Declan Ganley
Encyclopedia
Declan James Ganley is a British-born Irish citizen, entrepreneur, businessman and political activist. He is founder and chairman of a political party, Libertas
with pan-European ambitions. The party was unsuccessful in this ambition in the 2009 European Parliament Election
, succeeding in getting only one of the hundreds of candidates elected, in France
.
Ganley himself was unsuccessful in this election, securing less than 10% of the valid poll. Ganley has started companies in forestry, telecommunications and the Internet and is currently serving as chairman of the board of Rivada Networks
. During the 2008 Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon
, Ganley and the Libertas Institute campaigned for a No vote.
, Hertfordshire
, United Kingdom
, of Irish parents. He returned with his parents to live in Glenamaddy
, County Galway
, Ireland
, at the age of 13, and today lives in Abbeyknockmoy
, County Galway with his American wife Delia and their four young children.
via Latvia
.
Ganley is former CEO
and current Chairman of Rivada Networks
, a US-based firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. In the past, he has been involved in business ventures selling Russian aluminium and in the Latvian forestry sector. In the early 1990s Mr Ganley founded Kipelova Forestry Enterprises which became one of the largest forestry companies in the Russian Federation. He sold the company in 1997. In 1996, his company Ganley International founded the Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund, an Albanian financial fund formed to collect and invest privatisation vouchers. It was unsuccessful in its attempts to reinvest these vouchers, and collapsed. Back in Ireland, Ganley had owned the high-profile jewellery website, Adornis.com, which collapsed after the downturn in the technology sector. A 2006 interview in CNBC’s European Business magazine suggested Ganley had a personal worth of €300 million. Declan Ganley also has investments in a joint venture with Nana Pacific called Rivada Pacific. Rivada Päcific has contracts worth $240 million with the US Military. He is Chairman of Rivada Networks
and recently appointed former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Richard Meyers to the board.
In May 2011 Ganley set up a Swiss finance fund http://stcolumbanus.com/about-us/ with business man and academic Constantin Gurdgiev and Andrew Jamieson. Declan Ganley makes regular TV and radio appearances in Ireland, occasionally alongside his business partner Gurdiev. Both promote a continuation of capitalism and free market ideology and are critical of the anti capitalism of the Occupy Movement.
in North West Ireland. Libertas started in 2006 as a lobby group campaigning for a No-vote to the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish Referendum 12 June 2008, and evolved into a pan-European political movement. Libertas ran candidates in 20 European countries for the European Parliament election, 2009
. In Rome
on 1 May 2009 Libertas held its first Party Congress
.
Libertas' political policies call for greater levels of democracy
, transparency
, and accountability within the EU, as well as a twenty five page alternative to the Lisbon Treaty. The origin of the party's funding has been questioned. It was reported that Ganley personally loaned the party €200,000 for the Lisbon Treaty Campaign. In 2008 it was reported that the European Union was set to ask US Congress about Libertas funding.
Organizers of the Libertas parties in different member states have complained that Declan Ganley seemed unwilling to pay them the money he promised, even though they spent a considerable part of this money on their election campaigns.
, for Libertas in the North–West constituency. Until 1 May 2009 Ganley travelled all over Europe to campaign against the Lisbon Treaty, and helped local Libertas branches. On 1 May 2009 Libertas held their first Party Congress and afterwards he focused his campaign on the North–West constituency, canvassing, attending public speeches and debates and appearing on radio and TV. One week after he launched his election campaign, incumbent MEP
Jim Higgins branded Ganley as a 'puppet of the US military'. In a pre-election opinion poll Ganley polled 9% of first preference votes in the North–West Constituency. On 8 June 2009 he polled over 13% but did not gain a seat in the European Parliament
. Ganley then announced his withdrawal from politics.
. He took part in a televised debate, where he argued with the head of Ryanair
, Michael O'Leary who was campaigning in favour of the treaty. During the launch of its posters for the campaign, Ganley was ambushed by a group of young Fianna Fáil
members who disrupted the launch. The Irish electorate ratified the Lisbon Treaty and Ganley announced that he would take some time to consider his future in politics.
and affiliated political parties has generally been conservative and eurosceptic
. His personal opposition to the Lisbon Treaty reinforced this view. He claims, however, not to advocate withdrawal from the EU.
In contrast to his former stance, an article by Declan Ganley was published in the Irish national press in November 2011 calling for much greater EU integration and the formation of a federal union. The proposal included the establishment of a merged, directly elected EU executive; rebalancing democratic representation proportionally
for European Parliament
seats, and degressively
for both the election of the EU executive, and a proposed new upper house; a constitutional debt ceiling; and refinancing of defaulting member states' debt through the issue of EU bonds (although stopping short of mentioning any tax-raising powers).
Libertas.eu
Libertas is a political party founded by Declan Ganley that took part in the European Parliament election, 2009 in several member states of the European Union.-Preamble:...
with pan-European ambitions. The party was unsuccessful in this ambition in the 2009 European Parliament Election
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
, succeeding in getting only one of the hundreds of candidates elected, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Ganley himself was unsuccessful in this election, securing less than 10% of the valid poll. Ganley has started companies in forestry, telecommunications and the Internet and is currently serving as chairman of the board of Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks is a US-based defence contracting firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. It has recently secured United States military contracts worth $240 million. Its current CEO and chairman is...
. During the 2008 Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
, Ganley and the Libertas Institute campaigned for a No vote.
Personal life
Ganley was born in WatfordWatford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, of Irish parents. He returned with his parents to live in Glenamaddy
Glenamaddy
Glenamaddy is a small town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies at the crossroads where the R362 and R364 regional roads intersect.Glenamaddy is the most important town in the northeastern corner of County Galway. It became the musical capital of Connacht during the 1960s when the Showband craze...
, County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, at the age of 13, and today lives in Abbeyknockmoy
Abbeyknockmoy
Abbeyknockmoy is a village and parish in County Galway, Ireland. It is best known for the nearby ruins of the 12th century Cistercian abbey, established with the Kings of Connacht as its benefactors. The abbey was the burial site of King Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair and contains fine examples...
, County Galway with his American wife Delia and their four young children.
Business life
After leaving school, he initially worked on building sites in London but soon found a job as a tea boy at an insurance company. His business life started soon afterwards when he moved to the Soviet Union. He traded in Soviet aluminium which he shipped to RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
via Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
.
Ganley is former CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
and current Chairman of Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks is a US-based defence contracting firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. It has recently secured United States military contracts worth $240 million. Its current CEO and chairman is...
, a US-based firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. In the past, he has been involved in business ventures selling Russian aluminium and in the Latvian forestry sector. In the early 1990s Mr Ganley founded Kipelova Forestry Enterprises which became one of the largest forestry companies in the Russian Federation. He sold the company in 1997. In 1996, his company Ganley International founded the Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund, an Albanian financial fund formed to collect and invest privatisation vouchers. It was unsuccessful in its attempts to reinvest these vouchers, and collapsed. Back in Ireland, Ganley had owned the high-profile jewellery website, Adornis.com, which collapsed after the downturn in the technology sector. A 2006 interview in CNBC’s European Business magazine suggested Ganley had a personal worth of €300 million. Declan Ganley also has investments in a joint venture with Nana Pacific called Rivada Pacific. Rivada Päcific has contracts worth $240 million with the US Military. He is Chairman of Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks
Rivada Networks is a US-based defence contracting firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. It has recently secured United States military contracts worth $240 million. Its current CEO and chairman is...
and recently appointed former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
Richard Meyers to the board.
In May 2011 Ganley set up a Swiss finance fund http://stcolumbanus.com/about-us/ with business man and academic Constantin Gurdgiev and Andrew Jamieson. Declan Ganley makes regular TV and radio appearances in Ireland, occasionally alongside his business partner Gurdiev. Both promote a continuation of capitalism and free market ideology and are critical of the anti capitalism of the Occupy Movement.
Libertas
Declan Ganley is the founder and current Chairman of the pan-European political party Libertas and was a candidate for Libertas in the European Parliament election, 2009European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
in North West Ireland. Libertas started in 2006 as a lobby group campaigning for a No-vote to the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish Referendum 12 June 2008, and evolved into a pan-European political movement. Libertas ran candidates in 20 European countries for the European Parliament election, 2009
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
. In Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on 1 May 2009 Libertas held its first Party Congress
Party Congress
A party congress is a general conference of a political party. The congress is attended by delegates who represent the party membership. In most parties the party congress is the highest decision making body of the organisation and elects the party's leadership bodies such as the National Executive...
.
Libertas' political policies call for greater levels of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, transparency
Transparency (social)
Transparency is a general quality. It is implemented by a set of policies, practices and procedures that allow citizens to have accessibility, usability, utility, understandability, informativeness and auditability of information and process held by centers of authority...
, and accountability within the EU, as well as a twenty five page alternative to the Lisbon Treaty. The origin of the party's funding has been questioned. It was reported that Ganley personally loaned the party €200,000 for the Lisbon Treaty Campaign. In 2008 it was reported that the European Union was set to ask US Congress about Libertas funding.
Organizers of the Libertas parties in different member states have complained that Declan Ganley seemed unwilling to pay them the money he promised, even though they spent a considerable part of this money on their election campaigns.
Candidacy to the European Parliament
On 14 March 2009 at a press interview Ganley announced his candidacy to the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, for Libertas in the North–West constituency. Until 1 May 2009 Ganley travelled all over Europe to campaign against the Lisbon Treaty, and helped local Libertas branches. On 1 May 2009 Libertas held their first Party Congress and afterwards he focused his campaign on the North–West constituency, canvassing, attending public speeches and debates and appearing on radio and TV. One week after he launched his election campaign, incumbent MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Jim Higgins branded Ganley as a 'puppet of the US military'. In a pre-election opinion poll Ganley polled 9% of first preference votes in the North–West Constituency. On 8 June 2009 he polled over 13% but did not gain a seat in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. Ganley then announced his withdrawal from politics.
Second Lisbon Treaty Referendum
In September 2009 Declan Ganley announced he would campaign against the second referendum to ratify the Lisbon TreatyTreaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
. He took part in a televised debate, where he argued with the head of Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
, Michael O'Leary who was campaigning in favour of the treaty. During the launch of its posters for the campaign, Ganley was ambushed by a group of young Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
members who disrupted the launch. The Irish electorate ratified the Lisbon Treaty and Ganley announced that he would take some time to consider his future in politics.
Euroscepticism
The political platform of LibertasLibertas.eu
Libertas is a political party founded by Declan Ganley that took part in the European Parliament election, 2009 in several member states of the European Union.-Preamble:...
and affiliated political parties has generally been conservative and eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
. His personal opposition to the Lisbon Treaty reinforced this view. He claims, however, not to advocate withdrawal from the EU.
In contrast to his former stance, an article by Declan Ganley was published in the Irish national press in November 2011 calling for much greater EU integration and the formation of a federal union. The proposal included the establishment of a merged, directly elected EU executive; rebalancing democratic representation proportionally
Apportionment in the European Parliament
Apportionment in the European Parliament relates to the distribution of legislative seats in the European Parliament among the states of the European Union...
for European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
seats, and degressively
Degressive proportionality
Degressive proportionality is a type of formula for electing the members of a legislature or other decision-making body. If a body is elected by a number of regions, states or other subdivisions, degressive proportionality means that while the subdivisions do not each elect an equal number of...
for both the election of the EU executive, and a proposed new upper house; a constitutional debt ceiling; and refinancing of defaulting member states' debt through the issue of EU bonds (although stopping short of mentioning any tax-raising powers).
See also
- Libertas Party
- Libertas Institute LimitedLibertas Institute LimitedThe Libertas Institute is a lobby group that along with others successfully campaigned for a "no" vote in the 2008 referendum in Ireland on the Treaty of Lisbon.-Mission statement:...
- Broadnet Holdings BVBroadnet Holdings BVBroadnet Holdings BV was the holding company of the Broadnet group of companies. Broadnet assembled a portfolio of wireless broadband internet licenses in Europe in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
- Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SAAnglo Adriatic Investment Fund SAThe Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA was an investment fund set up to hold privatisation vouchers issued by the government of post-Communist Albania. It was unsuccessful in its attempts to reinvest them and collapsed.-Structure:...
- Adornis.comAdornis.comAdornis.com was an online jewelry retailer created during the 90's dot-com boom that later collapsed.-Origin:Adornis.com, Inc. was an online jewelry retailer launched by Irish entrepreneur Declan Ganley in 1999, part of the dot-com boom of the 90's...
- Rivada NetworksRivada NetworksRivada Networks is a US-based defence contracting firm specialising in the provision of telecommunications systems to the military, police and emergency services in disaster situations. It has recently secured United States military contracts worth $240 million. Its current CEO and chairman is...
External links
- Libertas.eu homepage
- ACLIS: Declan J. Ganley
- RTE Irish National TV Primetime Special Investigates "Profile Declan Ganley" Broadcast 27 November 2008
- Some contracts awarded to Rivada Pacific by U.S. Government
- Irische EU-Kritiker rüsten sich für die Europawahl
- TanPortal News: Declan J. Ganley & Albania