Press Statement: Gareth Sheridan Address to Fingal County Council Nomination Hearing

Bail ó Dhia oraibh ar fad. Tá fíor-ríméad orm a bheith I blur gcuideachta inniu.

Good evening everyone - and a sincere thank you Cathaoirleach, Councillors and to your supporting Executives for your attendance on a Friday evening. I know how hard you work for your constituents and your communities across Fingal and, yet, here you are, working again, when you could be with your families preparing for a deserved break over the weekend.

The reason we are gathered here (or perhaps the person to blame) is because of a man called, John Joseph Hearn, considered to be one of Ireland’s greatest ever legal minds. As architect of our 1937 constitution, Bunreacht Na hÉireann, John Joseph Hearn, insisted that Councillors, duly elected, serving members, like yourselves, and those of every other local authority in our country, would have the power and the responsibility to nominate candidates to be on the ballot paper to contest the Presidential Election. 

The reason he empowered you was because he firmly believed  that there should be a nominating process beyond the Oireachtas. He argued as the President is the only national office that the people directly elect, he obviously wanted to give voters a wider choice of candidates, beyond it just the long serving and experienced politicians retiring from Leinster House.

Also, this evening, Fingal County Council, which is a progressive, inclusive, future focused local authority, you can make history by nominating the youngest ever Candidate to contest the Presidential election. All you’re being asked here this evening is -  would it be wrong to widen the choice voters will have on October 24th – would it be wrong or progressive to have a young candidate on that ballot paper? I am appealing to you not to dismiss my candidacy as some outrageous or audacious form of youthful arrogance. I fully understand as people who have put yourselves before the electorate and earned their hard-won support, of course, you may have the view that someone who has never been elected to any office, has never been actively engaged in politics is perhaps -undeserving of a nomination. 

Yet only this week, our Taoiseach, and a number of Government Ministers, Deputies and Senators have nominated such a person, Jim Gavin, a person with no active political experience, is now the candidate of the Country’s largest political party. Now, though Jim Gavin has no political experience, he does bring an exceptional life experience to his candidacy. He is one of our greatest Football Managers, which is something I can appreciate as a Dublin GAA fan.

But I too bring proven performance and achievements in my much shorter lifetime. From all the millions of people who emigrated from Ireland, I am one of less than a handful who has successfully founded, grown  and floated a company on the US Nasdaq Stock Exchange. A Company that as of next year is on track to save thousands of lives a year from accidental overdose and drug exposure.

In my twenties, I took on the Global Conglomerates of Big Pharma, with a goal to remind the industry that we have an obligation to patients as well as shareholders. As a company we were able to develop a safe and efficacious way to administer pain relief through transdermal patches making it almost impossible to abuse or misuse medicinal drugs contained in those patches. Now as a result, those suffering from round the clock chronic and debilitating pain will have access to treatment and another chance at life.

Now these achievements didn’t get cheered in Croke Park but for a young Irish man, a Proud Dub, taking a college idea and against all the odds, to ring bell on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange is just maybe as rare as Dublin’s 5 in a row. Surely then, the question that must cross your minds is, why did I step away from that, why did I return to live in Ireland, why have I spent the last year speaking to Councillors around the country? 

Next week, your AILG Autumn Meeting takes place in Westport. I was at your AILG  Spring meeting in Limerick because for over a year I have been speaking to Councillors.  Now, I only discussed the possibility of running for President back then with Independent Councillors, because I was trying to keep my canvassing under the radar at that time.  In the last couple of weeks we have seen many names emerge, many of whom are canvassing for support and many of whom have now ruled themselves out.  I can say that none were canvassing support and having coffees and meetings trying to earn that support as far back as Limerick.

So, again, why did I step away from my company, why did I withdraw as a finalist and competitor in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year? Through hard work, and some good luck, I had the means and ability to return to Ireland with my family to settle down because fortunately, we could afford to live here. 

For a number of years, coming back and forth to Dublin, I was, shocked that many of my friends, family, former fellow students from college, highly educated and well qualified individuals, who were now in so called good jobs,  were still forced to live in the box bedroom of their parents’ house, were on housing lists with years remaining, or were planning to emigrate because that had become one of the few choices to them. This generation is the first generation in modern Ireland who can’t afford a home and will be less well off than their parents.  I don’t want this to become normalized. I want the Ireland my daughter inherits to be something we can all collectively, old and young, be proud of.

The chronic housing shortage, which was declared a national emergency almost a decade ago, is not just a problem for this generation but impacts on all generations. Primary and secondary schools can’t recruit teachers because the teachers can’t afford a house in the area. Nursing homes struggle to retain carers because they can’t afford local rents. Ireland once famed for its 100,000 welcomes is now the country of 100,000 departures annually as young people are forced to emigrate because they can’t afford a home in Ireland. Our healthcare and disability sectors are under immense pressure because we cannot retain the workforce necessary to function and this affects our venerable elderly citizens head on.

Now to those of you who might say, well the President can’t do anything about housing, yes you are right, in that, the President has no executive powers, However the position is not meaningless.  The office holder is the so-called Guardian of the Constitution, and in the ten years since we declared the housing shortage a national emergency, not one member of the Dáil or Seanad has ever mentioned Article 45.2.1.

So, let's go back to the man himself, John Joseph Hearn again. Article 45 is the Directive Principles of Social Policy. When drafting what is often referred to as ‘DeValera’s Constitution’ in the mid-1930s, Hearn was conscious that Ireland was then a very poor country and the world was suffering the fallout of the great depression. 

So having drafted the fundamental rights in Articles 40 through to 44, he created a guidance, the Principles, that future Governments, in better times should observe. 

Our Constitution, Article 45.2.1, states that:

“That the citizens (all of whom, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood) may through their occupations find the means of making reasonable provision for their domestic needs.”

He wanted our citizens to have the opportunity of gainful employment so that from their earnings they could independently provide for their domestic needs.

Now the number one domestic need of every citizen is a roof over their head, a place to call home. So, if we don’t fix the housing shortage, we are breaking the social contract with our younger generations.  When you break that social contract some will exploit that and will blame others for what is our failing. And so, we have a small, vocal minority, amplified through social media, trying to blame and spread hate against immigrants.

So please don’t dismiss my candidacy and tell me If I read the Constitution, I’d know a President has no executive powers. I have read the Constitution, I have studied the Constitution, I have taken legal advice on the Constitution and I am the first and still the only person who is highlighting Article 45.2.1 of Bunreacht Na hÉireann.

Now let me stress. If nominated I will not be attacking successive Governments for not fixing the housing shortage during my campaign, far from it.  I am no antagonist to government.  I want to be a protagonist for the people, I believe the Housing Shortage can only be fixed if we collectively, as a nation, make and keep it our number one priority. 

As Fergus Finlay put it recently, ‘our Presidency has limited powers, but unlimited influence’ and I’d like to use that influence to champion this cause to the benefit of all; those for who Ireland is home, those who have made Ireland home and those who would like to return home, to a home of their own.

In conclusion I have given you the members of Fingal County Council some issues to consider before Fingal decides whether to nominate or not. I ask you not to rule me out because I am young, don’t rule me out because I am not a career politician, don’t rule me out because I have highlighted under Article 45.2.1 there is an obligation on our political establishment to prioritize solving the housing shortage.  

As public representatives you must be concerned that younger voters are not engaging in politics and often do not even bother to cast their vote.  Tonight, you have the opportunity to make history and take a significant step towards giving a young person, a thirty-six-year-old, the possibility of getting on the ballot paper. Remember you are not actually putting me on the ballot paper here tonight, as I have to go to three other Councils and win their support. Please give me that chance; because I didn’t come here by chance. I targeted Fingal as one of Ireland’s most progressive, inclusive and future-focused local authorities. I think Fingal has the opportunity to set the tone for a progressive, inclusive and future focused ballot.  

If we keep saying the President does not have any Power then that is what the role will become. Power does not stem from executive decisions but from uniting us to collectively tackle our issues head on. 

Thank You for your valued time this evening, I am asking you to please consider nominating me to be on the ballot paper for the election of Uachtaráin Na hÉireann on October 24th.

Mo buíochas a chroí libh as éisteacht liom and I am happy to answer any questions. 

ENDS.

Any queries, please contact John Whelan, Media Liaison & Communications.

Phone: 087 2509663  Email: media@sheridanforpresident.ie

(A brief text or WhatsApp message may be the best way to ensure a prompt response if the phone line is engaged. Thank you).