Newbridge politician proposing that Kildare County Council consider adding freelance journalist Gemma O'Doherty to presidential campaign

A Newbridge based Cllr is considering  backing  freelance journalist Gemma O'Doherty to run in the presidential campaign. Former Fine Gael Cllr and now Independent Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy said: ‘I have proposed that Kildare County Council consider adding Gemma O Doherty to the five candidates nominated to run in the presidential campaign.  As of Tuesday three dragons have now successfully been nominated to join  the race for the Arás. This means that over half of the platform of the campaign for the presidency will be from the perspective of well off business men. At a time when homelessness is on the increase, the number of children in direct provision is growing, members of our defence forces are on the breadline, and not enough is being done to prevent power and profit accumulating in the hands of a few through the ownership of media, telecommunications, private hospitals and possibly broadband provision we need a representative presidential campaign that won’t shy away from issues of growing concern to its citizens. " She said:"Issues that go to the heart of what constitutes a legitimate, fair and prosperous republic for our citizens cannot be given the attention they deserve in a campaign dominated by business men. Increasing dissent around how or why political favours and connections have led to a two tier system of opportunity in Ireland will not be highlighted or challenged by politically connected business men. It has never been more important to listen to diverse views and to welcome robust debate. The more open and robust the debates around the presidential campaign the more democratic the outcome." Cllr McLoughlin Healy said: "Although I am unclear about Gemma O Doherty’s position on certain issues I am happy to propose that Kildare County Council nominate her to join the other five candidates already nominated. Gemma has a very important message to convey about cronyism and corruption in Ireland. As a person she has been motivated by a desire to uncover wrong-doing rather than by profit. She has dedicated herself to investigating and pursuing issues in the public interest, at significant personal cost. She is then, on those grounds alone, as least as deserving of a nomination as three dragons. Adding Gemma O Doherty to the election ticket would allow her to challenge, and to be challenged on, issues of importance to citizens. The election outcome may still be the same. I would have no objection to that. President Higgins has done a great job. But the presidential campaign itself is an important opportunity for a real debate about where we find ourselves at as a Country and, where we want to move towards in the next seven years." She said:"I acknowlege and welcome the successful nomination of Senator Joan Freeman and Liadh Ní Riada to the ticket. Liadh Ni Riada, Senator Joan Freeman and Gemma O Doherty together would constitute a diverse and democratically healthy counter-balance to a preponderance of dragons’ Derry-born businessman Peter Casey became the third star of RTE’s Dragons’ Den to secure the support of four councils to run for Irish President. The 60-year-old is the founder of recruitment firm Claddagh Resources. Mr Casey set up his business in 1995 in Atlanta. It operates from five locations across the world, including its European base in Buncrana, Co Donegal. He lives in the United States with his wife Helen and their five children but regularly returns to Ireland. Mr Casey studied business administration politics and economics at Aston University in Birmingham before starting his career by joining Rank Xerox UK as a sales representative in 1979. He has mooted an entrance to politics in the past. In 2015 he indicated he was considering running for Dail Eireann and attempted to be elected to Seanad Eireann as part of the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 2016. Liadh Ni Riada was unveiled as Sinn Fein’s chosen candidate on Sunday. She was hot favourite for the nomination ever since the party signalled its intent to run. The former television producer from Dublin is the daughter of legendary Irish trad musician and composer Sean O Riada. Ms Ni Riada entered the political arena in 2011 by joining Sinn Fein. The married mother of three daughters was elected in 2014 as one of her party’s four MEPs on the island of Ireland, representing the South constituency. The 51-year-old is the youngest of the five confirmed candidates and one of two women in the race. She has faced considerable adversity in her personal life, losing both parents at an early age. Her first husband also died when she was in her 20s. In the European Parliament, Ms Ni Riada has been a vocal advocate for the Irish fishing industry, and critical of the Common Fisheries Policy, arguing the Irish have not received their fair share of the fishing quota. As the current president, Mr Higgins is able to nominate himself as an independent candidate for another seven years in office. However, he has secured the backing of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour, who have agreed not to field candidates from their own parties. The 56-year-old businessman and former Dragons’ Den star Sean Gallagher from Ballyhaise, County Cavan, finished second in the 2011 Irish presidential election. He secured more than half a million first preference votes, but lost out to Mr Higgins. In 2002 he co-founded Smarthomes, a home technology business. The company won numerous awards for innovation, and Mr Gallagher was a finalist in the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year contest. Mr Gallagher became a public figure during his time as an investor on RTE One’s Dragons’ Den from 2008 to 2011. The entrepreneur and businessman from Sallins, Co Kildare, Gavin Duffy,is best known for his role on the RTE programme Dragons’ Den. Mr  Duffy, 58, started his career as a shareholder in radio stations, and in 1992 he co-founded a media and management consultancy. He is the former owner of HRM, one of Ireland’s largest recruitment companies. His early career in the media included presenting the first RTE television business programme, Marketplace; broadcasting on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One, and founding regional radio station LMFM. Later, Mr Duffy became a serial entrepreneur and is now a veteran of over 40 start-ups. The independent member of the Irish Seanad , Joan Freeman, is a psychologist and mental health activist from Dublin. Senator Freeman has served on the Seanad since May 2016 after being nominated by the then taoiseach Enda Kenny. She is the chairperson on the committee on mental health. The 60-year-old founded Pieta House, a suicide intervention charity, in 2006 in Lucan, County Dublin. It now boasts 12 additional centres around Ireland. Senator Freeman also founded the annual fundraising event Darkness into Light in aid of Pieta House.