Gerry Hutch ‘not cuddly celebrity’, warns Harris as election video released

Ireland’s deputy premier has warned that Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch is not a “cuddly celebrity” after he released a video urging people to register to vote ahead of the Dublin by-election.

Tanaiste Simon Harris said he did not want to make a “martyr” of Mr Hutch and said he was concerned at the coverage he would receive ahead of the election in several months’ time.

The Dublin Central by-election was triggered by the resignation of Paschal Donohoe as finance minister and a TD.

He went on to take up the second most senior position in the World Bank, as managing director and chief knowledge officer.

Among the confirmed candidates are councillor Daniel Ennis for the Social Democrats, Councillor Janet Horner for the Green Party, musician Eoghan O Ceannabhain for People Before Profit and Ian Noel Smyth for Aontu.

Two people will contest Sinn Fein’s selection convention – Councillor Janice Boylan and Gillian Sherratt, the mother of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy with scoliosis and spina bifida who died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery.

The Labour party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are also yet to make a decision on candidates.

In a video posted to X, Mr Hutch urged people to register to vote if they wanted “change in your area”.

“Help your grandmother, help your mother, help your auntie, your uncle if they’re not able to use computers,” he said.

“The kids today can do it on the phone.

“Just register. You don’t have to vote for me, but register.”

Asked about Mr Hutch’s intention to run in the by-election, for a seat vacated by his party colleague Mr Donohoe, Mr Harris said that Mr Hutch was “not a celebrity”.

“He’s someone being actively pursued by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB)… CAB don’t come after you for the craic, they come after you for very serious reasons.

“I just think some of this coverage of Gerry Hutch, which I don’t wish to add to by making him a martyr, giving him attention, giving him free publicity, and that’s what actually concerns me.

“This guy is not some sort of kind of cute and cuddly celebrity.”

Dubliner Mr Hutch, aged in his 60s, has been described in court by a judge as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation.

He announced his surprise candidature in the 2024 general election after arriving back in Ireland following his arrest in Spain as part of an international investigation into money laundering.

Mr Hutch won 3,096 first preference votes in that election, placing himself fourth in the four-seater Dublin Central constituency.

Transfers put him on 5,321 votes by the 11th and final count, finishing behind Labour’s Marie Sherlock on 6,102 votes, who took the final seat.

Mr Harris said: “The people of Dublin Central rejected him in the last general election, I believe the people of Dublin Central will reject him again.

“There’s many people who very nearly, respectfully, got elected. He didn’t get elected, right, and I don’t believe he’s going to win the by-election.”