Far-right council candidate posts sinister ‘one for the gallows’ threats about FG politicians
AN Irish Freedom Party (IFP) election candidate ranted in a disturbing post about asylum seekers coming here: ‘I’m going all Texas on it. I got guns.’
Martin Murphy, who is running for Tipperary County Council, also remarked of a post about former British prime minister Liz Truss and the European Commission president, Ursula Von Der Leyen: ‘Ask which you would shoot if you only had 1 bullet.’
Both of the posts from the antiimmigration party’s Carrick-on-Suir candidate were written in 2022.
The previous year, he posted a series of tweets calling for Fine Gael TDs and senators to be sent to the ‘gallows’. Under a post about the Cathaoirleach
‘Hope everyone is keeping track of the traitors’
of the Seanad, Senator Jerry Buttimer, he wrote: ‘Another one for the gallows. I hope everyone is keeping track of all the traitors and enemies of the Irish people.’
In response to a tweet about Louth TD Fergus O’Dowd, he commented: ‘Another one for the gallows.’
And responding to a post about Clare-based senator Martin Conway, he said: ‘Yet another one for the gallows.’
Mr Murphy is one of 13 local election candidates listed on the website of the IFP.
Led by Derry native Hermann Kelly, the party fielded 11 candidates in
2020, winning an average of about 0.5% of the vote.
The IFP was founded in 2018 by Hermann Kelly, and the party describes itself ‘as a voice for traditional values and a defender of Irish sovereignty’.
The party frequently spouts anti-immigration sentiments and in recent times has been garnering support online.
On the IFP’s website, Mr Murphy describes himself as a husband and father who is ‘not a politician’ but a ‘working-class dad who is genuinely worried about my children’s future’.
He goes on to say the country is ‘sick’ and in need of change.
‘The country is sick, politics is sick, and it is only going to get worse. Health, Housing, Immigration, EU Overreach, Cost of Living, Serious Crime are all major issues, but the government are only interested in pointless referendums, ridiculous hate speech bills and throwing money at lobbyist NGOs
‘Surely you’ve heard of gallows humour?’
and people who have never contributed to this nation.’
He goes on to say he is ‘brave enough to stand up and say I am not accepting this any more’.
Mr Murphy attempted to downplay his threatening posts when contacted by the Irish Mail on Sunday this weekend.
He said the tweets were posted ‘before I declared my intention to run for the Irish Freedom Party’.
And he insisted his messages amounted to ‘gallows humour’.
He said: ‘Surely you’ve heard the term “gallows humour” which I assume your readers have spotted, considering that I use the word “gallows” so much.
‘More importantly, how many
man-hours were spent trawling through my well over 120,000 tweets to get this little morsel? So all they could dig up on me was a bit of tongue and cheek [sic] humour. I would have hoped that the national media could do better than silly hit-pieces on ordinary patriotic people trying to better their country for the good of their children.’
The revelations about Mr Murphy’s online conduct come after the MoS last week revealed how another IFP candidate, Patrice Johnson, both posted and supported blatantly racist and homophobic tweets.
The Drogheda, Co. Louth local election candidate repeatedly referred to Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman using a homophobic term and ‘liked’ a tweet asking him if he was another homophobic slang term.
The mother of five, who has a large social media following and often appears alongside party leader Hermann Kelly, frequently
Liked post that referred to ‘foreign c***s’
targets an Indian asylum seeker, calling him a ‘mumbai midget’ and she liked a post that referred to ‘foreign c***s’.
Ms Johnson also appeared to support pro-Russian tweets and bizarre conspiracy theories in some of her other posts.
Two weeks ago, another IFP member, Alan Fagan, was quickly kicked out of the party after reports of his online behaviour were published in a Sunday newspaper.
The report stated that he posted sexualised comments aimed at a female Government minister and that he also expressed support for arson attacks.
Mr Fagan posted ‘Burn baby burn’ under an article on a Galway hotel to be used for housing International Protection applicants.