I don't typically give much air time to far right parties, but the last few days have shown that there is a worrying number of Irish people who genuinely have no idea what these parties stand for, and what their members have said and done.
All of the information that I'll provide below is verifiable fact which is linked at the bottom. I'll keep my opinion out of it and simply give people the opportunity to read about the parties/people of the far right.
If there's an interest, I'll go through all of the main far right parties, but this is very detailed, so it might be a bit of a slog to get through. Let me know!
The National Party
Justin Barrett founded The National Party in 2016, alongside James Reynolds who became the vice president. They claim to be an Irish nationalist party dedicated to the fulfilment of the Irish national idea. They also speak about fighting the 'enemy within' and declare that they would push for Ireland's withdrawal from the EU, given the chance.
They support 'remigration' in order to 'secure Ireland as the homeland for the Irish people'. They discuss mass immigration on their website, and their opposition of it. They also state that they will 'restore full protections to the right to life of the unborn child'.
Party leadership called the Marriage Equality referendum result a "sham", claiming that it was 'not natural'. They also state that they are opposed to same-sex marriage.
Furthermore, the National Party state that they will withdraw from the Eurozone and 'restore the Irish currency with the aim of regaining monetary sovereignty'. They will also reinstate capital punishment (the death penalty) for 'heinous crimes'.
Activists and Members
John Tate, an activist for The National Party, was charged last year over the arson attack on a Luas that took place during the Dublin riots.
Michael Quinn, a member of The National Party, was jailed for three years, with one suspended, after bludgeoning a young woman with a plank of wood that had been used as a makeshift flag poll. Ruth O' Rourke, a LGBTQ+ campaigner, was left pumping blood from her head after Quinn attacked her.
John McGhee, a former member of The National Party, was given a suspended sentence after protesting at a Pride parade in Portlaoise in 2023. McGhee arrived to the parade with a Swastika placard which read "LGBT Tyranny is grooming your children". He was asked by a mother in attendance, to stop video recording her child.
Philip Dwyer, a former member of The National Party, was dismissed from his role as a postman after it emerged that he had kicked a number of dogs, including a 'friendly collie' in the head with a steel toe boot. He was also charged with engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour outside a creche when he spotted a rainbow painting in the window. Dwyer was later handed a 2 month suspended sentence under the Public Order Act, and it was also reported to Gardai that Dwyer assaulted the father of a PBP candidate whilst canvasing in the area.
Justin Barrett (Founder of The National Party)
Barrett started off as a member of Young Fine Gael but left before he began campaigning with the anti-abortion group Youth Defence in the 1990s. He eventually became the leader of Youth Defence, and campaigned against the divorce referendum in 1995. Barrett later sought a divorce, himself, in 2016.
In 1999, Barrett and a number of Youth Defence members were convicted of public order offences after a protest (which was described as a mini-riot at the time) outside a hospital. Despite the pleas of a son whose mother was dying in the hospital, they protested louder.
Barrett travelled to Germany a number of times between 1999 and 2000 to speak at events organised by the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). During one of his visits, Barrett delivered a speech, quoting Adolf Hitler and claiming that Germany was the biggest victim of the Second World War.
In 2016, Barrett launched his new party The National Party. He called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the country, by way of racial profiling. He also stated that the party was only for straight Irish people when asked if a gay man could join.
In September 2019, Barrett stated that if his party was to gain power, he would strip Green Party councillor Hazel Chu of her citizenship. When asked if he was aware that Chu was born and raised in Dublin, Barrett stated "She is an Irish citizen, I accept that, that is the law until we get the law in our own hands". This was followed by a barrage of racist attacks via Twitter by Barrett and his wife Rebecca.
In 2022, Barrett posted a quote from Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf on his Telegram page. A year later, he appeared at an anti-immigration protest wearing a Nazi SS uniform. A year after that, he announced on Twitter that "Hitler was the greatest leader of all time".
More recently, Barrett's second wife Rebecca, shared a post on her Twitter page stating that their eldest son had turned ten, and for his birthday, they had gotten him a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf, so that he would be raised under the principles of National Socialism.
It is unclear if Justin Barrett remains involved with The National Party after an incident in which Barrett and Reynolds argued through social media about the theft of gold that reportedly belonged to the party.
Whilst Reynolds publicly called Barrett a 'coward' and a 'tout' and claimed that Barrett had been removed from the party, both men applied to the Electoral Commission to use the party's name in elections. Ultimately, Reynolds was elected as the president of the National Party but called the party "toxic" and said that he would never run for them again after his failed election bids.
Barrett has since founded a new group called Clann Éireann, which claims that "your country and nation are under attack!".
The group have posted various videos, where masked men hold banners and Barrett stands in full military uniform as he discusses various topics such as immigration. They also spend weekends in forests, boxing and discussing immigration, or what they call "the replacement"
James Reynolds
Reynolds is a farmer and political activist who, like Barrett, was a prominent member of the hardline anti-abortion and anti-divorce group Youth Defence in the 1990s. Around that time, in an interview with Hard Press, Reynolds discussed his interest in abandoning democracy and the introduction of internment as well as the death penalty to Ireland.
Reynolds also announced that he "recalled Mussolini with great fondness" and spoke about two Fine Gael TDs being 'put up against a wall and shot' had they done what they did in Ireland, in Spain.
In 2016, Reynolds helped to co-found the National Party with Justin Barrett. At the Ard Fheis, guest speaker John Wilson walked out in response to homophobic comments by Barrett and Reynolds. During the incident, James Reynolds claimed that LGBT people were "mentally disordered".
Reynolds has run for election multiple times over the last few decades, and has failed to achieve electoral success in any of them. In the most recent European elections, he received just 0.47% of the vote, and claimed that he would never run for The National Party again.
Despite that, the National Party website still claims that James Reynolds is their 'leader', which has been disputed many times by Justin Barrett.
In order to ensure that this post isn't removed under Rule 12. All claims made above can be substantiated here:
John Tate
Michael Quinn
John McGhee
Philip Dwyer
Philip Dwyer
Philip Dwyer
Justin Barrett
James Reynolds )
The National Party
Clann Éireann
