SEÁN GALLAGHER HAS defended himself against suggestions he received a large loan in apparent breach of company law, saying that the transfer was “an accounting mistake”.

The Independent presidential candidate acknowledged that €82,000 had been paid to him by one of his companies in 2009. However, he said that no breach of company law had taken place as the money had been repaid to another account as soon as the error was spotted.

“This was an accounting mistake, in terms of which account the money went into,” Gallagher told RTÉ Morning Ireland. “Within four weeks the money was moved into the correct account and there was no breach of company law.”

He said the error had been brought to his attention by his accountants in 2010.

Gallagher was responding to a report from Colm Keena in the Irish Times that he received an interest-free loan from Beach House Training and Consulting Ltd. The loan would have been in breach of the law as it amounted to greater than 10 per cent of the company’s assets.

The candidate also defended himself against allegations that he had personally invited donors to a 2008 Fianna Fáil fundraiser for then-Taoiseach Brian Cowen, at which guests gave suggested donations of up to €5,000 each.

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Gallagher said the event “was organised not by me but by Fianna Fáil HQ. I was asked if I would mention it to local businesspeople, and I did.” He added: “I sought no money, I received no money from anybody.”

He added that he had given no donation to the party at the event.