Dublin - Declan Ganley, 39, the founder and president of The
Libertas Institute, the 'pan European think-tank' that spearheaded
the no vote on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, remains
something of a mystery man.
Libertas states in its charter that it is 'a new European movement
dedicated to campaigning for greater democratic accountability and
transparency in the institutions of the EU.'
However, there has been a great deal of speculation regarding the
links of the mysterious millionaire head of the group and where his
funding comes from.
Ganley has claimed that donations to his campaign range from '5
euros (8 dollars) from a grandmother' to 5,000 euros from business
people and that the group is fully compliant with the letter of the
law. He has repeatedly refused to fully disclose its funding.
'I am funding it and so are a lot of other people. We have a
donations facility online. We are collecting online donations. There
are some wonderful people that are stepping forward and writing
cheques,' he told the Irish Independent newspaper.
When asked what the campaign budget was, the Libertas chairman
replied: 'As much as we need to spend.'
After the official independent Referendum Commission, Ganley's
group was the biggest spender in the campaign, announcing it would
spend 1.3 million euros. Some analysts believe the group spent far
more.
In comparison the ruling Fianna Fail party was estimated to be
spending around 700,000 euros in promoting a yes vote, the Irish
Independent reported.
Until he emerged as the president of the Libertas, Ganley, a
millionaire entrepreneur, was best known for his business activities,
most of which are concentrated outside Ireland.
Ganley, who dresses immaculately in a three-piece suit and speaks
with an English accent, was born in London. His Irish-born parents
took the family back to live in rural County Galway in the West of
Ireland when he was 13.
After school he went from working on construction sites in London
to a lowly position in an insurance company before going on to build
a business career.
From 1991, his CV states, 'he built what became the largest
private forestry company in the Former Soviet Union, which he sold in
1997 to a consortium which included the Soros Group.'
He founded wireless broadband and cable TV businesses, in Western,
Central and Eastern Europe, including Broadnet (sold to Comcast),
building and operating broadband wireless networks in 10 EU
countries, and Cabeltel, with an extensive cable multimedia network
in Eastern Europe.
For a brief period in 1992, Ganley acted as a foreign economic
affairs advisor to the Latvian government. He has also acted as
economic affairs advisor to the regional government of Vologda
(Russian Federation) in 1995/96.
His CV states that he 'was an advisor on technology and terrorism'
to the Club De Madrid group of international heads of government and
has served as a member of the Futures Group of the Irish government's
Information Society Commission.
Much has been made of the fact that some companies with which
Ganley is associated do business with the US military.
He is president of Rivada Networks, which supplies emergency
communications networks to the US intelligence community.
This has led some in the yes camp and, indeed, on the no side, to
portray him as a slightly sinister figure whose organization is being
bankrolled by money from outside Ireland.
Ireland's satirical news magazine Phoenix has alleged that Ganley
has 'extensive connections to the neo-con Republican administration'
and has published an article alleging that he was also closely
associated with companies involved in shady dealings in the attempt
to win contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq.
Ganley claims that he is motivated by the fact that the Lisbon
treaty is 'anti-democratic' and that it has already been rejected by
tens of millions of people in France and the Netherlands in its
previous guise as the draft constitution.
He also claims to be fearful that tax harmonization plans would
scupper Ireland's economy, which is heavily dependent on its low-tax
status and foreign investment.
Ganley's CV states that he is 'a recipient of the Louisiana
Distinguished Service Medal for what was cited as his life-saving
actions; delivering communications capability for the US military
post Hurricane Katrina.'
Ganley lives in Galway and is married with four young children.
USA
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