Gareth Sheridan gets first Presidential nomination from Kerry County Council

Presidential hopeful Gareth Sheridan has thanked Kerry County Council for giving him a nomination to run for President of Ireland.

“I am so grateful to Kerry County Council to receive the honour and responsibility of their nomination to contest the Presidential election”, the Independent Presidential hopeful, said this afternoon. “I am now focussed on winning nominations from three other Councils."

The pathway is not a smooth one, with Fine Gael instructing their councillors to vote against independent candidates getting nominations and Fianna Fáil predictably following suit at the meeting in Kerry. But Sheridan remains optimistic that he can garner support from the local authorities in three more counties or boroughs.

“The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael block makes it very difficult,” he acknowledged, "but I am not deterred and our plan is working. We have worked for months on a strategy with Independent Councillors as to where we could engineer a result, even if there was a block in place.”

Sheridan is the first candidate to be endorsed by a local authority for the 2025 election, under Article 12.2.2 of Bunreacht Na hÉireann. The Presidential election takes place on October 24th.

There was considerable drama in Kerry, with a proposal first being put to the councillors that Kerry should not nominate any candidate. However, that vote was resoundingly defeated, 18 to 14, by a rainbow of opposition and independent councillors. As Gareth Sheridan was the only proposed and seconded candidate, he secured the Kerry County Council nomination.

Speaking in Portlaoise in advance of his address to Laois County Council later this afternoon, Sheridan was light-hearted in his tone.

“It is ironic,” he mused, "that the Fianna Fáil candidate, Jim Gavin, appears to be only happy to enter this All-Ireland contest, the Presidency, by blocking most of the Counties from taking part.”

Jim Gavin was, of course, a multiple All-Ireland winner as manager of Dublin.

"Jim Gavin and Heather Humphries are really strong candidates,” Sheridan added. "I don’t see why they are so worried about a young candidate such as myself contesting the Presidential election.”

With one council down and three to go, there is certainly hope that the 36-year old can get onto the ballot paper. And if that happens, the sky is the limit for a candidate who has the potential, at the very least, to liven up considerably what otherwise looks like a very boring contest.

Read the recent Hot Press Interview with Gareth Sheridan here.