The teams working for four official nominees
MARY DAVIS
Heading up Ms Davis’s election drive is campaign chairman Peter Fitzgerald, who is a former deputy commissioner of the Garda Síochána, where he was responsible for strategic and resource management of the force.
Media relations are being handled by Suzanne Coogan, who previously worked with the candidate in Special Olympics Europe-Eurasia, where Ms Davis is managing director. Ms Coogan took leave from the job when Ms Davis entered the presidential race in May. Before taking up the Special Olympics post, she was a Fianna Fáil press officer and subsequently adviser to then minister for defence Willie O’Dea, who resigned from that position in controversial circumstances in February of last year.
Another Fianna Fáil connection is the party’s former general secretary and, briefly, member of Seanad Éireann, Martin Mackin of the Q4 public relations firm. He is a campaign adviser along with his company associate Damien Garvey.
There is a diversity of political backgrounds in the Davis campaign with Ryan Meader, former Green Party activist and adviser to former minister for the environment John Gormley, holding the title of research and policy adviser.
Ms Davis said that although businessman Denis O’Brien “was a great supporter of Special Olympics in 2003 when the World Games were held here in Ireland”, he had “no role or involvement” in her presidential campaign.
SEÁN GALLAGHER
The Gallagher team also has Fianna Fáil and Green Party connections. The two campaign directors are Cathal Lee, former public affairs director of the Construction Industry Federation and ex-staffer with Fianna Fáil at Leinster House, and Dónall Geoghegan, former government programme manager for the Green Party in the Fianna Fáil-led coalition.
Communications are being jointly handled by Richard Moore and Suzanne Collins. Moore was press adviser to Fianna Fáil minister Dermot Ahern and previously Michael Lowry, in his days as a Fine Gael minister, while Collins was a Fianna Fáil press officer and political assistant with the SDLP in the North.
MICHAEL D HIGGINS
The Michael D Higgins campaign is headed by Dublin Central TD Joe Costello while long-time Labour Party press officer Tony Heffernan has come out of retirement for the election.
Most of the work is being done by Labour staff “in addition to their normal duties”, as well as “volunteer friends” of Mr Higgins, whose daughter Alice Mary is joint assistant director of elections with Labour staff member Brian McDowell. Other names well known in Labour circles include Greg Sparks, Ita McAuliffe, Ray Kavanagh, David Leach, Mags Murphy and Shauneen Armstrong.
GAY MITCHELL
Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell went outside the party for a personal spokesman: John Downing was deputy government press secretary and spokesman for the Green Party in the Fianna Fáil-Green coalition. He was previously a journalist with the Irish Daily Star, the Irish Independent and Irish Examiner.
Mr Mitchell’s director of elections is Laois-Offaly TD Charlie Flanagan, chairman of the parliamentary party. Fine Gael’s behind-the-scenes guru Frank Flannery is deputy director of elections and Terry Murphy from headquarters is an adviser on campaign strategy. Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran is playing an active part.
Mr Mitchell’s wife Norma has addressed meetings of party activists in Dublin North East, Dublin North Central and, tonight, will talk in the candidate’s former Dáil constituency of Dublin South Central.
FUNDING
Individual donations are limited to €2,539.48. Where the amount is above €648.87, the donor’s name is published by the Standards in Public Office Commission. The spending limit is €750,000. However, provided a candidate reaches 12.5 per cent of the quota at any stage of the count, he or she is eligible to receive up to €200,000 by way of reimbursement.
