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Gallagher rocked by new allegation of collecting money for Fianna Fail

Presidential front-runner admits he may have accepted envelope

JAMES O’SHEA,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, October 24, 2011, 8:31 PM

Updated Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 9:26 PM

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Presidential candidates Sean Gallagher (L) and Martin McGuinness at the Ploughing Championships

Photo by news.ie.msn.com

Live coverage of the Irish presidential election on IrishCentral - Friday, October 28th

In a sensational move Sinn Fein candidate Martin McGuinness has accused presidential front runner Sean Gallagher of deliberately misleading voters and hiding the fact that he had received payments on behalf of Fianna Fail, the former government party, now discredited.

McGuinness made the accusation on the final debate of the campaign when he stated a witness had come forward to reveal that he had personally given a check to Gallagher for Fianna Fail after a fundraiser.

Gallagher at first denied the specific incident that McGuinness referred to, but later stated that he may well have accepted a payment.

The immediate aftermath of the incident saw Paddy Power bookmakers remove Gallagher from as the favorite and install Labor candidate Michael D.Higgins instead. The election is on Thursday.

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The alleged incident happened in 2009 after a fundraiser for Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen in Dundalk County Louth. Gallagher has stated he attended the fundraiser but did not raise any money or collect any checks.

However, McGuinness stated that the businessman had come forward to state that he had given Gallagher a check when he called to his home.

The person he accepted the payment from is said to be a Newry businessman who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fuel smuggling and received a suspended 18-month jail sentence in 1998.

Gallagher at first denied it but then admitted to audience jeers that he may have collected an envelope.

If Gallagher has been untruthful on the issue it could damage his campaign greatly as his opponents have sought repeatedly to link him to Fianna Fail fundraising without success.

Already bookmaker Paddy Power has pushed him out to even money with Labor candidate Micheal D. Higgins the new favorite at 8/11.

Earlier on Monday, McGuinness had stated that Sean Gallagher is “up to his neck in Fianna Fail”.

“There’s no doubt that some people would say Seán has been up to his neck in Fianna Fáil,” McGuinness said during a live radio/online debate on Monday hosted by Newstalk radio and Google.

During the debate McGuinness accused his opponent of having strong tied to the party.

“Sean Gallagher’s party wrecked the economy, destroyed the economy, brought about mass unemployment and immigration,” McGuinness said.

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gobdawpaddy | Oct 26, 2011, 06:37 AM EDT

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Towngate | Oct 26, 2011, 05:51 AM EDT

Correction to my post @06.08. Gay and Pat did in fact shake hands at the end. Apologies to both. ~ ~ ~ DublinCitizen. Spot on! ~ let's hope as they scuttle back to their own country, with a hard lesson in politics learned, that they get Dana or her husband to drive them!

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mastersonjp | Oct 25, 2011, 07:36 PM EDT

Which of the canditates would you buy a second car from?

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DublinCitizen | Oct 25, 2011, 02:04 PM EDT

Martin McGuinness is up to his neck in murder, knee-capping, beatings, evasion etc. His sadistic pleasure last night sickened me. He will be going back to Belfast next Friday and hopefully never come back to bother us again and please take Gerry Adams with him.

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gobdawpaddy | Oct 25, 2011, 10:48 AM EDT

Kennedy, I was merely agreeing with the very first poster on this topic, who is in Ireland and who is urging the Irish electorate' to cop on'. The topic on which both of us were sharing observations is an election in IRELAND, not the United States. Bruce Arnold who has lived in Dublin for over 50 years also alluded to the shortcomings of the Irish electorate in his column yesterday. I spent many years in Ireland and spend quite a lot of time there still. I am very aware of the 'culture' that existed within Fianna Fail that has now dimished but, evidenced by the revelations last night, has not gone away, .The Irish electorate turned a blind eye to this for decades and are paying the price for repeatedly electing 'cute hoors' (incompetent and in some cases dishonest). FF have done incredible damage to Ireland. On your assertions regarding the US, I agree "W" was a huge mistake, but the IMF aren't holed up at the Fed running the country and the US has retained its AAA credit rating at 2 out of 3 rating agencies. The yield on 10 year US treasuries is currently around 2%, Ireland's 10 year yield is about 8.5% (the last time I looked). In all the current turmoil around the world, investors looking for a safe haven are still demonstrating confidence in US assets.

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kennedy23 | Oct 25, 2011, 09:05 AM EDT

gobdawpaddy look to capital Hill and analyze all the cutehoorism !as you put it !as its going on there too and as for us Irish not been the sharpest knives in the drawe also look to the Bush government the biggest mistake ever made by the US...your country is also in tatters as of most around the world .....comment on your won mess before you insult others ...two comments on the one site you must have shagged the blarney stone instead of kissing it as you never shout up !!!!!!!!!!!

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gobdawpaddy | Oct 25, 2011, 07:27 AM EDT

ballindaggin, 'its about time that the Irish people copped on to it'. Unfortunately the Irish electorate has repeatedly proven themselves to be 'not the sharpest knives in the drawer'. Bruce arnold had a column in yesterday's Independent suggesting the same. Their country is in tatters as a result of incompetence, cutehoorism and brown envelopes handed to fianna fail, yet there are many who still voted for them in March's election and see Sean G. as FF's proxy candidate on Thursday. It is a democracy of course but Forest Gump comes to mind, 'stupid is as stupid does', is what I believe he said.

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mastersonjp | Oct 25, 2011, 06:54 AM EDT

Martin McGuinness and fuel smuggler. did he get to know him at a Sinn Fein fund raiser

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gobdawpaddy | Oct 25, 2011, 06:33 AM EDT

It would appear that Fianna Fail is akin to the mafia, you can never leave. Of course it's a bit like McG's claim that he left the RA in 1974, you can't hand in a letter of resignation to that gang.

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Towngate | Oct 25, 2011, 06:08 AM EDT

I hqave just watched the debate and it was certainly a lively and very interesting event. The gloves were off and 'skin and hair flew'! Gallagher has trained himself to remain still under fire, but at times I wanted him to 'duck' as the others - mainly McGuinness - knocked 'fatal' lumps off him. Most got a fair shake and gave a fair account of themselves, but Gay Mitchell switched his engine on at last and rightly upbraided the slimey moderator Pat Kenny for being unfair. Kenny, who had already 'quoted' a twitter in support of the McGuinness claim against Gallagher,which has turned out to be a hoax, then abused his position by behaving like a guilty schoolyard bully and suddenly the presenter became the story. Pat and Gay did not shake hands at the end of the programme. If Gay had shown some of this fighting spirit and confronted Enda Kenny about his half-hearted support - this dirty election might have ben a more interesting affair and the only really 'nice' candidate might be further up the Polls. Good luck to them all on Thursday.

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DanOLoingsigh | Oct 25, 2011, 05:31 AM EDT

mmmm...Newry businessman, guilty of tax evasion, a fuel smuggler...out of the blue makes a very convenient phone call...makes you wonder why?

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ballindaggin | Oct 25, 2011, 04:41 AM EDT

Watched the debate last night,listening to Gallagher was like a rerun of Bertie Ahern saying he didn't know where the briefcase full of money came from or how much was in it,or like Brien Cowen denying that the IMF were about to take over our finances,this is typical Fianna Fail old school politics and its about time that the Irish people copped on to it.I will be giving McGuinness my number one vote and Higgins my number two.

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