Gareth Sheridan on the presidential race: “Michael D. did a great job commemorating our first 100 years. Someone needs to do an excellent job getting the next 100 started”

In a wide-ranging interview featured in the latest issue of Hot Press, Nutribrand co-founder Gareth Sheridan spoke of Ireland’s housing crisis and the state of political leadership in the country.

Speaking on the upcoming presidential election, Sheridan expressed admiration for current president Michael D. Higgins but stressed the need for a forward-looking figure to lead the country into its next chapter.

“Michael D. did a great job commemorating our first 100 years. Someone needs to do an excellent job getting the next 100 started."

The Dublin native has become increasingly vocal about the scale and urgency of the housing crisis, speaking to Hot Press about the systemic failures he believes have contributed to the situation.

“I’ve become obsessed with how we can fix this housing issue,” he said.

“I’ve been meeting with lots of people and organisations in the space. We have the ability to solve it, but nobody’s making the hard decisions or looking at it pragmatically.”

“The housing crisis should have been 15 or 20 years ago, with the way the economy was going and the way the country was heading. How has it caught us off guard that all of a sudden, people want to live and build businesses here?”

Sheridan also criticised Ireland’s reactive approach to policymaking.

“We’re constantly looking back at things we should have seen and trying to fix them when it’s already too late. We need to start looking forward. That’s a mentality thing that needs to change,” he said.

"You can’t talk to a single person in the country who isn’t feeling in one way or another frustrated by housing. It’s an issue that affects young people, but what’s my two-year-old daughter’s generation gonna deal with? Are they gonna have a single chance in hell of staying in this country?”

With such a strong stance on housing, Sheridan added that he’s been encouraged to consider a political role, possibly even a run for the presidency.

“Interestingly, a couple of councillors have asked if I would put housing at the top of the narrative and have a crack at the Áras. That was very flattering, but one thing that I pulled from that was that it is time that a younger candidate became president, to keep these issues on top of the narrative.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Sheridan spoke about his work with Nutribrand, the pharmaceutical company he co-founded, and the importance of putting patient care at the heart of healthcare innovation.

Read Gareth Sheridan's full interview in the current issue of Hot Press, out now: