I tried this. On the widget i get invalid command. I tried this command in the X-terminal to get this response:

'rootsh is now deprecated for it poses too much of a security risk. However, you can still obtain a root shell by running the commands root or sudo root.'

What if I make a script file to perform the task in two steps (I.e. gain root, execute lirc start) and then have the widget run the script file? I'll try that.

Thanks for the idea!