Paul Hosford: Gareth Sheridan may find real work is only beginning as he eyes presidency

He's done well to get here but the businessman will have to quickly switch gears in a race in which he is starting from way behind

Running a campaign is taxing and expensive and Gareth Sheridan will have to quickly switch gears in a race in which he will start from way behind. Picture: Gareth Chaney

It would be fair to say that Gareth Sheridan's presidential campaign didn't get off to the most auspicious start.

Within days of the pharma entrepreneur announcing that he was seeking a nomination to get on the ballot, questions were raised about his business partner, his mother's objection to housing, and a settlement he made with the US government.

Mr Sheridan seemed somewhat taken aback by the level of scrutiny his nascent campaign attracted in the news-hungry days of August as he was forced to defend a $25,000 fine, ties to senator Sharon Keogan, and links to an Israeli hospital in a bruising first press conference.

But, to his credit, Mr Sheridan has remained in the race, undeterred, and has kept his eyes on the one route open to him to achieve his goal — garnering the support of four councils.

On Tuesday, he got the backing of Tipperary County Council in his bid to secure a place on the ballot paper for October's presidential election. Mr Sheridan received 17 votes in favour of his nomination, compared to three for Kieran McCarthy, the Independent Cork City councillor.

That gave Mr Sheridan the backing of two local authorities, after Kerry County Council supported his nomination on Monday. A further 10 councils vote this Monday and Mr Sheridan's team has pinpointed a number which could swing in his favour. For many in the political system, it is an impressive achievement, particularly given Fine Gael's whipping of its councillors to block rivals to Heather Humphreys and Fianna Fáil's "nudging" of its cohort to support only its candidate, Jim Gavin.

That is in no way to suggest that even with his success in Kerry that Mr Sheridan went unscathed.

Fianna Fáil councillor Norma Moriarty told the council that Mr Sheridan's youth was not in and of itself an attraction.

"I am in no way diminishing the individuals who came before us and who subsequently wrote to us. But please take it seriously. You must, as far as I’m concerned, have proven yourself in many areas before you should consider yourself eligible to be put on the ballot paper. That’s my take on it,” Cllr Moriarty told the council.

“Young for the sake of being young does not qualify you. It is what you have done with your time. How much you have served and how seriously you’ve taken your duties and what it is you hope to achieve in this country by representing all,” she added.

Groundwork

But Mr Sheridan did do one thing that many of those who sought to have their names on the ballot did not: he respected the process. The entrepreneur has been reportedly making contact with councillors for many months, knowing that the makeup of the Dáil and Seanad meant that 20 members of that house was less likely than four local authorities.

Over the past number of weeks, councils have acceded to requests from members of the public, including former MMA fighter Conor McGregor, to be allowed plead their cases. While Mr  McGregor would drop out on Monday morning, the Dublin City Council meeting he had been due to address on Monday went ahead and felt at times like a surrealist sketch.

As a Fine Gael councillor told TheJournal.ie's Eimear McAuley: “It was the most bizarre meeting I have ever attended in my time as a councillor. It was at times comical, at times farcical, and at times offensive.

“It was clear that the majority of the people who presented themselves in front of us had no idea of either the role of the president or the role of the councillors to whom they were speaking, and I think that would be a basic requirement if you are going to put yourself forward.”

Councillors are not stupid, nor are they easily won over. They also, almost to a man and woman, take the function of nominating a candidate extremely seriously. The idea that a member of the public can, in a five-minute address that barely touches on the functions or roles of office, win over support of people who have dedicated huge amounts of time to winning votes is fanciful.

Even in the Oireachtas route, there is acceptance among some supporters of barrister Maria Steen that her bid to be nominated came too late. Áontú leader Peadar Tóibín reckons that Ms Steen has 11 supporters of the 20 required. Should she hit 16, Independent Ireland has said that its four TDs will at least hear her out. But with just days to go until nominations close, her route to the ballot is narrow.

Scrutiny

But should Mr Sheridan prevail on "Superior Monday", those questions which dogged him in August will become issues once again in October. While he may feel those questions have been addressed, both Ms Humphreys and Catherine Connolly have been peppered with questions on controversies long since passed and there is no reason to think any more latitude would be granted to a political neophyte.

At that first press conference, Mr Sheridan also addressed reports his company had given $50,000 to an Israeli hospital training Israeli Defence Force soldiers.

The company worked with two doctors who “developed a device that liquefied tablets for people who couldn't swallow”. He said the project was “shelved”.

He said he would have “no issue whatsoever” about the prospect of signing the Occupied Territories Bill into law if he was president, adding what was happening in Palestine is the “utmost banality of evil”. Mr Sheridan described immigration as a “tricky subject”, but said Ireland did not have an immigration problem, and there was a problem with the system.

He also confirmed he was against Government proposals to amend the Triple Lock. But none of those positions has really been expanded upon in the last month and the difference in magnifying glass between someone who is trying to get on the ballot and a presidential candidate is exponential, not gradual.

Mr Sheridan's biggest challenge, however, will be building a campaign in just a matter of weeks. Ms Connolly is a long-time TD, a veteran politician and has the backing of, as of writing, two major political parties. And, yet, her campaign has been notably spartan, with staff being seconded from parties here and there and no major splashing of the €50,000 raised through donations as yet.

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Running a campaign is taxing and expensive and Mr Sheridan will have to quickly switch gears in a race in which he will start from way behind. For example, while his would-be rivals were in Offaly this week shaking thousands of hands at the biggest single gathering to be held in the run-up to the election — the Ploughing Championships — Mr Sheridan was courting councillors and working to be on the ballot. He will have a deficit in name recognition and, presumably, resources.

That Mr Sheridan is still in the race with a chance of being on the ballot is to the credit of himself and those around him. In a year which has seen all sorts of people want to be the only political outsider whose posters get erected from next week, he has put in the hard yards and achieved the most success.

But even should he prevail there, the work is just starting.