GALLAGHER CONTROVERSY:INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE Seán Gallagher yesterday accused Martin McGuinness and Sinn Féin of mounting an ambush against him because he was the clear frontrunner in the presidential election.
The entrepreneur yesterday categorically denied he had ever collected a €5,000 cheque from a businessman for a Fianna Fáil fundraiser in Co Louth in 2008, having conceded on RTÉ the previous night that he might have done so.
Mr Gallagher yesterday attempted to limit the damage caused to his campaign during Monday night’s debate on Frontline involving all seven candidates.
The Co Louth-based businessman struggled to answer searching questions about his business activities posed by a member of the audience and, in his worst moment, seemed to concede to Mr McGuinness’s allegation he may have personally collected a donation of €5,000 from a businessman who was also a convicted fuel smuggler.
Yesterday, Mr Gallagher mounted an effort to regain momentum in a series of interviews. He denied he had personally collected the money from the businessman, Hugh Morgan, and also claimed he had been the victim of a Sinn Féin smear campaign.
“This was a political assassination attempt by Martin McGuinness and Sinn Féin last night. The person in question, Hugh Morgan, is a convicted criminal and he loaded the gun while Martin McGuinness pulled the trigger. I told the truth on Frontline.”
Mr Gallagher also said his concession on Frontline that he may have collected an envelope (containing a cheque) when he called to Mr Morgan’s premises to deliver a photograph was made because he was thrown by the allegation when it was made on the live programme. He said Mr Morgan had originally claimed the contribution was made before the event in July 2008. On Frontline, Mr McGuinness alleged it was made after the event, a difference that shocked him.
Speaking on the RTÉ Six-One News yesterday, he said: “I was shell-shocked that this was thrown in, and that he was saying that I delivered a photograph and collected a cheque.”
Yesterday, Fianna Fáil issued a statement about the cheque from Mr Morgan which seemed to support Mr Gallagher’s version of events. It stated the cheque from Mr Morgan was dated June 26th, 2008, and lodged to the Fianna Fáil account on June 30th, the day before the July 1st hotel event.
This contradicted Mr McGuinness’s assertion he collected the cheque after the event. However, Mr McGuinness yesterday said there was a “misunderstanding” as to when the cheque was given.
“Due to a misunderstanding during the conversation I was under the impression the cheque was delivered after the event but it’s only overnight I have learned the cheque was delivered four days before the event took place,” he said.
Mr Morgan later issued a statement in which he said Mr Gallagher had visited his premises on June 27th and he had made out a cheque for €5,000 to Fianna Fáil.
