Seán Gallagher

Seán Gallagher (born 7 July 1962) is an Irish businessman and former reality television personality. He was a co-founder in 2000 of Smarthomes, which after initial success, failed in 2008–2010, and Gallagher departed in 2010–11. He was a panellist on RTÉ's Dragons' Den from 2009 to 2011. Gallagher was an active member of Fianna Fáil for 30 years, from 1981 to 2011, and sat on its National Executive twice (from 1985 to 1987, and from 2009 to 2011). He spent much of his career before Smarthomes working in Fianna Fáil, and in the Irish public service. Gallagher ran as an independent candidate in the 2011 presidential election, finishing second to Michael D. Higgins. He ran again in the 2018 presidential election, finishing third.

Early life and education Gallagher was born in Monaghan in July 1962. His father, John, was from Killygordon in East Donegal. Seán was raised in a family of six in Ballyhaise, County Cavan. Gallagher was effectively blind up until age 3 as a result of congenital cataracts. In September 1985, Gallagher went to Maynooth University where he earned a Diploma in Youth Work and Community Development in June 1987.

During his tenure as assistant CEO of the Louth Country Enterprise Board (1995–2000), Gallagher studied for a Diploma in Management in the Dundalk Institute of Technology from 1997 to 1999, after which he completed an MBA in 2000 at the University of Ulster.

Public service career Much of Gallagher's early career from 1988 to June 2000, involved working with various Irish State bodies and departments. It is not known whether these roles were full-time or part-time, but he has also said that he was a fitness instructor and massage therapist in the 1990s.

From 1988 to 1990, Gallagher said he worked as a Project Co-ordinator for the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Department of Health, and that he was the author of Drink Awareness for Young People, Ireland's first national alcohol education programme. After O'Hanlon lost his cabinet minister position when Albert Reynolds came to power in Fianna Fáil in 1992, Gallagher said that he was an Enterprise Officer for the Blanchardstown Area Development Partnership from 1993 to 1995.

In May 1995, aged 32, Gallagher moved to Blackrock in County Louth where he served as the assistant CEO of the Louth County Enterprise Board.

Smarthomes's turnover grew from around €1 million in 2004 to €7 million by 2006, when it made a peak pre-tax profit of €500,000, a 7% margin.

State boards (2007–2012) On 13 December 2007, Fianna Fáil Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan appointed him to the Board of InterTradeIreland, a North-South Irish trade body, until 2011. There was some controversy that his appointment came after the successful re-election of Fianna Fáil parliamentary party chairman, Séamus Kirk, in the May 2007 general election, for whom Gallagher was Director of Elections; and also that InterTradeIreland invested €41,970 into Smarthomes in 2007, and that Gallagher had attended only 22 of the 36 Board meetings during his tenure.

In January 2010, after Gallagher was elected to the Fianna Fáil National Executive in 2009, Mary Coughlan appointed him to the Board of FÁS, until 2012.

Irish television (2009–2016) In October 2008, Gallagher was announced as an investor on the RTÉ One version of Dragons' Den. He continued as an investor in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 series. In August 2009, he took part in the Charity Lords of the Ring series, an amateur celebrity boxing reality television show, representing the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, and went on to win the show and earn €17,350 for his charity. In March 2016, Gallagher appeared as a celebrity chef on TV3's cooking show, The Restaurant.

Consulting (since 2009) As Smarthomes was wound-down in 2009, Gallagher began to concentrate on business consulting, motivational speaking and journalism, with resultant fees paid through his firm, Beech House Training and Consultants Limited ("BHTC"). BHTC came under scrutiny during the 2011 Presidential campaign, and in October 2011, Professor of Management at UCD, Niamh Brennan, said that she had a "bad vibe", having read the BHTC accounts. (The accounts of Gallagher's consulting company, BHTC, listed a Director Loan of €82,829, which was 70% of BHTC's net assets.) The Revenue Commissioners prohibit Director Loans in excess of 10% of net assets because of their use in tax avoidance (e.g. where the Director avoids paying company tax and dividend tax, or salary tax (depending how the Director extractes the profits), by giving themselves a loan, and then never paying it back, and usually winding down the company who writes off the loan. The accounts also indicated that Gallagher had funded at least one of his Dragons' Den investments through BHTC fees, and journalists questioned the level of Gallagher's net worth. In September 2018, it was reported that Gallagher was one of two Directors of a regional industrial-office leasing company called Clyde Real Estate, and that his consulting company for motivational speaking was, Business Matters Limited.

Political career Fianna Fáil (1981–2011) The Candidate Profile for Connacht/Ulster from the 9th Ógra Fianna Fáil youth conference in November 1984 lists Gallagher, age 22, and states that he joined Fianna Fáil in 1981, and by 1984 was Chair of Cavan Ógra Comhairle Dáilcheantair (constituency council). Various references are made to Gallagher later becoming the national head of Ógra Fianna Fáil, After leaving Ógra, Gallagher said: "I later worked full time for the party in Fianna Fáil headquarters, supporting members like yourself in raising much-needed funds for the work of the party."

In June 2006, Gallagher, while still CEO of SmartHomes, became Director of Elections for Fianna Fáil Louth TD and parliamentary party chairman, Séamus Kirk, whose seat was under threat from Sinn Féin. In July 2008, Gallagher hosted a €5,000 per-head fund-raising dinner for 40 people in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk, County Louth, for the new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. The event became a source of controversy in the 2011 presidential election as to whether Gallagher was specifically requesting, and collecting, cheques, or whether they were voluntary. In June 2011, it was reported Gallagher approached Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members to run as an Independent candidate, but with a "semi-detached" relationship to the party. In June 2011, he received the fourth and final required nomination, of a local council, and he handed in his nomination papers on 27 September 2011. Gallagher was one of seven candidates, and launched his campaign at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin on 2 October 2011. Throughout his campaign, Gallagher adopted the use of social media as an alternative to posters. He had the highest number of followers of the candidates on Facebook, and the second highest on Twitter.

On 25 September 2011, the first of six major RED C and MRBI opinion polls (see main Wikipedia article) in the campaign, ranked Gallagher 2nd last at 11%. The first of eight television debates took place on 30 September 2011, and appearing on The Late Late Show alongside the other candidates, Gallagher confirmed that he came from "the Fianna Fáil gene pool". The Irish Times described his performance as: "he struggled to give his idea play". On 6 October 2011, the second main opinion poll, from RED C, ranked Gallagher 2nd, behind Higgins, at 20%.

As Gallagher rose in the polls in October, scrutiny came on his business dealings, and Fianna Fáil heritage (which were linked via State grants, and State Board appointments). Attention came to the €830,000 in State grants Smarthomes received, which exceeded to the total profits the company made for Gallagher; called into the show to reveal herself as that audience member saying: "I think it's extraordinary that Seán believes normal people, voters, don't have the right to ask a question".

On 27 October 2011, Gallagher received 28.5% of first preference votes in the election, leaving him in second place behind Michael D. Higgins. On 30 October, The Guardian, chronicling the reasons for Gallagher's fall in support, reported that a final RTÉ poll showed that 28% of Irish voters changed their mind in the last week of the campaign, with 58% of those switching from Gallagher.

On 7 March 2012, the Irish Broadcasting Authority of Ireland upheld Gallagher's complaint about unfair treatment regarding how RTÉ handled the unverified tweet on the final Pat Kenny debate. On 19 December 2017, it was reported that RTÉ agreed to pay Gallagher a sum of €130,000 as part of a confidential legal settlement arising from the final Pat Kenny debate. On 10 September 2018, with the support of four county councils, Gallagher became the second candidate in the 2018 election to secure a nomination, after the incumbent Michael D. Higgins (who has the right to nominate himself). On 16 September 2018, the second of 5 major opinion polls, ranked Gallgher a distant second place with 15%, compared to Higgins at 67%; which was to be the highest polling Gallagher would reach in the campaign.

On 23 September 2018, in an interview with the Irish Independent, when asked if he had campaigned on the social issues he had made part of his presidential platform, Gallagher replied: "No, I didn't actively campaign....I can't campaign on every issue". When asked about what he would do with the €130,000 settlement he won from RTÉ (see above), he replied: "The money is there for my kids' education" (he has two children).

Gallagher raised the expenses of the office as an issue, and on 29 September 2018 told the Irish Independent that he would stay in Irish embassies when abroad rather than luxury hotels. On the first radio debate on 10 October 2018, Gallagher said he was concerned at the "extravagance attached to the office", and that "We've heard stories of €3,000 a night hotels, the issue for us as taxpayers, we're not in a position to see these figures". On 12 October 2018, Gallagher called for a public audit of all presidential expenses, which the State rejected as already covered under existing transparency guidelines. On 12 October 2018, Gallagher praised Higgins calling him an "inspiring politician", that the people of Ireland were tired of negative politics, and that Gallagher wanted to "succeed Michael D, not replace".

On 10 October 2018, the Irish Times when reviewing the candidates campaign videos, described Gallagher's video as an "electrifying exercise in grand patriotic baloney", and that it was "Fashioned lovingly from the finest garbage". On 15 October 2018, The Irish Times reported Gallagher wrote to Higgins in the Áras regarding his inability to attend all televised debates calling Higgins "insulting to the people of Ireland and shows contempt for the integrity of our electoral process". The final major opinion poll before the election placed Gallagher second, but his polling had fallen to 11%, with Higgins at 69%.

On 26 October 2017, Gallagher received 6.41% of the first preference vote, which ranked him in third place behind Peter Casey with 23.25%, and Michael D. Higgins with 55.81%.

Personal life Gallagher married Irene McCausland in 1997, while he was working with the Louth Country Enterprise Board, and they divorced and annulled in 1999. but now live in Delgany, County Wicklow, and have two children. Gallagher's profile in the board report of the InterTradeIreland 2007 accounts, noted that Gallagher was a 1st dan black-belt in both Judo and Karate.