A Laois County Councillor has thrown her full weight behind an independent who hopes to get on the ballot paper for the upcoming presidential election.
Gareth Sheridan announced his intention to run over the weekend, will officially launch his campaign today – and will have the backing of Laois Councillor Aisling Moran.
Sheridan is a 35-year-old Dublin native who has become a multi-millionaire through his US-based pharma pain relief company Nutriband.
There are two main routes to becoming a candidate in a presidential election – by getting either 20 nominations from Oireachtas members (TDs or Senators) or through the support of four county or city councils.
As Sheridan is an independent, it is unlikely he would get the 20 nominations so will have to go the council route.
Speaking to LaoisToday, Cllr Aisling Moran, also an independent, explains why she is supporting him.
She said: “I was looking for a candidate to back that I believed in and that wasn’t going to be controlled by a party.
“Gareth believes that he can be an influence. He’s a young man that emigrated to set up a business, came back, and realized that to move back to Ireland you have to have money.
“I listened to him, I spoke to him for a very long time. I didn’t make up my mind instantly but I spoke to him and I liked him.
“I believed in him. I felt that what he was saying was was real. When I read his book, I saw that he was a guy who took something on and didn’t quit.
“He kept at it and at it, he ended up driving Ubers – he was nearly homeless at one stage.
“He had to move back in with his his wife’s parents and he just kept going and going. So even though he’s only 35, he’s had a lot of life experience.”
Cllr Moran hopes that Sheridan can get the support of Laois County Council.
When Laois County Council backed Gemma O’Doherty in 2018, she only needed the support of four councillors.
She got that from Ben Brennan (Independent), Paschal McEvoy (Fianna Fáil) and Caroline Dwane-Stanley and Aidan Mullins, who were both then part of Sinn Féin.
While the remaining councillors present at the meeting abstained.
Cllr Moran said: “I wouldn’t think that other Councillors would attempt to block him in Laois.
“It is not how democracy should work and I would call that out if it did.
“I do think that others will back and it’s up to everybody to choose who they want.
“But I think people that have met him are very impressed by him.
“We need more people like Gareth Sheridan to stand up.”
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