Sean Gallagher On Spot over missing state loan money

Sponge Bob

He got state loan money for a company and wound it up rather than repay the money. He got the loan money in question from Louth County Enterprise of which he was Deputy CEO or Acting CEO...or both.

Louth County Enterprise chased him for years and got some of it, Gallagher wouldn't say really because he slapped a confidentiality agreement on the Enterprise Board when he paid whatever he paid.

The Interview with Phillip Boucher Hayes who investigated and presented/interviewed on Drivetime should be available soon.

foggy_lad

Sponge Bob wrote: »

He got grant money for a company and wound it up rather than repay the money. He got the grant money in question from Louth County Enterprise of which he was Deputy CEO or Acting CEO...or both.

Louth County Enterprise chased him for years and got some of it, Gallagher wouldn't say really because he slapped a confidentiality agreement on the Enterprise Board when he paid whatever he paid.

The Interview with Phillip Boucher Hayes who investigated and presented/interviewed on Drivetime should be available soon.

The apple doesn't FFail far from the tree:rolleyes:

token101

So he wound up a company? That's it? And didn't repay a GRANT?? :rolleyes:

Surely a GRANT would be bottom of your creditors list? Maybe he did the prudent thing, realised the business wasn't working and just jacked it in and hadn't the money to pay all of his creditors?? Isn't that the main reason you;d liquidate a company? Does that make him evil and corrupt? The witch hunt is getting crazy at this stage.

Sponge Bob

token101 wrote: »

Maybe he did the prudent thing, realised the business wasn't working and just jacked it in and hadn't the money to pay all of his creditors?? Isn't that the main reason you;d liquidate a company? Does that make him evil and corrupt? The witch hunt is getting crazy at this stage.

None of the above, he set up yet another company to do exactly the same thing and it was profitable...possibly still is.

Sponge Bob

The Podcast is now up. ( mp3)

Gallagher seems to be one who gets a lot of legal advice and has a lot of "advisers" for one who was CEO of the Louth County Enterprise Board and who therefore knew the rules on grants like this.

And yet when Gallagher was owed money himself.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tv-dragon-is-all-fired-up-over-8364180000-hes-still-owed-by-developer-2114883.html

"He is shamelessly building this mansion while not paying the people who made him what he was in the good times. When he was claiming he couldn't pay us last year, he was breezing around in a red Ferrari and a Lamborghini. It's shameless really. It's not just a legal issue. It's a moral issue."

Yes, Seán, a legal and a moral issue it is alright.

token101

So he did liquidate the company then! He's perfectly entitled to go and start another business. Everyone seems to agree that indigenous entreprenuers are the future of the country; start making them responsible for every grant they receive and you might aswell forget it.

Also, how many people in this country are clamouring for the exact same debt forgiveness with mortgages? He settled the case. Non story and totally irrelevant to the presidency. And your thread title is misleading, the money's been repaid in some form as you have pointed out. So it isn't missing.

Sponge Bob

token101 wrote: »

He settled the case. Non story and totally irrelevant to the presidency. And your thread title is misleading, the money's been repaid in some form as you have pointed out. So it isn't missing.

There is no evidence it has been repaid in FULL or with INTEREST. Some payment was made that is all.

The new company was set up not least in order to weasel out of repaying the grant...and probably to get more grants too.

hotmail.com

He seems to think he can create jobs...Just how many jobs did the last president bring to Ireland??

LostinKildare

There was an article about this in this week's Sunday Business Post.

Gallagher was Assistant CEO of the Louth Entreprise Board from 1995 to 2000. In the following year, 2001, he got a €25,394 grant from the Board for his company Home Wiring Systems, the forerunner of his present company Smarthomes, which he started the next year, 2002.

In 2004 Home Wiring Systems ceased trading, and a year later Louth Entreprise Board looked for its investment back. Gallagher finally settled in 2008 with a partial repayment.

I assume these entreprise grants are taxpayer-funded, and that taxpayers would have footed the bill for legal costs as LEB chased Gallagher for repayment, and eaten the difference in what he owed vs what he repaid. Can anyone else shed light on this?

http://www.sbpost.ie/news/gallagher-settled-investment-dispute-with-former-employer-59032.html

Sponge Bob

hotmail.com wrote: »

He seems to think he can create jobs.

Someone who has created jobs in not very impressed with Seánies job creation skillz. Seeing as you raised that red herring.

http://www.argus.ie/news/gallagher-surges-in-polls-despite-knocks-2903803.html

Multimillionaire businessman, Dr. Pearse Lyons, originally from Dundalk, commented on Mr. Gallagher's bid for the Aras, describing him as 'someone who ran a firm dependent on the building boom, which wasn't very entrepreneurial'.

Founder of animal food and health firm Alltech, Dr. Lyons added Ireland needs a President who 'can help inspire the sense of confidence, energy and potential associated with doing business, investing and starting businesses in Ireland.'

I am unaware if his Dragoning has created a single job, net.

LostinKildare

token101 wrote: »

Maybe he did the prudent thing, realised the business wasn't working and just jacked it in and hadn't the money to pay all of his creditors??

Eh, no. The year after he received the grant for Home Wiring Systems, he started a new business (Smarthomes) which it seems did the same thing -- installing wiring for high-tech bling in McMansions during the boom.

In the year Home Wiring Systems ceased trading (2004) -- when he would be paying off creditors -- Smarthomes was awarded 100,000 euros in InterTradeIreland's Seedcorn competition. I assume that award was taxpayer-provided too, but I'm not sure.

http://www.seangallagher.com/2011/about-sean/enterprise/

BTW, Gallagher was appointed to the Board of InterTradeIreland in 2007 and just resigned in July. According to his web site, he's collected director's fees of 30,150 euros in that period.

http://www.seangallagher.com/2011/10/gallagher-outlines-details-of-board-memberships-and-remuneration-received-and-expenses/

LostinKildare

LostinKildare wrote: »

There was an article about this in this week's Sunday Business Post.

Gallagher was Assistant CEO of the Louth Entreprise Board from 1995 to 2000. In the following year, 2001, he got a €25,394 grant from the Board for his company Home Wiring Systems, the forerunner of his present company Smarthomes, which he started the next year, 2002.

In 2004 Home Wiring Systems ceased trading, and a year later Louth Entreprise Board looked for its investment back. Gallagher finally settled in 2008 with a partial repayment.

I assume these entreprise grants are taxpayer-funded, and that taxpayers would have footed the bill for legal costs as LEB chased Gallagher for repayment, and eaten the difference in what he owed vs what he repaid. Can anyone else shed light on this?

http://www.sbpost.ie/news/gallagher-settled-investment-dispute-with-former-employer-59032.html

EDIT: Just listened to the podcast, thanks Spongebob, well worth a listen.

According to the interview, the dates from the SB Post that I mention above are not correct. It actually looks worse -- Gallagher got the loan (not a grant) less than a year after stepping down as Asst CEO of the Louth Enterprise Board. And Home Wiring Systems and Smarthomes were essentially the same company: Gallagher changed the name to rebrand the company. It ceased trading as "Home Wiring Systems" only 3 months after "Smarthomes" was established. When the Louth Enterprise Board came looking for repayment at the end of the loan term in 2005, the company had 650,000 euros on hand, so it wasn't as if he couldn't afford to pay it back. Apparently he thought he had created a loophole that got him off the hook.

Wonder if this'll have legs.

Sponge Bob

LostinKildare wrote: »

Gallagher got the loan (not a grant) less than a year after stepping down as Asst CEO of the Louth Enterprise Board.

Ah right, and yes he knew the difference. Thread titlle amended.

irishdude11

LostinKildare wrote: »

EDIT: Just listened to the podcast, thanks Spongebob, well worth a listen.

According to the interview, the dates from the SB Post that I mention above are not correct. It actually looks worse -- Gallagher got the loan (not a grant) less than a year after stepping down as Asst CEO of the Louth Enterprise Board. And Home Wiring Systems and Smarthomes were essentially the same company: Gallagher changed the name to rebrand the company. It ceased trading as "Home Wiring Systems" only 3 months after "Smarthomes" was established. When the Louth Enterprise Board came looking for repayment at the end of the loan term in 2005, the company had 650,000 euros on hand, so it wasn't as if he couldn't afford to pay it back. Apparently he thought he had created a loophole that got him off the hook.

Wonder if this'll have legs.

Just to clarify, are you saying he folded his company to avoid repaying money to the state and then started up another company doing the exact same thing?

LostinKildare

irishdude11 wrote: »

Just to clarify, are you saying he folded his company to avoid repaying money to the state and then started up another company doing the exact same thing?

You should listen to the podcast and decide for yourself -- the whole thing is an interview with him on this subject, and it's pretty interesting.

From what I heard, no I don't think he folded the first company with the express purpose of avoiding repayment of the loan. It sounds like he changed the name of the business for marketing reasons -- "Smarthomes" sounded better, less like an electrical contractor. Then years later when repayment of the loan came due, he thought he'd chance his arm wiggling out of the debt based on a technicality -- that the business had ceased trading under the original name (that is, technically, it was a different company). The interviewer asks SG if he didn't feel a moral obligation to repay the money and he deflects the question. He also does a wonderful resurrection of the FF mantra "I don't accept that"!

Sponge Bob

On the presidential debate on prime time he says he paid 'almost all' of it back.

foggy_lad

Sponge Bob wrote: »

On the presidential debate on prime time he says he paid 'almost all' of it back.

He said he paid back €19000 of €20000 he got.

DarkJager

And refused to give a straight answer on whether fianna fail ruined the country. Instant fail.

Victor

token101 wrote: »

Surely a GRANT would be bottom of your creditors list?

Normally grants are secured in some fashion.

Sponge Bob

Well it was confidential information according to Seán in the Podcast.

foggy_lad

Does anyone know when he did that WiMax advert and how much he got for it? Did he write the catchy tune himself?