ANOTHER Irish businessman has announced his intention to replace Michael D Higgins as President of Ireland.
Peter Casey follows Sean Gallagher and Gavin Duffy as the third former investor on the tv show Dragon’s Den to enter the presidential race.
Also among the candidates to replace Michael D Higgins are journalist Gemma O’Doherty, artist Kevin Sharkey, co-founder of Pieta House Joan Freeman, and politician Eamon O Cuiv.
Casey will require the support of 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities to get on the ballot.
Speaking about his decision to run for the position, the millionaire said that Michael D Higgins has “kept the seat warm” for the last seven years and has described the salary as “bonkers”.
“It’s almost the same as the US president”, he said.
“It’s much more than the Taoiseach, who does the heavy lifting. It’s just wrong. I wouldn’t take any.”
He also accused Higgins of “extolling the virtues” of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.
The Derry native will make connecting the Irish disaspora his main priority of elected.
"We can get the Irish abroad to come over and spend part of their degree in Ireland and get credit for it in whatever country they are coming from. MOOCs is going to do to education what iTunes did to music. It's revolutionary," he said.
Finally, Mr Casey wants to connect millions of the Irish diaspora on an internet platform.
"We have the technology now. Zuckerberg could arrange it for us in three or four months," he said.
He added that he believed abortion should not be used "as a method of birth control", and said he's "not a big fan" of Donald Trump.
The election will be held on 26 October, with nominations closing a month beforehand.
