
PJ Gallagher would run for President on one condition
The comic and presenter made the admission on his radio show on Wednesday morning, revealing what one thing could potentially change his mind.
To date, Fine Gael candidate Mairead McGuinness and independent TD Catherine Connolly have confirmed they will launch campaigns to become the next president. We're at the time of year where everyone who is anyone is being asked on whether they'll run for Áras, and PJ Gallagher is the latest to 'rule himself out.' Pic: Instagram
With plenty of speculation as to who else could throw their hat in the ring, PJ Gallagher and his Radio Nova co-host Jim McCabe had their say on some celebrity candidates.
Jim said: 'Michael Flatley was being rumoured to be considering a run and we just thought, look, an auld celebrity candidate is never a bad thing just to keep the general interest up'
PJ added that it 'puts a bit of spice' into the campaign. With plenty of speculation as to who else could throw their hat in the ring, PJ Gallagher and his Radio Nova co-host Jim McCabe had their say on some celebrity candidates. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Jim went on to share that listeners to the show had text in putting Johnny Logan's name out there, before then asking PJ was he in or out.
'I am ruling myself out,' PJ confirmed, 'Both Jim and me are ruling out a dual-presidency and until there is a dual presidency.'
'And we are adamant in that,' Jim added with a laugh, 'We will not accept the presidency until it's a dual presidency and we've established what way the Áras will be split up and who gets which bits.' View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Radio Nova 100 (@radionova100)
'As long as Jim gets to do the awkward parties and I get to just hang around the house,' PJ said.
The conversation led Jim to put fellow broadcaster Pat Kenny's name forward, noting he would be a 'great President.'
'Yeah,' PJ said before launching into an impression of the former Late Late Show host. Jim said Pat was a 'very articulate' man who 'holds himself well.' Pic: G. McDonnell / VIPIRELAND.COM
Jim said Pat was a 'very articulate' man who 'holds himself well.'
PJ continued with his impression of the broadcaster, with Jim admitting Kenny for President would be 'worth it just to see the presidential addresses.'
'People of Ireland,' the pair said, exaggerating the pronunciation so to sound like Pat.
A new President will be elected later in the year as Michael D Higgins steps down from the role after 14 years at the helm.
The current favourite to take over is former MEP Mairead McGuinness, who is currently running unopposed for Fine Gael after Seán Kelly confirmed he would not be seeking a nomination from the party.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Jobseekers are avoiding part-time roles in fear of losing other social welfare
JOBSEEKERS ARE DETERRED from taking up part-time employment in case they lose out on other social welfare entitlements, a specialist expert group has told the government ahead of Budget 2026. In order to ensure unemployed people are motivated to get a job again in the future, the government has been told to increase means-tested social welfare allowance thresholds so that they are in line with the national minimum wage or a recipient's earnings. It comes as Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris floats the possibility that the jobseekers' allowance would be removed from the overall increases to social welfare, in favour of higher increases to pensioners. The Tax Strategy Group, an expert advisory panel at the Department of Finance, said this week that 'inconsistencies' have appeared in Ireland's social welfare system as it has evolved since the late 1800s. It explained, in its annual reports to government ahead of the budget this year, that jobseekers are disincentivised from picking up shifts in part-time roles in case they impact the specific thresholds of income which are disregarded from social welfare payments. A portion of a person's income is not taken into account when assessing how much they are entitled to from a social welfare payment. This means that you can earn a certain amount of money, without it affecting your entitlements. Advertisement In some cases, the threshold of income that is disregarded from the means test, which will later determine the value of the total payment, is surpassed when jobseekers take up part-time roles, leaving them with not enough money to rely on each week. It can also impact any other means-tested social welfare payments that they may be receiving, the tax experts' report said. 'This is a penal approach that acts to disincentive an unemployed person from taking up part-time work,' the report from the Tax Strategy Group said this year . It has recommended that a system should be agreed whereby the values of these thresholds increase annually, 'whether aligned with the National Minimum Wage or earnings', to make sure that jobseekers find work. It added that this change would avoid situations where a person's social welfare entitlements are impacted or reduced, and that it should be done in order to achieve Ireland's policy aims for social welfare. The report later questioned if there was indeed a 'policy rationale for creating this deviation' – in which case, the state should disregard the advice, it said. Speaking earlier this month, Tánaiste Harris said he was not convinced that dole increases should be in line with other social welfare payments, such as pensions and disability payments. 'When there are other supports out there for very many people who can't work for very many good reasons. That's my opinion. We'll thrash it out all that out at the time of budget,' he told reporters. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal


Extra.ie
4 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Exclusive: Budget 2026 to cut several key payments in austerity move
The country is facing its first austerity budget in a decade, top Coalition sources told this weekend. And Fine Gael's much-trumpeted 9% VAT rate cut for the hospitality sector will not be decided until Budget Day and may not happen at all, given the worsening economic situation, a Government minister told Extra. The slashing of the Universal Energy Credit, double child and social welfare bonuses at Christmas and reinstating university tuition fees to €3,000 are all being considered. Tánaiste Simon Harris and Taoiseach Micheál Martin speaking at a press conference for the launch of the Government's Summer Economic Statement and the National Development Plan for the next five years. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire It sets the scene for a destabilising summer of discontent over the tighter spending rules being imposed by Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers. Senior Government sources have publicly denied claims that the next budget will be an austerity budget but, privately, sources at the top of the Coalition say otherwise. Despite this week's announcement of the biggest capital spending programme in Irish history, ordinary families will feel the squeeze due to the elimination of one-off payments which for some are worth as much as €1,000. After years of record spending increases, one minister told Extra: 'The plan is simple. Wait Trump out with a couple of austerity budgets and return to power via a series of generous budgets in the latter half of our term. 'A deal [on tariffs between the EU and the US] is still possible but the overall scenario is frightening. It is all very uncertain. The spat between Trump and Macron [over France recognising the Palestinian state] could add 5% to tariffs.' A Fine Gael minister said last night: 'Let Fianna Fáil and Micheál take the hit for cuts in the first three years and then Simon will take the credit for extra spending in the last two years. 'When we don't have it (money) at the start of a new government we won't spend it. When we have money just before the next election, we'll spend it.' Tensions about the cuts came to the fore this week after a ferocious row broke out between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the issue of VAT reductions. Commenting on the public exchanges between the Coalition partners, one source said: 'Willie O'Dea is already on Morning Ireland causing discontent and it is only July.' Cuts in the first three years and then Simon will take the credit for extra spending in the last two years. When we don't have it (money) at the start of a new government we won't spend it. When we have money just before the next election, we'll spend it.' Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers. Pic: Fran Veale Tensions about the cuts came to the fore this week after a ferocious row broke out between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the issue of VAT reductions. Commenting on the public exchanges between the Coalition partners, one source said: 'Willie O'Dea is already on Morning Ireland causing discontent and it is only July.' A senior Coalition source said last night the impending cuts are 'very necessary. There's concern over the long-term consequences of the 37% growth in spending since 2021.' 'The blunt truth is, there has been a lot of waste. We have to spend on political necessities. No more luxuries. There is a need to bring discipline back into spending. Covid led to necessary loosening of the reins, but we need to restore traditional controls. We need to do a few big things well. There is a brave new world out there. We need to ensure spending is efficient,' they said. Another minister noted: 'The Government had no other option. Spending was getting out of control. Every department was starting to resemble the Department of Health. It had to stop.' Another minister last night tried to minimise the scale of any proposed cuts. 'This is not austerity, it's normality. We have to walk our way back from a system of economics that was first driven by Coronavirus and then the first large-scale land war between two states since 1945,' they said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Another Fine Gael minister noted: 'When it comes to cutting, do you want to be unpopular now or would you prefer to be unpopular in five years' time?' One Fianna Fáil minister warned their Coalition partners: 'Fianna Fáil has no intention of taking the hit for one-off cuts. Fine Gael would be wise to not be too clever. We will not be austerity patsies. The proposed economic challenges we face require a Government that works together or both parties will sink.' Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe speaks to the media outside Leinster House. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire/PA Images In an indication of the uncertain international landscape, understands an Oireachtas Committee report into the Occupied Territories Bill will recommend the banning of both the importation of goods and services from territories illegally occupied by Israel in Palestine. The judgment, to be delivered next week, is likely to provoke fury in both the United States and Israel and leaves the Coalition facing a very difficult diplomatic position. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have said they are committed to the passage of the Bill but, up to recently, the Coalition's preference was to confine any ban on imports from Israeli settlements to goods. Sinn Féin and the soft left, by contrast, have consistently called for a ban on both. A Bill, forwarded to the Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny in June confining the ban to goods, was called an act of 'diplomatic intoxication' by the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who said Ireland should 'sober up' and apologise to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Committee now wants the Coalition to go further and ban both goods and services. It is believed such a ban was backed by all members, including Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Committee is expected to note it had to proceed without the advice of the Attorney General on the issue of services. It will add to the growing concerns that triggered a major pre-summer Economic Statement clampdown by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
New legislation could allow people choose who inherits their estate, say tax group
'CHOSEN RELATIONSHIP' LEGISLATION could allow individuals select one or two heirs to their estate under the same grouping as parent and child, a specialist expert group has told government. The Tax Strategy Group, an expert advisory panel at the Department of Finance, has noted that the point has been made that people who are not related could have 'equally close and meaningful relationships similar to familial relationships'. The tax experts state that there are a number of ways to develop a policy to capture these 'chosen' relationships. 'For instance, legislation could provide for individuals to select one or two heirs to their estate for Group A Threshold,' it states. Currently, Group A deals with the inheritance to a child (including certain foster children) when a parent dies. This threshold was increased in 2024 to €400,000 from a previous value of €335,000. Penalising people with no children However, in the run up to the election, a debate arose around inheritance tax rules favouring parents and penalising someone who is child-free. The net result in this situation, where 'chosen relationships' could be included in this grouping, would be a tax-free threshold, state the experts, however the paper said that this was not possible to cost. 'Therefore, the costings have been calculated on the basis of three separate instances of a tax-free €400,000 threshold for each group. This would create an additional cost to the Exchequer of €390 million based on up-to-date Revenue data,' state the review papers. Advertisement The Programme for Government contains a commitment to maintain a broad tax base of which Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT or inheritance tax) is one contributory element, state the papers. 'However, it is important to get some sense of the cost of various changes to a particular tax as these are factors which the Minister for Finance must consider when deciding upon his broader budget package. This is particularly relevant this year because of the case being made to expand the scope of Group A to include broader family arrangements,' said the tax experts. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made a number of pledges in their election manifestos around the expansion on inheritance tax groupings. Fianna Fáil pledged to review the inheritance tax thresholds applicable when the deceased does not have children. The party also said it would increase and adjust the inheritance tax Category A, B and C thresholds in each budget 'to reflect the wider increase in property prices in the Irish economy in recent years'. Meanwhile, Fine Gael will said it would increase Capital Acquisitions Tax thresholds and raise Group A threshold (for children) to €500,000, Group B (for siblings) to €75,000, and Group C (for others) to €50,000, 'building on the progress made in Budget 2025″, it said. The tax review papers directly address whether there is discrimination at play when it comes to the differential tax treatment for direct familial relationships and more distant relationships, stating that this has existed in the Irish legal system since the foundation of the State. 'This is reflected explicitly in the Constitution, most clearly in Article 41. The current CAT legal framework, differentiating between Groups A, B and C takes account of this constitutional framework,' states the review papers, stating that it is the beneficiary of the inheritance or gift and not the person who passes away who has to pay the inheritance tax. 'In this context, it is not clear that there is a case that disponers are being discriminated against. Instead, legal concerns, if any should be viewed from the perspective of those who are liable for the tax i.e. the beneficiary. 'It should be noted that it is not clear that such concerns exist here either, as it is not uncommon for the tax system to tax people in different ways depending on the situation or their circumstances,' states the report. The Department is satisfied that the existing inheritance tax legislation and the taxation benefits are not unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful, states the review. Related Reads Financial advisor: Thinking of retiring? Here are the things to consider... Opinion: Inheritance tax changes in the budget have brought some relief, but not enough Breaking down further costings, the group looked at the cost of giving the same status to aunt, uncle and sibling relationships that currently apply to parental relationships – i.e. equalising Group A and B at a tax-free threshold of €400,000. This would cost the State €305 million based on the most up-to-date Revenue data. 'The likelihood is that in reality the costs of collating Groups A and B would be lower, but in the absence of appropriate data it is not possible to demonstrate this at this time,' it adds. Boosting €3,000 tax-free gift to your child per year The tax papers also looks at the gift threshold that parents are allowed give to their children on a yearly basis. Currently, a parent may give a gift up to the value of €3,000 to a child or anyone else each calendar year without any CAT arising. Two parents can make gifts of €3,000 each to a child, resulting in a gift to the value of €6,000 in any year free of CAT. There is no limit on the number of small gifts a person can receive in a year from different donors. The small gift exemption applies only to gifts and not to inheritances, but if government were to increase the small gift exemption, for example, in the case of giving their child help towards a deposit to buy a house by €1,000 (to €4,000) such a move would cost €0.7 million, states the paper. The cost of increasing it to €5,000 per parent is estimated to be €1.4 million, based on the number of CAT returns filed for 2023. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal