out and about all over the country for months meeting local groups.
His campaign is focused on what we can do, on the future rather than the past and on inspiring people to better things.
He has minimised his dependence on the old established ways of big budget election campaigns with his up to date communications approach and extensive use of social networking to engage with ordinary people to get his message across, fund raise, etc.
By his example, he is demonstrating what can be done on a small budget. He inspires confidence in other people as opposed to his competitors, who are heavily relying on the tired old reactive management policies that got the country into the mess we are all trying to get out of now.

YouBuyLocal

Anyone that says that a mere affiliation to Fianna Fáil is enough to not vote for a candidate is just talking from a partial perspective, in defense of their own political affiliations.

Being a full-time political adviser for a couple of years does not make you the king-pin or put you at the centre of the party. And not all FFers are pure evil either, they are no different to Fine Gael, as a conservative centre-right broad-based populist party. So the particular encumbants dating back to the eighties were a shower of w&%kers, but Seán was affiliated with them based on family allegiances, just like most of the country that is affiliated to one particular party. Thats how it is, that affiliation says nothing - absolutely nothing - about his character or credentials. His involvement in Politics only enhances his status as he has been shown to be able to manage and work within a variety of cultures, in business, the not-for-profit/charity sector and on the periphery of the political sphere.

All this talk in the media is a load of nonsense - based upon their own partial agenda to blacken the man's name - and I can't believe people are swallowing it.

overthenest

come on folks! sean gallagher is only out to make a few quid for himself and ride out the recession, do you really think he would be going for president if his business was booming??? mr gallaghers main business was based on installing new technology into new houses, that day has now passed, if he gets in as president there is no way he is going to take a penny less than what is offered to him as president.
gallagher is a business man and this is a business decision on his part and has nothing to do with "helping ireland"

maxer68

overthenest wrote: »

come on folks! sean gallagher is only out to make a few quid for himself and ride out the recession, do you really think he would be going for president if his business was booming??? mr gallaghers main business was based on installing new technology into new houses, that day has now passed, if he gets in as president there is no way he is going to take a penny less than what is offered to him as president.
gallagher is a business man and this is a business decision on his part and has nothing to do with "helping ireland"

any comment on how he has given huge amounts of his time to voluntary organisations over the years even before he was well known and that he increased his involvement as business improved for him and is still involved with many groups.

overthenest

maxer68 wrote: »

any comment on how he has given huge amounts of his time to voluntary organisations over the years even before he was well known and that he increased his involvement as business improved for him and is still involved with many groups.

its called building brand gallagher.....

maxer68

overthenest wrote: »

its called building brand gallagher.....

if that's correct, its was a brilliant strategy and with such forward thinking he's even more attractive to have a president.

overthenest

dont get me wrong i have a lot of time for mr gallagher as a businessman but as president i think he would be wasted, speaking with my political hat on its not the job for him but it pays well and has good perks and that is why i see it as a business decision on gallaghers part which is not necessarily good for the country...

maxer68

overthenest wrote: »

dont get me wrong i have a lot of time for mr gallagher as a businessman but as president i think he would be wasted, speaking with my political hat on its not the job for him but it pays well and has good perks and that is why i see it as a business decision on gallaghers part which is not necessarily good for the country...

It pays well, but its a 24/7 job and you get very little privacy. - Personally I'd rather what I get currently than the after reduction estimated 230k+ (about 125k after tax) that this job offers and my privacy and av. 50 hours a week.

I do know my neighbour really really hope for Michael D - buts he's one of the garda atache's and reckons Michael D will be asleep by 9pm most evenings. - He's enjoyed the overtime with McAleese, but really would like to know what an 8 hour day is again!

Kinetic^

Does it pay as well as what he's earning as an entrepreneur now? Highly unlikely so it's not about the money. It's a weak enough ballot tbh and outside of Norris/Gallagher, I can't see any of them making a strong challenge.

YouBuyLocal

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Does it pay as well as what he's earning as an entrepreneur now? Highly unlikely so it's not about the money. It's a weak enough ballot tbh and outside of Norris/Gallagher, I can't see any of them making a strong challenge.

To put Norris in the same breath as Gallagher is a joke. Norris is a clown. He is a bull****ter and a fool. Gallagher has a broad experience of ireland, being born with a disability, learning to read while visually impaired, working on a farm (for a man called John Morrow) in his teens, going to Maynooth to study youth development and writing a government report on youth alcoholism, working with volunteer orgs and charities, being unemployed for a long period, becoming involved with politics, becoming an entrepreneur - successfully - and finally seeing his business collapse with the downturn and suffering the injustice of not being paid by developers on bail-outs themselves.

He has a rounded view and experience of Ireland, unlike any political hack like Norris. Gallagher is an inspiration to unemployed people, as opposed to a hand-out.

overthenest

YouBuyLocal wrote: »

To put Norris in the same breath as Gallagher is a joke. Norris is a clown. He is a bull****ter and a fool. Gallagher has a broad experience of ireland, being born with a disability, learning to read while visually impaired, working on a farm (for a man called John Morrow) in his teens, going to Maynooth to study youth development and writing a government report on youth alcoholism, working with volunteer orgs and charities, being unemployed for a long period, becoming involved with politics, becoming an entrepreneur - successfully - and finally seeing his business collapse with the downturn and suffering the injustice of not being paid by developers on bail-outs themselves.

He has a rounded view and experience of Ireland, unlike any political hack like Norris. Gallagher is an inspiration to unemployed people, as opposed to a hand-out.

totally agree re norris

YouBuyLocal

I hear Gallagher has a big event on in the Shelbourne Park hotel which you all can find out about and support on his website. I will see you there:)

my friend

maxer68 wrote: »

The quiet uassuming dark horse is really just a normal DECENT Irish guy.

He's been working for years with the voluntary sector -- community organisations, disability groups, the unemployed, start-up businesses. And he's been a farmer, an entrepreneur, and he's been unemployed himself.

His mantra is jobs jobs jobs.

He understands the prseidency cannot do anything political, but it can for damn sure represent the country's business interests and give us that extra non-political edge in inportant trade missions and state visits.

As business people, isn't that what we need at present?

FFean FF Gallagher?

jobs jobs jobs??? his party oversaw the loss of 250,000 jobs in this state

FFean was very FFneaky at hiding his FF past and last night he failed to admit that FF had made very costly decisions that have impacted the taxpayers of this state

FFean FF Gallagher is not FFooling this Business man

maxer68

my friend wrote: »

FFean FF Gallagher?

jobs jobs jobs??? his party oversaw the loss of 250,000 jobs in this state

FFean was very FFneaky at hiding his FF past and last night he failed to admit that FF had made very costly decisions that have impacted the taxpayers of this state

FFean FF Gallagher is not FFooling this Business man

Do you really think anyone who is in the grassroots of FF has any power whatsoever with the ruling group - even backbencher TD's had no power. (same goes for FG / Lab etc)

If he was seen as a real FF, they would have put him up for election for something at some stage.

Yes - the ministers called it wrong and too much emphasis was put on property. Too little tax was taken and the banking sector were given carte blanche. A member of the local cumain isn;t going to have even the slightest input into government policy. Even those on the Nat Executive wouldn't have input into how the country is run. - A friend of mine is involved in FG in Kildare at a reasonably high level, he knows whatever he says / produces would never even be read by any of the main movers in FG - and it certainly would be no different in FF.

As someone who is in business and who yesterday agreed terms on expanding the business (another 6 jobs), I want someone who is positive to be president - Gallagher is the only one who consistenly has had a positive slant on his campaign.

JD Dublin

1. Running a business does not make you suitable to being a politician.
2. While running a business he robbed some people himself by not paying his way - fact.
3. He was not particularly sucessful in running a business - if you believe his stated earnings released today 13th Oct - unless you count a salary of 10,000 and 50,000 in 2010 and 2009 respectively as sucessful - fact.
4. Personally I think he's a bit of a wide boy, a bit of a bull^&*$$er. You'd like to have him on your side in a sales meeting or going in to the bank looking for a loan - but not as head of state FFS.
5. Proof of his status as a BS merchant are his appearances on Dragons Den. In the last 2 years ( 2010 and 2009 ) he had a relatively low declared income - how was he going to invest in businesses that appeared on that program when he apparently hadn't a tosser himself? Yet another fact.

AlmightyCushion

JD Dublin wrote: »

Proof of his status as a BS merchant are his appearances on Dragons Den. In the last 2 years ( 2010 and 2009 ) he had a relatively low declared income - how was he going to invest in businesses that appeared on that program when he apparently hadn't a tosser himself? Yet another fact.

Accumulated wealth. Just because he wasn't paid much over the past 2/3 years doesn't mean he's broke or has relatively little money. He could still have millions he earned from previous years.

maxer68

JD Dublin wrote: »

1. Running a business does not make you suitable to being a politician.
2. While running a business he robbed some people himself by not paying his way - fact.
3. He was not particularly sucessful in running a business - if you believe his stated earnings released today 13th Oct - unless you count a salary of 10,000 and 50,000 in 2010 and 2009 respectively as sucessful - fact.
4. Personally I think he's a bit of a wide boy, a bit of a bull^&*$$er. You'd like to have him on your side in a sales meeting or going in to the bank looking for a loan - but not as head of state FFS.
5. Proof of his status as a BS merchant are his appearances on Dragons Den. In the last 2 years ( 2010 and 2009 ) he had a relatively low declared income - how was he going to invest in businesses that appeared on that program when he apparently hadn't a tosser himself? Yet another fact.

He talks positively, he has a great way with under-priviledged, he has political experience, he hasn't any of the negative campaigning or history of most of the others (except Micheal D)

As for point 2 - where's the "Facts" as you put it? - Are you talking about the employment grant of which 19k out of 20k was paid back in an agreed settlement? - That's real petty, I agreed a 2500 payment from someone who owed me 3300 last week and I still hold him in high regard and hope to do more business with him when his business gets better. Its part of the business up and down cycle - I'm doing very well at the present and I hope the way I dealt with my custoemr brings its own rewards in a couple of years and I salute anyone who is having difficulty coming forward and trying to trash out a deal.

RATM

There's a thread over on p.ie that claims Gallagher has had 3 of his 6 businesses go to the wall.

Also that he had to be taken all the way to the court steps to repay a €20k council loan. He repaid €19k and still owes the taxpayer the balance.

I think this view that Gallagher is some sort of maverick of a businessman should be debunked. He made most of his money supplying technology to houses during a housing boom. As soon as that went tits up so did he.

I'd be asking why is he taking the full €250,000 salary and not donating the majority of it back, like other candidates have said they would.

He's hardly inspiring. Why is it that when it comes to politics in this country that we always reward mediocrity ?

knighted_1

maxer68 wrote: »

If he was seen as a real FF, they would have put him up for election for something at some stage.

QUOTE]

he was put up ,fianna fail asked him to run in the 2007 election to represent louth ,

Independent candidate Seán Gallagher defended his involvement in a company which ended up in a dispute over €20,000 in funding it received from a State-supported enterprise body.

Mr Gallagher said “almost all” the money paid to Home Wiring Systems Ltd in 2001 had been repaid to the Louth County Enterprise Board after a settlement in 2009. He was assistant chief executive of the board from 1995 to 2000. He said the memory of George Lee “talking to an empty chamber” in the Dáil had convinced him not to stand for Fianna Fáil in the general election.

Mr Gallagher said he had been asked by local party members in Co Louth to consider standing for Fianna Fáil but the experience of Mr Lee, who left journalism to be elected as a Fine Gael TD but resigned within a year, convinced him that this would not be a good use of his skills.

JD Dublin

maxer68 wrote: »

He talks positively, he has a great way with under-priviledged, he has political experience, he hasn't any of the negative campaigning or history of most of the others (except Micheal D)

As for point 2 - where's the "Facts" as you put it? - Are you talking about the employment grant of which 19k out of 20k was paid back in an agreed settlement? - That's real petty, I agreed a 2500 payment from someone who owed me 3300 last week and I still hold him in high regard and hope to do more business with him when his business gets better. Its part of the business up and down cycle - I'm doing very well at the present and I hope the way I dealt with my custoemr brings its own rewards in a couple of years and I salute anyone who is having difficulty coming forward and trying to trash out a deal.

Maxer if he made money in businesses, then he kept it himself and left a few of my customer to hang out to dry. And he left them on the hook for a multiple of 1,000. That's never going to be published. You are correct in saying that businesspeople just get on with it - write off what you're owed if you can't collect and just get on with it.

What I am saying is that wide boys skills are not what are needed in the office of president. It's only a short hop from what we know of the shennigans that went on when the second mobile phone licence was handed out - Denis O'Brien, Michael Lowry et al, wheeling and dealing. To restate - that is not the sort of person you want in the highest office in the land.

JD Dublin

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Accumulated wealth. Just because he wasn't paid much over the past 2/3 years doesn't mean he's broke or has relatively little money. He could still have millions he earned from previous years.

Fair point.

JD Dublin

RATM wrote: »

There's a thread over on p.ie that claims Gallagher has had 3 of his 6 businesses go to the wall.

Also that he had to be taken all the way to the court steps to repay a €20k council loan. He repaid €19k and still owes the taxpayer the balance.

I think this view that Gallagher is some sort of maverick of a businessman should be debunked. He made most of his money supplying technology to houses during a housing boom. As soon as that went tits up so did he.

I'd be asking why is he taking the full €250,000 salary and not donating the majority of it back, like other candidates have said they would.

He's hardly inspiring. Why is it that when it comes to politics in this country that we always reward mediocrity ?

Couldn't agree more RATM. Fair play to him for making whatever he made. ''Legitimate business'' we all cry - good man yourself for helping yourself.

He did nothing new, bar get on the crest of a wave like about quarter of the workforce.

He has hopped around from one occuptaion to another.

If he gets to the Aras it'll be the longest time he's been in one job - or maybe some of the boardies out there more familiar with the Sean Gallagher CV will put me right on that one.

HellFireClub

His obvious mental reservation about Fianna Fail the other night was enough to help me decide how to vote.

Coming out the next morning and using strong language to distance yourself from the cesspit that is Fianna Fail, isn't enough to fool most people I think.

I was going to vote for Gallagher but his connections with and appointments to County Enterprise Boards, which as far as I'm concerned are the last refuge of the f*cking idiot stoogie, a board of politically appointed FAT CAT IDIOT ARSEH*OLES that are up there with FAS when it comes to talking out of both sides of their mouths and spoofing applicants, not to mention claiming the expenses and sharing the gravy, when I heard he was a part of this, I knew at once that Gallagher was Fianna Fail to the core.

Then you have the set up where Gallagher appears to have been sitting on the board of one CEB, and then applying for state funding off another. If you have ever tried to get funding from a CEB, you will know that you have to be an insider or politically connected in some way or another, or to have someone insider pushing for you, to get anywhere with them.

HellFireClub

More truths emerging in today's Sunday Business Post about Sean Gallagher's businesses receiving six digit figures from state enterprise agencies. Having dealt with these same agencies myself in the past, I find it hard to accept that there is not a fairly significant chance that the success that Sean Gallagher has had with drawing public money from state agencies, is in no small way connected to his elevated rank within the Fianna Fail organisation at the time he received these funds.

I've dealt with the CEB's and the whole lot of them and there is no doubt in my mind that you would need to have a fair degree of political pull or to at least have someone on the "inside" pushing for you to be supported, in order for any of these state enterprise agencies to support you financially.

This is the kind of hopelessly backward cronyism, this is the kind of mindset that is genuinely toxic to the creation of jobs, and it seems to be the very thing that Gallagher is campaigning against in this presidential election!

Gallagher claims that we need a new culture towards entrepreneurship in this country and I agree with him. But if we accept that as correct and mecessary, then I'd say to Sean Gallagher, that we need to smash this culture within Ireland, that he has benefitted from, whereby only those who are residing within the elevated ranks of our political parties, or only those who are connected to same, are deemed to be worthy enough of state support for their business ideas.

RATM

HellFireClub wrote: »

I've dealt with the CEB's and the whole lot of them and there is no doubt in my mind that you would need to have a fair degree of political pull or to at least have someone on the "inside" pushing for you to be supported, in order for any of these state enterprise agencies to support you financially.

This is the kind of hopelessly backward cronyism, this is the kind of mindset that is genuinely toxic to the creation of jobs, and it seems to be the very thing that Gallagher is campaigning against in this presidential election!

Gallagher claims that we need a new culture towards entrepreneurship in this country and I agree with him. But if we accept that as correct and mecessary, then I'd say to Sean Gallagher, that we need to smash this culture within Ireland, that he has benefitted from, whereby only those who are residing within the elevated ranks of our political parties, or only those who are connected to same, are deemed to be worthy enough of state support for their business ideas.

Exactly. And I think the last 48 hours has shown up Gallagher for what he is - a well connected FF wide boy and bagman who solicits donations from criminals and then denys it.

Voting for him at this stage is daft - if he does get into the Aras then the media won't relent and more dirt will be unearthed on him. From there once some really embarrassing dirt dished out which brings the office into disrepute then FG and Labour will impeach him straight away. Then we'll be faced with yet another election rigmarole with more taxpayers money wasted on a bunch of charlatans.