Address by Sean Gallagher, former Presidential candidate and entrepreneur, on Friday, 19th September, 2025, at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin.
Campaigning for the Presidency is very arduous. I ran in both 2011 and 2018 and one of the challenges is securing a place on the ballot paper. For instance, in 2011, I had been doing the rounds of the councils many months in advance of formally pitching my case to them. As a result, I secured nominating councils but the hard yards had been completed many months beforehand because I had engaged with councillors up and down the country.
If you want to run for President, you need to plan well in advance.
It is increasingly tough to campaign in a Presidential race. That is especially true for those who are running as Independents without the support of a political party.
Social media plays a very important role currently but we must ensure that we endeavour to keep it toxic-free. It will be increasingly challenging to get people to run for electoral office in an environment where there are high levels of abuse coming from social media accounts.
As a businessman I see great prospects for Ireland in the coming years. I think we can face the challenges posed to our economy by embracing the many opportunities available for Irish companies abroad. I was heartened by the opportunities for Ireland which became evident from my recent trip to the UAE / Middle East, Singapore, Japan, Canada and the USA.
