{"id":65341,"date":"2025-09-15T11:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/65341\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:33:08","slug":"gareth-sheridan-nominated-by-kerry-county-council-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/65341\/","title":{"rendered":"Gareth Sheridan nominated by Kerry County Council \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Main Points<\/b><\/p>\n<ul class=\"c-unordered-list \">\n<li class=\"c-list-item \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/business\/2025\/08\/12\/dont-underestimate-this-guy-who-is-gareth-sheridan-the-pharma-millionaire-running-for-president\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/business\/2025\/08\/12\/dont-underestimate-this-guy-who-is-gareth-sheridan-the-pharma-millionaire-running-for-president\/\">Gareth Sheridan<\/a> has been nominated by Kerry County Council as a candidate in the Presidential election.<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \">Eleven councils are holdng special meetings today to consider nominating a candidate in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/presidential-election\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/presidential-election\/\" target=\"_blank\">presidential election<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \">A candidate needs to be formally nominated by four councils to become an official candidate.<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \">Former MMA fighter<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/conor-mcgregor-withdraws-bid-to-contest-the-presidential-election\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/conor-mcgregor-withdraws-bid-to-contest-the-presidential-election\/\"> Conor McGregor has dropped his bid to contest<\/a> the presidential election.<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \">Thirteen other councils will meet prospective candidates ahead of the deadline for nominations on September 24th.<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \">There are three confirmed presidential candidates; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/08\/30\/jim-gavin-profile-is-former-dublin-gaa-manager-a-good-fit-for-president\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/08\/30\/jim-gavin-profile-is-former-dublin-gaa-manager-a-good-fit-for-president\/\">Jim Gavin <\/a>(Fianna F\u00e1il), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/02\/heather-humphreys-no-stranger-to-media-criticism-or-controversy-but-a-popular-fine-gael-matriarch-with-broad-appeal\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/02\/heather-humphreys-no-stranger-to-media-criticism-or-controversy-but-a-popular-fine-gael-matriarch-with-broad-appeal\/\">Heather Humphreys <\/a>(Fine Gael) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/07\/11\/who-is-catherine-connolly-the-outspoken-left-wing-campaigner-running-for-president\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/07\/11\/who-is-catherine-connolly-the-outspoken-left-wing-campaigner-running-for-president\/\">Catherine Connolly<\/a> (Independent).<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/sinn-fein\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/sinn-fein\/\">Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> will announce next Saturday whether it will field a candidate. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Best reads <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 40 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Laois County Council will be another key target for Gareth Sheridan. It meets this afternoon and he is due to address the chamber along with other hopefuls meeting on Monday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">However, our political correspondent Harry McGee reports that indications from Fianna F\u00e1il councillors over the weekend may see them move to block Mr Sheridan\u2019s nomination, which leaves him no path to be endorsed by Laois councillors. <\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 53 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Disapproving councillors demand vote<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Several councillors demanded a vote so their dissent can be recorded. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Cllr Norma Moriarty of Fianna F\u00e1il said that she had serious reservations. \u201cI want it to be noted that I do not approve of this candidate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Earlier, Cllr Moriarty said Irish Presidents from Douglas Hyde on had been accomplished in several areas and had the capacity to represent all and not just sectoral interests. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cYoung for the sake of young does not qualify you,\u201d Cllr Moriarty said, referring in her speech without naming him to the likely candidate who would be nominated. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cPut people on the ballot that will be the best of us,\u201d she urged. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Cllr Johnny Healy-Rae said the inclusive thing to do was to allow a candidate to get on the ballot paper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">His sister, Cllr Maura Healy-Rae said it was unusual that Fianna F\u00e1il in particular want to know who the person was before deciding on the process. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">She found it \u201cbaffling the political parties want to have their own candidate and want to block any other candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Gareth Sheridan nominated by Kerry County Council <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Gareth Sheridan has been nominated by Kerry County Council as a candidate in the Presidential election. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Mr Sheridan was approved by the council after being nominated by two Independent councillors. No vote was taken as the council had already decided to approve a nomination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Cllr Niall O\u2019Callaghan, said he was proposing Gareth Sheridan, describing him as a deserving candidate &#8211; a young person experienced in business and in life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The nomination was seconded by Cllr Martin Grady, who said Mr Sheridan was taking the role of president seriously and had come across well in the presentation last week as well as at an earlier meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Ireland would benefit from the Mr Sheridan\u2019s American connections and he also wanted Irish emigrants to return home, Councillor Grady added. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cHe has no ambition to become an antagonist to the Government but a protagonist for the people,\u201d Cllr Grady said, quoting from Mr Sheridan\u2019s address last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Kerry will nominate a candidate<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Councillors in Kerry have defeated a proposal not to nominate a candidate, which means that councillors will take a vote on candidates. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">A candidate is now assured to be nominated by Kerry County Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The vote was 18 to 14. All Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael councillors voted for the proposal but were defeated by a combined vote of Independents, Sinn F\u00e9in and Labour. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">While we wait on the first updates from this morning\u2019s council meetings, here is Jack Horgan-Jones\u2019 profile of Fianna F\u00e1il candidate Jim Gavin. This is the final part of a video series looking at the three candidates already confirmed to be on the presidency ballot papers next month.<\/p>\n<p>Irish Times Political Correspondent, Jack Horgan-Jones looks at the background of Fianna F\u00e1il presidential candidate Jim Gavin. Video: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Where will today\u2019s special meetings be held?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Councillors from Laois, Longford, Kildare and Roscommon will hear from candidates this afternoon, with city councils in Galway, Cork and Dublin also convening today. Kerry and Galway City are up first at 11am.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">In the second instalment of a video series by our political staff profiling who will be on ballot papers in October, Jack-Horgan Jones looks at the career of independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly.<\/p>\n<p>Irish Times Political Correspondent, Jack Horgan-Jones looks at the career of independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly. Video: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>So, how does voting work?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">To vote in a presidential election, you must be an Irish citizen, aged 18 or over, ordinarily resident in Ireland and registered to vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">There are special arrangements for Irish officials on duty abroad (and their spouses or civil partners) who may register on the postal voters list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">You can use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.checktheregister.ie\/en-IE\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.checktheregister.ie\/en-IE\/\">checktheregister.ie<\/a> to see if you are currently registered to vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Nominations opened on Friday, September 5th, and are set to close Wednesday, September 24th.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Irish Times journalist Kate Byrne has a helpful explainer on how it all works. <\/p>\n<p>How does the presidential election work? Kate Byrne explains. Video: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 2 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Last week, Fintan O\u2019Toole looked at the presidential election through the lenses of morale and morality. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">His opinion piece reflects on collective values shared by the last three holders of the office \u2013 Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Michael D Higgins \u2013 and the political impact of Irish Catholicism. You can read it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/opinion\/2025\/09\/08\/fintan-otoole-what-the-presidential-election-needs-is-a-candidate-i-wouldnt-dream-of-voting-for-maria-steen\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/opinion\/2025\/09\/08\/fintan-otoole-what-the-presidential-election-needs-is-a-candidate-i-wouldnt-dream-of-voting-for-maria-steen\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 2 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Council votes so far: Fingal, Mayo and D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Fingal County Council voted not to endorse any candidate for the presidential election, by a large margin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">The council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/12\/fingal-council-votes-not-to-endorse-any-candidate-for-presidential-election\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/12\/fingal-council-votes-not-to-endorse-any-candidate-for-presidential-election\/\">rejected a resolution<\/a> on Friday night to give a nomination to entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan by 18 votes to seven, with five abstentions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Fingal became the third of the 31 local authorities to decide not to endorse a candidate after Mayo and D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown councils also decided to refrain.<\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 2 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>Names already on the ballot paper<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">So far, three candidates are assured of enough support to have their names on the ballot paper in the presidential election taking place on October 24th. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Fine Gael has selected former minister Heather Humphreys as its candidate and Fianna F\u00e1il has chosen former Dublin GAA football manager Jim Gavin, while the Labour party are backing Independent TD Catherine Connolly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">But who are they and what do they stand for? We will be posting videos by our political staff throughout the morning, starting here with Ellen Coyne\u2019s profile of Heather Humphreys. <\/p>\n<p>Irish Times Political Correspondent, Ellen Coyne, takes a look at the life and career of Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys. Video: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 3 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\"><b>Conor McGregor withdraws candidacy<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">Former MMA fighter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/conor-mcgregor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/conor-mcgregor\" target=\"_blank\">Conor McGregor<\/a> was among a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/super-primary-day-will-narrow-path-for-independents-to-contest-presidential-election\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/super-primary-day-will-narrow-path-for-independents-to-contest-presidential-election\/\" target=\"_blank\">prospective candidates due to address county councils on Monday<\/a> but he withdrew from the process this morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">In a post on X early on Monday, Mr McGregor said he was dropping his bid to contest the presidency.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Muintir na h\u00c9ireann, a chairde Ghaeil,<\/p>\n<p>I recently announced my sincere and genuine intentions of running for the office of Uachtar\u00e1in na h\u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n<p>I am a very passionate Gael and take great pride in our Country. <\/p>\n<p>I have demonstrated this fighting Irish spirit on a world stage\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheNotoriousMMA\/status\/1967415396576751793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">September 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">A number of candidates, including Riverdance star Michael Flatley and former Met \u00c9ireann Joanna Donnelly have already pulled out of the race to the \u00c1ras. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">Last week, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said Mr McGregor \u201crepresents the very worst of us\u201d and has \u201ca negligible chance\u201d of getting a nomination. \u201cConor McGregor is a person who has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/crime-law\/courts\/2025\/07\/31\/conor-mcgregor-loses-appeal-over-civil-rape-case\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/crime-law\/courts\/2025\/07\/31\/conor-mcgregor-loses-appeal-over-civil-rape-case\/\">found responsible for rape in a civil court<\/a> in Ireland. That\u2019s a statement of fact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 3 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\"><b>Who is seeking nomination?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">Three of the most prominent Independent candidates \u2013 entrepreneur <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/gareth-sheridan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/gareth-sheridan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gareth Sheridan<\/a>, conservative commentator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/maria-steen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/maria-steen\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maria Steen<\/a> and social media activist Nick Delehanty \u2013 have been intensively lobbying councillors in target local authorities over the weekend. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">Each needs to be formally nominated by four councils to become an official candidate in the election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free b-it-article-body__text--left\">Our political correspondent Harry McGee\u2019s presidential digest offers a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/super-primary-day-will-narrow-path-for-independents-to-contest-presidential-election\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/15\/super-primary-day-will-narrow-path-for-independents-to-contest-presidential-election\/\">detailed overview<\/a> of what can be expected from council meetings ahead of the day\u2019s proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Ella Sloane &#8211; 3 hours ago<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"><b>\u201cSuper primary\u201d day ahead<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the bids by a number of presidential candidates to secure a council nomination to be a presidential candidate. Today has been described as a \u201csuper primary\u201d day, with 11 councils due to hold special meetings to consider nominating a candidate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The councils will hear pitches from aspiring candidates hoping to gain a place on the presidential ticket. Most will vote after their meeting, although some, such as Kildare, will defer their votes until the following week. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Thirteen further councils have arranged for meetings to be held ahead of the final deadline for nominations on September 24th.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main Points Gareth Sheridan has been nominated by Kerry County Council as a candidate in the Presidential election.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,1921,4003,18,13,14,25,6,555,19,17,19487,11,12,15,16,30253,5,59,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-65341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-catherine-connolly","11":"tag-conor-mcgregor","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-gareth-sheridan","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-heather-humphreys","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-jim-gavin","21":"tag-latest-news","22":"tag-latestnews","23":"tag-main-news","24":"tag-mainnews","25":"tag-maria-steen","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-presidential-election","28":"tag-top-stories","29":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}