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Updated: 11.36am
GLENNA LYNCH, THE businesswoman who famously challenged the business ethics of presidential candidate Seán Gallagher four years ago, is to run for the Dáil.
Lynch has been recruited by the Social Democrats to run in the four-seat Dublin Bay South constituency.
The party has also confirmed that former Labour councillor Cian O’Callaghan will run in the five-seat Dublin Bay North constituency. The Soc Dems have now picked 10 candidates to run in the general election.
Lynch is an interior designer who is based in Stillorgan. She came to prominence four years ago during the infamous ‘tweetgate’ incident during the final presidential debate on RTÉ’s Prime Time.
Appearing as a member of the audience, she questioned the business acumen and past dealings of Gallagher, who was then leading the polls in the final days of an eventful presidential campaign.
The exchange was later followed by Martin McGuinness’s infamous ‘envelope’ accusation and presenter Pat Kenny’s reading out of a false tweet from a bogus Sinn Féin account.
Gallagher then went on RTÉ’s Today programme the following day and questioned whether Lynch was a political plant, something she then denied after she phoned into the programme. Lynch insisted she had never been a member of a political party.
The incident is widely thought to have torpedoed Gallagher’s chances of winning the Áras and paved the way for Micheal D Higgins’s election a few days later.
In the years since, Lynch has been involved with several political campaigns including Democracy Matters, which campaigned to save the Seanad.
She was a substitute candidate for the independent MEP Nessa Childers during last year’s European elections and, until recently, Lynch was involved in the Independent Alliance.
Tea with Ross
Speaking today, Lynch said she chose not to move forward with the alliance as it didn’t have clear policies.
I had coffee with Shane Ross I’d say maybe 15 times over the last year … all the time that he was preparing to launch the Independent Alliance.
Lynch said she came away from the group’s think-in Tullaghmore “not really understanding what it wanted to be”.
“They probably had to avoid policy to try to hold together a loose alliance of independent.”
She added that there is a “huge opportunity for change” at the next election.
“Most of us went out in 2011 and we voted for change but in actual fact it’s clear that that change will never come from the old, worn-out parties.”
Meanwhile, O’Callaghan is a former mayor of Fingal County Council who resigned from the Labour party in July 2013, accusing the party of lacking a backbone in government.
O’Callaghan said he stands over what he said about his former party and, if anything, is more critical of Labour now.
He noted that Dublin Bay North is “probably the most competitive constituency in the country” but said he is “very much looking forward to the contest”.
Both candidates join a growing list of Social Democrat candidates running for the Dáil at the next general election.
Earlier this month, the new party unveiled several candidates who will run in constituencies across the country, including the former Labour senator James Heffernan.
Women candidates
The Social Democrats polled at 1% in today’s Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
Joint-party leader Catherine Murphy said she’s not disappointed by this result as the party is only nine weeks old, adding it is “all the more reason why we just plough ahead and keep introducing candidates, organising events and developing policy positions”.
Fellow joint leaders Róisín Shortall, a former Labour junior minister, and Stephen Donnelly were also at the launch.
Donnelly said that the party as found it to be “as easy or difficult” to find female candidates as it has been to find men.
“Turns out there’s a lot of women in politics in Ireland. It’s an amazing thing to watch the established political parties say “can’t get women, can’t get women’ and (when they were told) ‘Well, we’ll cut your finding’ they say ‘Oh, we’ve found them!” What a surprise.”
- with reporting by Órla Ryan
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Great news story, a lovely read for a Friday :-)
Fair play to them.
who would thumbs down that comment, wankers!
Fair play lads, I wish you much success.
Thats the sort of innovation Ireland needs.
And they have to leave Ireland, wish they could of stayed in Ireland
Congrats to @patrickc and brother John Collison @collision on latest $18m funding!
This isn’t Twitter you know
Delighted to see these two brothers getting on so well.I am sure they will go far. Fair dews to them.
Fair dues
I stand corrected
They deserve it. Their main product has removed one of the last barriers to market for anyone setting up a new business or wanting to operate a small business. Brillant.
Spot on Peter.
Couldn’t be happier about this. Great people, great product, great investment.
Really amazing entrepreneurial spirit but wish it could have been further developed in Ireland rather than California :)
Why can’t we make it attractive for guys like that to start up/ keep their business in Ireland . What are the politicians doing??
I dont think it can be entirely blamed on politicians..I dont think Ireland has the same startup environment that california has…and I think its a lot to do with our attitude towards entrepreneurs…and lack of VC funding perhaps..I think to imitate an environment like california, Ireland needs a spark, and for lots of people to take risks, both on their own ideas and on other peolpes…and also to think big, these guys obviously have done that but id say they are one of very few in Ireland. Maybe the draw of having like minded people around is what took them to the US?
First time I’ve ever seen a story on the Journal without a single “thumbs down” good work lads.
of course just as I send my comment…………ah well, still a great story
Great news hope it goes well for the young men,best of luck,it’s what Ireland needs at these times
Chris money doesn’t buy genius it’s fairly obvious these boys are something special really proud of them all do I don’t know them
Congratulations to them ! It’s a shame they couldn’t be incorporated in Ireland and employ Irish people, but the truth of the matter is that our universities are not producing graduates of the calibre required to start a tech company and guide it to success .
A corollary to that is the total funding vacuum that exists for tech startups in Ireland , whether it is venture or angel investment. Enterprise Ireland lack the domain knowledge required – a software startup costs peanuts to fund initially ; most of the cost goes on rent and food but EI and their ilk want to give you way more money than you need in exchange for way more equity than you want to give away, on top of ridiculous conditions like needing to hire a minimum number of people and spend a minimum amount which you will then be reimbursed for.
We will never have a so called smart economy if this doesn’t change and we will continue to produce mickey mouse companies that turn a tiny profit and hire a tiny amount of staff.
I don’t agree 100% with the calibre of graduates in Ireland. i think that the problem is more so the numbers of people doing IT/science subjects. There are some pretty smart people coming out of some pretty good courses at the moment but nowhere near enough.
Very well said Eric. The government should make it easier for the existing it contract development community to setup business and go it alone. I have 12 years experience lots of good ideas but I can’t take s year off ti try something without
Free office rent
A grant of about 45 k a year
And free access to broad band and hardware
Give me that enda and in 5 years I would employ at least 5 if not mire people
The thumbs down on the site is getting a bit ridiculous.
@ Chris Gardner – Your very much mistaken these guys went to a public school in Limerick, if their parents wanted elite education for them they could have sent them to Glenstal not far away. The only downfall with this type of talent in Ireland is that we don’t know how to nurture them past the R&D stage. These guys are in the mould of Gates & Zuckerberg,just a shame we couldn’t keep them but the v best of luck to them.
These Brothers while they deserve their hard work it must be pointed out that they came from an enormously priveleged family with basically unlimited resources. They were destined to do well getting every and all help along the way. Not the story of the vast majority of irish young men. As I said I am thrilled they are doing well but I and millions like me never had these priveleges growing or resources. Its a pity all Irish school goers do not get the same equalities and indeed come to school facing enormous disadvantages, We won’t be reading about them anytime soon.
Well done lads.
There should be a http://www.coderdojo.com in every town/village in the country! Time to ditch fable studies and get programming languages into schools!
OMG lads yis are a legend, well done, I’m as proud of you both as if I were your mother! Wonderful…
They’re set up for life then! Well done to them!
Congratulations to you both
The very highest levels of protection must be provided for intellectual property such as this for the most obvious of reasons. I’m certain that the naysayers and petty critics who believe that it’s acceptable practice to thieve from owners of such valuable property will slink to the sidelines while these young lads bask in well deserved glory.
Fantastic achievement lads…well done!
Your welcome Palo Alto, California.
“You’re welcome” dummy
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