Word: ganley
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...self-made millionaire, Ganley plans to field Libertas candidates from all 27 E.U. member states in this June's European parliamentary elections. His party, he says, will bring change to Brussels. "We can really shake things up," he says. "We can send a message to Brussels for democracy, accountability and transparency in European governance." (See pictures of Obama's travels in Europe...
...decade-long business career, Ireland's Declan Ganley, 40, has launched a telecoms firm, a timber trading company, a cable television operator, an online jewelry retailer and a finance house. But it is his latest venture that could end up having the biggest impact. In 2006 Ganley founded Libertas, a think tank that concentrated its scorn on the European Union. At the end of 2008 it became an E.U.-wide political party with the express aim of overhauling the institution it so often criticizes. "We are saddled with a tyranny of mediocrity," Ganley says. "It boggles the mind. Almost...
...Ganley maintains that the E.U.'s handling of the current economic crisis has been "dysfunctional" and that Europe's leaders haven't produced a roadmap for recovery. "I want Europe to work. I want it to face challenge of the day. But I don't want to leave it to this to cartel of politicians who aren't accountable to us at the ballot...
That kind of attitude has long characterized so-called Euro-skepticism. But Ganley's money and political ambition has some rattled. Like other Euro MPs, British Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament Andrew Duff dismisses Ganley as a rabble-rouser out for publicity. "It's utter balls to say he represents democracy," Duff says. "Scratch the surface and you'll discover he's a demagogue and a Europhobe." But Duff is also worried that Ganley could appeal to disgruntled European voters. "There is a real danger that this simplistic populism will strike a chord with voters that are profoundly...
British-born, Ganley retains a London accent despite having lived in Ireland for 27 years. He talks fondly of his 97-year-old Irish grandmother who moved to Scotland to pick potatoes. Ganley created Libertas to campaign against the E.U.'s Lisbon Treaty - a so-far failed attempt to get countries to sign up to a re-write of a European Constitution - in Ireland's referendum last June. He is credited - or blamed - for the 'no' vote, and the subsequent institutional turmoil that continues to haunt...