Gareth Sheridan accuses people in Sean Gallagher ‘circle’ of co-ordinated attack

Presidential hopeful Gareth Sheridan has claimed he has been the victim of a “co-ordinated attack” on his character by “people associated” with former presidential runner Sean Gallagher.

Mr Sheridan made the claims about his former business partner at his campaign launch in Dublin city centre.

Mr Gallagher left Mr Sheridan’s multimillion-euro pharmaceutical company, Nutriband, after serving as chairman from 2017 until 2021.

Mr Gallagher previously contested the presidential election in 2011 and again in 2018.

Launching his campaign at the five-star Shelbourne hotel, Mr Sheridan said he had something he wanted to bring to the attention of the press.

“There seems to be somewhat of a co-ordinated attack taking place on my character by people associated, and in Sean Gallagher’s circle,” he told reporters.

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

“You know, at MacGill (Summer School) a couple of weeks ago, he actually encouraged participation, asked the media to be nice to candidates that were brave to come forward and encouraged candidates to put their name in the ring.

“Hopefully that’s still the case. But some of you in the room know what I’m talking about. That’s all I’ll say on that.

“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.”

He added: “Let me just give you, hopefully for the last time, a little bit of context on the relationship between myself and Sean.

“Sean was chairman of my company, Nutriband, which I founded for a number of years around 2017/2018 through to the point that we were able to achieve our Nasdaq listing in 2021.

“Leading up to a Nasdaq listing, it was strongly advised by our shareholders, investors and board that we had a chairman with capital markets experience. We proposed this to Sean. We asked him to voluntarily step aside on the same remuneration, and we will put Serguei Melnik as chairman, who had 20-plus years of capital market experience.

“At this point, communication broke down. At the next shareholder meeting, Serguei was voted in by the majority of our shareholders, and he has been in the position of chairman.

“I wish Sean nothing but the best in whatever he’s working on now.

“Perhaps somebody is taking our break-up a little bit worse than me.”

The 35-year-old was also critical of the state’s failure to resolve the housing crisis, saying it is driving young people out of the country.

Mr Sheridan, who has lived in the US for more than 10 years, said his goal is to “make Ireland home again” for those who have emigrated.

Describing himself as a “multi-millionaire pharma tycoon”, he claimed there has been a “complete ignorance” of Article 45.2 of Ireland’s Constitution, which refers to Irish citizens having an adequate means of livelihood.

The married father of one said he held the event in the Constitution Room of the luxury hotel as it is where the 1922 constitution was drafted.

Mr Sheridan said that while he is not a single issue candidate, he believes housing is an “anchor” for every issue the country is facing.

“We have healthcare problems in the country because we can’t afford to keep our nurses and doctors here because they can’t afford to live close to the hospitals and clinics they serve,” he added.

“We have education problems because teachers can’t afford to live close to the schools and communities they’re supposed to serve.

“We used to value ourselves on being the land of 100,000 welcomes. We are now, statistically, on a yearly basis, the land of 100,000 departures.”

Mr Sheridan added: “Now as president, I’m not going to grab my hammer and start building houses, but I will champion the issue over the course of my campaign.

“My ideal goal here is that we can claim to make Ireland home again. And this is something that is very important to me.”

Mr Sheridan, who has a net worth of 16.5 million dollars (14.1 million euros), which includes 16 million dollars in Nutriband shares and 500,000 in cash, said he understands the value of a euro.

He said he went through a “very gritty entrepreneurial journey”, which was not a “fairy tale”.

“I’ve made the phone calls home asking for help with rent,” Mr Sheridan added.

“I understand the value of the euro. I’ll never take that for granted, because I didn’t have it at one point.

“I think we have to be careful that we don’t get into a position as well, that if an entrepreneur that’s aspiring in this country makes a success out of an idea that they have, that all of a sudden it’s a negative, right?

“The company worked out well, and the company is going to be extremely impactful for thousands of lives a year when that FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approval comes. I’m very proud of that. By no means I will be handed that success.”

Mr Sheridan said he is confident he has a “path to a nomination”, and said the support has been “overwhelming”.

The Dublin native said he has the support in Tipperary and Laois county councils but would not disclose which other councils have indicated their support.

Mr Sheridan, who owns a house in Utah and rents a property in Dublin, said that former Irish president Mary Robinson was a “big reason” why he decided to put his name forward to run in the upcoming election.