Gareth Sheridan secures Tipperary County Council’s nomination for presidential election run
Tipperary County Council has voted to nominate Gareth Sheridan as their candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
Just after lunch on Tuesday afternoon, the 40 councillors in Tipperary exercised their right to nominate a candidate to officially get on the ballot for the presidential election after hearing from hopefuls from 10am.
A total of 17 councillors proposed that Mr Sheridan should be the Tipperary County Council candidate in the election, which takes place on October 24.
Mr Sheridan was proposed by independent councillor Liam Browne, and seconded by Cllr Seamus Morris, before the nomination was put to a vote among the rest of the councillors.
Cork City councillor Kieran McCarthy was also proposed by Cllr Pat English, and was seconded by Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan.
However, it was Mr Sheridan that came out on top after the vote, with 17 of the councillors voting for him, while three opted for Mr McCarthy. Four councillors were absent for the vote, and 16 abstained.
In his presentation to Tipperary County Council, Mr Sheridan said that despite his young age – he recently turned 36 – he has a lot of life experience that he feels would be helpful in his presidential campaign.
"I’ve just turned 36 years of age, and I might be the youngest ever candidate, but I’m appealing to you not to dismiss my candidacy as some kind of youthful arrogance,” Mr Sheridan said.
"As people have put yourselves before the electorate and earned their hard won support, I fully understand that you may have the view that someone like me, who was never elected to an office or has never been actively engaged in politics may not be deserving of a nomination.
"But already our Taoiseach, and Government ministers have nominated such a person in Jim Gavin, a person with no active political experience is already on the ballot,” Mr Sheridan said.
Despite this, he added, Mr Gavin brings life experience as one of Ireland’s greatest ever football managers, helping Dublin to win five All-Ireland football titles in a row.
"But councillors, I too, have an exceptional life experience, and a performance and achievement in my much shorter lifetime for consideration," Mr Sheridan said.
Having emigrated from Ireland, Mr Sheridan settled in America, where he founded Nutriband, a pharmaceutical company that made him a multi-millionare.
Since returning to Ireland with his wife and their daughter, Mr Sheridan said he was “shocked” to see so many people of his age still living at home, with no prospect of homeownership.
"I was simply shocked that so many of my friends and family, people that I went to college with, were still in the situation where they were living at home in their parents box room. Or they’re facing emigration, or they’re on a housing list with multiple years left to wait.
"My generation are the lost generation, the first generation in modern Ireland to be less well off than their parents, and the first generation with essentially no ability to purchase a home of their own,” he told councillors.
Acknowledging the president’s limited capacity to address issues such as housing, Mr Sheridan said that the president does have the power to uphold the constitution, and that the number one domestic need in Ireland at the moment is housing.
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Mr Sheridan also said he is pro-EU membership, and is for keeping Ireland’s military neutrality. He is for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, wants to see an immediate end to the Ukraine war, and is pro-united Ireland, pro-same sex marriage, and pro-choice.
Tipperary County Council’s decision to nominate Mr Sheridan was not without controversy in the council chameber however, with councillor Michael Smith proposing that Tipperary County Council not nominate anyone, saying that his party, Fianna Fáil, have nominated Jim Gavin.
He was supported by councillor Willie Kennedy, who said that he would support his party, Fine Gael’s candidate Heather Humphreys.
The proposal not to nominate anyone was put to a vote, with 19 councillors voting for the proposal, while 20 voted against.
Tipperary County Council became the second local authority to formally nominate Gareth Sheridan, after Kerry County Council proposed to nominate him on Monday, meaning the businessman now needs the support of two more local authorities to be formally added to the ballot sheet.