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Peter Casey hits out at President Higgins' 'lame excuse' for missing Presidential debate

Peter Casey hits out at President Higgins' 'lame excuse' for missing Presidential debate

Two more dragons have officially entered the race for the Áras.

Sean Gallagher and Peter Casey both lodged their nomination papers at Custom House this morning.

Senator Joan Freeman is due to hand her papers in this afternoon.

Sean Gallagher got on the ticket with the support of five local authorities. While Peter Casey had the minimum four required.

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Gallagher, who contested the race the last time, was the first to arrive at Custom House this morning.

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He took the opportunity to criticise RTE for failing to properly organise a Presidential debate.

He said: "this situation could easily have been avoided had RTE contacted the Office of the President to find out if the President was available on these scheduled dates.

"On the public website, which is available online, it was clear that the President had pre-scheduled commitments."

His former Dragons Den co-star Peter Casey also formalised his nomination this morning, and he said he can understand why Sean Gallagher has opted out of Thursday’s debate, as he "didn’t do so well the last time".

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He added that Michael D Higgins had a “lame” excuse for not attending, saying: "I think would be certainly beneficial if the President was there.

"I think he's got some lame excuse. Prince Edward would have waited."

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