GERRY ‘The Monk’ Hutch today confirmed he is running for the Dail and declared: “Any seat will do me.”
The veteran criminal jetted back into Dublin today from his pad in Lanzarote after being bailed in Spain as part of an international investigation into money laundering.
And after touching down at Dublin Airport, defiant Hutch immediately pledged to lodge his electoral papers to put himself forward as a candidate in the upcoming general election.
Asked if he was he back to run in the November 29 poll, he boomed: “Oh without a doubt, 100 per cent.”
Hutch said he’d put himself forward for the Dail after tucking into a roll after arriving back into Ireland just before midday today.
The 61-year-old, who has billed himself as “the people’s choice”, is expected to stand in the Dublin Central constituency.
Asked what policies will be running on, Hutch declared: “I don’t think it is an appropriate place here to talk about them.”
Hutch has just been released on €100,000 bail from a Lanzarote prison after being arrested as part of a money laundering investigation.
The crime boss remains under investigation in Spain, while the Hutch Organised Crime Gang is a target of a number of different Garda units in Ireland.
Quizzed about the Spanish cop probe after landing in Dublin, Hutch insisted: “Innocent, nothing to do with me.”
Underworld godfather Hutch will be standing against a number of high-profile sitting TDs in Dublin Central, including Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Fine Gael’s Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.
When asked whose seat in the Dublin Central constituency did he believe to be most at risk from his Dail bid, Hutch replied: “I don’t know. Any seat will do me. I’m not pushed.”
Hutch is set to battle it out for votes with Sinn Fein leader McDonald, Fine Gael’s Donohoe, Social Democrats’ Gary Gannon, the Greens’ Neasa Hourigan and Labour’s Marie Sherlock.
Today, McDonald took a vow of silence when it comes to her new constituency rival.
The Sinn Fein leader was asked about her constituency rival The Monk at a press conference today but refused to comment on his election run.
Instead, Mary Lou McDonald said her only focus was on her own campaign and that of her Sinn Fein running mate Janice Boylan.
Pressed on why she will not comment on The Monk running for the Dail, the Sinn Fein leader said she will not be commenting on his campaign.
Scalps Hutch has in sights
MARY LOU MCDONALD
SINN Fein supremo Mary Lou McDonald is a leader battling a series of scandals.
She did bag almost two quotas on her own the last time.
But the party’s vote took a hammering in the local elections and SF has recently been engulfed in several controversies.
PASCHAL DONOHOE
OUTGOING TD Paschal Donohoe will not have a running mate and is expected to hold onto his Dail seat comfortably.
Fine Gael rep Donohoe recently held a prominent position in Government as Minister for Public Expenditure.
Previously he was Finance Minister.
GARY GANNON
GARY Gannon of the Social Democrats is another to contest this constituency.
Last time out, Gannon proved transfer-friendly, mopping up votes from smaller left-wing candidates.
But this year he faces stiff competition and a fight to retain his seat.
CLARE DALY
FORMER MEP Clare Daly’s dramatic entry into the race will squeeze all candidates on the left.
Ms Daly said she was contacted by many activists from the constituency asking her to step forward as a candidate.
She will stand as an independent socialist.
She said: “I am conducting my campaign for my re-election and my running mate. That is my only concern.
“Others who come to the field, it is a matter for themselves and if you have questions for them as you very well might put those questions to them.”
When put to her that she regularly criticises Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Mary Lou added: “Of course we have questions and commentary to make of the parties that not alone have been in government together for over five years, eight years but the two parties who have been in government consistently for a century.
“Of course that is where the debate is that is how election campaigns are but for my part I am not making a commentary under any other individual in Dublin Central except to say that I have worked very hard for these communities and I wish to represent them again and I want Janice Boylan walking through the gates alongside me.”
‘DEEP ANIMOSITY’
Sources have said that bitter Hutch is hoping to take votes away from Mary Lou’s party.
This is due to a “deep animosity” over former Sinn Fein party member Jonathan Dowdall giving evidence against him during the Regency trial. But Hutch walked free from the court after he was acquitted of the murder of Kinahan Cartel gangster David Byrne.
Soc Dems candidate Gannon has also declined to speak about Hutch’s bid.
He said: “I’ve been knocking on doors every day for the last two months and receiving amazing feedback. That’s the only campaign I’m interested in today.”
“I don’t know. Any seat will do me. I’m not pushed.”
Gerry Hutch
Labour Party Senator Marie Sherlock, who is challenging for a seat in Dublin Central, said she doesn’t believe the people of the constituency would want to elect someone with close connections to the drug trade that has plagued the city.
She said: “The person you referred to there has a very dubious past in terms of convictions and how that wealth was accumulated.
“But look, this is what democracy is about. People are entirely free to put themselves forward and if he is going to run then so be it.”
SAFETY CONCERNS
The Labour Senator said that people in Dublin’s inner city are “fed up to the teeth” with drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and crime in their communities.
But the Monk today insisted he was determined to stand for election following his release from his latest incarceration.
It is understood the notorious crook has up to 100 people willing to volunteer to take to the streets as part of his Dail bid, with his manifesto set to be released in the coming days.
Sources told how Hutch’s campaign – set to be headquartered at Corinthians Boxing Club – will be centered around deprivation for people living in Dublin’s north inner city.
WHO CAN RUN & WHO CAN VOTE IN A GENERAL ELECTION?
TO run as a candidate in a general election and be in with a chance of being voted in as a TD you must meet a number of requirements.
Candidates must be a citizen of Ireland and over 21 years of age – to run for a political party you must go through your party’s political selection procedure.
To run as an independent candidate you must present your nomination paper to the returning officer in the constituency you wish to run in.
You can nominate yourself for election and you can run in multiple constituencies.
You do not have to own property or live in the constituency you run in.
To register, you must give the returning officer a certificate of party affiliation or statutory declarations signed by 30 constituents or a deposit of €500.
All nomination papers must be submitted by midday on the seventh day after the Clerk of the Dail issues the writ for the General Election.
In order to vote in a general election in Ireland you must meet multiple requirements.
Voters must be 18 years or older, a resident in Ireland and registered to vote.
Irish citizens can vote in general elections as can British citizens who live in Ireland and British citizens are recognised by the letter D on the Register.
EU citizens cannot vote in General Elections in Ireland and neither can non-EU citizens.
Hutch is expected to focus his campaign online because of concerns around his own safety.
Although Hutch has been living more openly in recent years, he still has security concerns and therefore will not be knocking on every door in his constituency.
Social media, a strategy which has seen Simon Harris become known as a ‘TikTok Taoiseach’, is at the heart of Hutch’s election bid.
But as the gangster puts his name forward for the Dail, authorities will be continuing their investigation into The Monk.
SPANISH ARREST
Hutch was first lifted by the Guardia Civil in Fuengirola, Spain in August 2021 on foot of an arrest warrant over David Byrne’s murder at the Regency in February 2016.
The infamous criminal had spent five years on the run.
The following month, he was extradited back to Ireland on board a military flight.
Our exclusive picture shows Hutch climbing out of the Spanish cop car, wearing a black mask.
“I am conducting my campaign for my re-election and my running mate. That is my only concern.”
Mary Lou McDonald
It was just after this moment that the cops handed him over to gardai, before he was flown back to Ireland.
Last spring, Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of Byrne’s murder, which was one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.
Shortly after his acquittal in April 2023, Hutch flew to Lanzarote, where he owns a number of properties. He spends most of his time there, while popping back to Ireland occasionally.
LAUNDERING PROBE
His arrest last month came on foot of a two-year Spanish investigation into alleged money laundering.
It saw a number of his properties raided and associates arrested.
One element of the investigation, which is said to have really bothered The Monk, was the gardai’s assistance in the Spanish-led probe, when armed officers raided his Clontarf home, knowing he was not present at the time.
Hutch was granted bail last week on €100,000 and successfully argued for his passport back as he was planning to make a run for office here.
