FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Seán Gallagher said he will “reflect” on comments made by businessman Gareth Sheridan, who claimed he has been the victim of a “coordinated attack” on his character.

Sheridan, who launched his official bid for the presidency last week, claimed that the “attack” was carried out by people associated and in Gallagher’s “circle.”

Sheridan made the claims about his former business partner at his campaign launch in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin last week, musing at the outset of his press conference that: “Perhaps somebody is taking our breakup a little bit worse than me”. 

Gallagher left Sheridan’s multimillion-euro pharmaceutical company, Nutriband, after serving as chairman from 2017 until 2021 after the company decided to replace him.

Sheridan, the 35-year-old who is hoping to run as an independent candidate if he can get the backing from the four local authorities required, was quick to state last week:

“I’m not saying for a moment that Seán is behind this or is involved in any way.

“For a couple of days now, we’ve been receiving essentially copy and paste question lists with minimal time to respond from various different outlets with the exact same questions. Something just seems a little off.”

Sheridan used his press conference last week to shed some light on the breakdown in the pair’s relationship, stating that ahead of Nutriband being listed publicly on the stock exchange in 2021, it had received advice that it would be better to have a chairperson with capital markets experience. 

“We proposed this to Seán. We asked him to voluntarily step aside on the same remuneration,” Sheridan said.

Gallagher responds

Speaking this morning, Gallagher said the comments do not require a reaction, but a response.

“I was away for the last couple of weeks. Firstly, down in Clare and on the Aran islands with my wife and kids, and then last week abroad in the sunshine,” he told the Joe Finnegan Show on Northern Sound radio.

“I made a bad mistake of heading away when the sunshine was arriving in Ireland. So, truthfully, I was more concerned about keeping my bald head protected from the sun than I was about watching what was happening in the election.

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“But it has been drawn to my attention for sure. So, rather than react to the comments – I think it doesn’t require a reaction – more a response.

“I will reflect on what was said and I am gathering that at the moment, and then I’ll decide on what to respond. But that is, as we all know, part of the electioneering that goes on.”

Gallagher, who previously contested the presidential election in 2011 and again in 2018, has ruled himself out of the upcoming election.

He said: “You can rest assured, my name will not be going forward. I am not running.

“I’m very focused on business and a lot of the other activities I’m involved in, and so I’m very committed in that space.

“I think it is great that there are more people coming forward, and I think there are more to come.”