Seamus Sheridan: Painting The Town Green

“People have very short memories of what the Green Party stood for,” declares businessman Seamus Sheridan, who has recently put his name forward as a candidate for the local elections in Galway. “They don’t realise that before they went into government with Fianna Fail, they were the only party who were saying that Ireland’s growth was unsustainable, our housing regulations were a disgrace, and that the whole thing was going to collapse.”
He pauses for effect. “And they were the only party that sent back massive cheques every year from all the major banks. Cheques that all the other parties – Labour, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael – were only too willing to take to fund their campaigns.”
Originally from Portobello, Dublin, and best known as a restaurateur, entrepreneur and businessman (he and his brother, Kevin, founded the famous Sheridan’s Cheesemongers more than a decade ago), Seamus has lived and worked in Galway for more than half of his 46 years. He was just 22 when he opened the legendary Blue Raincoat restaurant on the riverside.
“When we first moved to Galway, we rented the restaurant that is now called Nimmo’s and I think our rent was something like £30 or £40 a week,” he recalls. “It was derelict at the time. We put in the floor that’s still there today and we opened an art gallery and restaurant. We got in something that was very exotic for Galway at the time: a cappuccino machine. I think it was the city’s first.
It was a novelty. Funny when you look back.” The Blue Raincoat is long gone, but Seamus has lived, worked and prospered in the city ever since. He now lives on the Westside of town with his schoolteacher partner, Miriam, and their two young children (he also has an adult daughter from his earlier marriage). Last month, he announced his intention to run, as a Green Party candidate, for a seat on Galway City Council in next year’s local elections.
He has been the Green’s spokesperson on food and agriculture for the last three years. Despite that party’s annihilation in the last election, he doesn’t accept that it’s over for them.
“I joined the Greens in the late ‘90s, but wasn’t active, except locally,” he recalls. “Especially when Sheridan’s Cheesemongers became more widely known, my opinions were on food and agriculture – particularly on food distribution and the environmental effects of food production.”
It wasn’t until their collapse in 2011 that he became seriously involved. “I came late to the party,” he smiles. “Eamon Ryan asked me would I take on the role as agricultur and food spokesperson. I thought about it and I said, ‘Well, it would be a shame to see the Green Party disappear’. I’ve really enjoyed my last three years working as a spokesperson – some really important issues have come up.”
Despite the Green’s current low standing, he reckons he got involved at an important time. “I had only taken on the position when the whole issue of Ireland losing its GM free status came up. We have a major issue in Galway – the proposed salmon farm in Galway Bay. Then we had the horsemeat scandal. It’s been a busy enough time: new areas like that require huge amounts of scientific research and knowledge.”
Disillusioned with the other mainstream parties, he sees no other political outlet for his own heartfelt views – which is why he plans to up his involvement. “Local government is not a fulltime political career,” he states. “It is something that has to be filled by citizens of the city regardless if they are unemployed, working or have a business. We live in a democracy. Therefore, if I run for election, which party should I run for? And by a country mile, the ethos of the Green Party and its belief in social justice, in sustainable economic growth and, in particular, its concern for the environment, is the party that best represents my own values. I’m very proud to keep campaigning for them.
“One of the main reasons I am getting into politics now is a general disgust at the rush for the corporatisation of everything in Ireland,” he continues. “From the clothes we wear to the food we eat. I’m very concerned about the threat to privatise our water and, politically, I find that our current government is just way too close, in brown-nosing itself with the big corporations. I actually have no problem with government support for business competition, but this government has a particular fondness for multinationals. The future of Ireland’s economy is going to be in small businesses and sustainable economic growth. The corporatisation of our food doesn’t create jobs – it just creates profit for trust funds in New York and Switzerland.”
He knows it will be an uphill battle, but he believes it’s one worth fighting. “Well, the Green Party have always had a difficult relationship with the media in that they have always been slagged, particularly on radio. They were always the butt of jokes. Even though the policies that they campaigned for – building regulations, an end to planning corruption and corporate donations, local government reform – took decades for other political parties to understand. People forget that.
“People also forget that Trevor Sargent practically had the shit kicked out of him when he waved a cheque – a bribe from a developer – around at a meeting of Dublin City Council. He raised the issue of corruption and the Greens were laughed at and escorted out for unruly behaviour, for pointing out that politicians were being bribed. So yes, it’s easy to slag the Greens, for being idealistic, but they’ve done huge work – and they haven’t been bought.”
If Seamus is elected to Galway City Council, what is he proposing to do differently?
“On a local level, the single thing that I want to see in Galway is a permanent civic market, similar to the English Market in Cork. A civic market run by the city council, not by private enterprise. Most importantly it would be a lovely boost to the small farmers and food producers in Galway and its farming hinterland. It would also be a wonderful tourist attraction. There’d be the social benefits of having a place where you could meet friends and go from one butcher to buy your bacon to another butcher to buy your sausages. Economically, it would create hundreds of jobs and circulate money locally.”
He sees great potential in Galway city that isn’t being capitalised upon by the current City Council. “We’ve been attracting considerable foreign investment from the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors – companies that realise it’s not just the cost of labour that matters when choosing a location, but the services and amenities available. We have a vibrant university, that’s expanding, in our city centre. We have a regional hospital, that’s expanding, also in the city centre. Fantastic local sports in rugby and GAA and boxing. We’ve got an environmentally healthy city, blessed with an abundance of nature and wildlife based around the River Corrib, that short, gloriously fast river. There’s not many cities that have salmon, otters and seals swimming through their city centre!
“Galway is still the festival capital,” he adds. “We’ve got the Arts Festival, the Oyster Festival, Cúirt, Barbaro the children’s festival, Galway Theatre Festival, the Galway Food festival. While budgets are tight, it is imperative that the work and energy that people have invested to create such a vibrant cosmopolitan city is not threatened. For people from all over the world it is a very special place. And I don’t think the current City Council reflect that vibrancy.”