Time Magazine: How One Man Plans to Sink the European Union - by Leo Cendrowicz

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How One Man Plans to Sink the European Union - by Leo Cendrowicz

A 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."

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 uninformed about the E.U.," Duff says.

With a personal fortune estimated at $300 million, Ganley has plenty of money to bankroll his new party. To hone his message, he has hired American Democratic campaign consultant Joe Trippi. Ganley talks of Libertas winning 70 seats in the 736-member European Parliament, more than enough to become a powerbroker between the other political groups. The only E.U.-wide poll, predict09.eu, suggests that Libertas could win a few seats but will fall well short of its stated goal.

Note EU-Digest: Even though it seems Libertas will not have much of an impact on the EU elections it shows the weakness of the European Union democratic structure and lack of public participation in its development process. Consequently "radical populists" like Declan Ganley, Geert Wilders and others are popping up all over the European political spectrum. Therefore the European political establishment, mainly dominated by fake socialists, fake conservatives and fake greens better watch out. Populist politicians could very well become the newest and best-selling European "fakes".

EU-Digest: Declan Ganley - Who has been bankrolling the man behind the Irish "no to EU" campaign?

Declan Ganley - who is financing him?
A special EU-Digest report

Declan Ganley - Who has been bankrolling the man behind the Irish "no to EU" campaign?

The no campaign against the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland was buoyant, thanks in large part to the zeal of 39 year old Declan Ganley. But the question remains: who has been bankrolling him? In reality, Declan Ganley, should be a member of Ireland's elite establishment: he is after all a millionaire, living in a mansion in Galway and owning a Rolls-Royce, a Merc and a helicopter. Yet the establishment is intensely fearful of him, because of the highly effective role he has played in persuading Irish voters to reject the EU Lisbon Treaty.

He can hardly be accused of being insular, since he has amassed his fortune with international ventures which have taken him to the US, Russia, Bulgaria and Latvia, where he once also worked as an adviser to the government. His English accent comes from the fact that he was born in London, though his Irish-born parents took the family back to live in rural Co Galway when he was 13.

In some ways he did not fit in, but he compensated with precocious entrepreneurial flair which already emerged in his teens. After school he went from working on construction sites in London to a lowly position in an insurance company before going on to build a business career ranging from aluminium in Russia to forestry in Latvia, telecommunications in Bulgaria and jewelry on the Internet. Some of his concerns have not been huge successes, while others are said to have been sold for phenomenal sums. What is clear is that until this campaign, he was much better known in the business world than in political circles and concentrated his activities on international, rather than Irish matters.

Some of his many companies do business with the US military-industrial complex. One supplies emergency response systems to the military leading some in the Yes camp to portray him as a shadowy figure with connections to neoconservatives whose organisation is being bankrolled by sinister money from outside Ireland. One senior figure asked: "Are they getting it from the CIA, the UK Independence Party or their friends in the US military?" Certainly, his campaign movement Libertas has spent plenty of money. The Sunday before the vote, for example, he could afford to have a private plane soar over Croke Park trailing the message "Keep Europe off the pitch vote No". His Libertas party, which dismisses all such allegations, is part of an anti-Treaty coalition, ranging from the far-right to the far-left. In their no-campaign they concentrated on different areas affected by the Treaty and indeed in some cases areas which are, arguably, not affected by it at all.

Ireland was once hugely, automatically pro-European, originally in terms of idealism and later in terms of major funding. But eaten bread is soon forgotten, specially now that monies are diverted to newer EU entrants. For whatever his motives, Declan Ganley used his old insurance salesman skills well and sold the Irish "a policy" on Europe they could one day come to regret.