Reuters/Dublin
A businessman with a big lead in Ireland’s presidential race slipped to second favourite with bookmakers yesterday after conceding he may have accepted funds on behalf of Fianna Fail, the party thrown out of power over its handling of the economy.Sean Gallagher, an independent candidate who shot to fame on a reality TV show, commands 40% of support ahead of tomorrow’s vote, putting him 15 points ahead of his closest rival according to an opinion poll.However local bookmakers Paddy Power and Boylesports installed second-placed Michael D Higgins, a member of the junior governing party Labour, as the new favourite after Gallagher appeared to falter in the final campaign debate over his money ties to Fianna Fail.Gallagher first denied any knowledge of a claim he had collected a 5,000 euro cheque from a man who attended a fundraiser for former prime minister Brian Cowen three years ago, before conceding he may have done so.Gallagher’s biggest electoral weakness is seen as his former membership of the centre-right Fianna Fail, blamed by voters for presiding over the country’s economic collapse and booted out of power earlier this year.“The truth is I do not recall going to this man’s house, I couldn’t tell you nor take you to it now,” Gallagher told national broadcaster RTE yesterday, when he was also pressed on his business record.Gallagher said the attack was a well orchestrated ambush by left-wing party Sinn Fein after their candidate, former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander Martin McGuinness, asked the questions about the cheque during the live television debate.The Dragon’s Den television show judge, who made his name supplying technology and cabling to new homes during Ireland’s ill-fated housing boom, had benefited from avoiding much of the mud-slinging in the notoriously bruising contest.