Europe

Europe

Businessman ahead in Irish presidential race - poll

15 October 2011 23:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A businessman most famous for being on a reality TV show has raced into the lead in an increasingly unpredictable contest for Ireland’s presidency, an opinion poll set to be released in a Sunday newspaper showed, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Sean Gallagher, who made his fortune supplying technology and cabling to new homes during Ireland’s ill-fated housing boom, became famous when he appeared on Dragon’s Den, a television show in which budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to business people in the hope of winning funding from them.

Gallagher, an independent candidate, has pushed Michael D. Higgins, a poet and former minister for culture, into second place. Until now the 70-year-old Higgins, candidate of junior coalition party Labour, has been firm favourite.

The Red C poll in the Sunday Business Post newspaper showed Gallagher had jumped 18 points to 39 percent. Higgins was in second place on 27 percent.

Martin McGuinness, a former commander in guerrilla group the Irish Republican Army (IRA), is in third place, down three points to 13 percent.

Gallagher has benefited from avoiding much of the mud-slinging in the contest for the largely ceremonial role. His biggest electoral weakness is his former membership of the centre-right Fianna Fail party, still blamed by voters for presiding over the country’s economic collapse.

McGuinness’ past in one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla groups has prompted stinging attacks from government ministers who fear his background could damage the figurehead role and whose own presidential candidate is languishing in the polls.

David Norris, a gay senator and former presidential frontrunner, has been beset by scandals including his views on the age of consent and his appeals for clemency for a former partner convicted of statutory rape.

The Sunday Business Post poll showed Norris had slipped 7 points to 7 percent, the fifth favourite candidate in what is a seven-person race.

Dana Rosemary Scallon, another contender for the presidency and a former winner of the Eurovision song contest, this week stunned Irish voters when she said she was the victim of a malicious campaign centred around allegations of sexual abuse against a member of her family.

She has said the allegations are untrue.

Scallon came last in the Sunday Business Post poll on 2 percent.