Far-right leader vows to have candidates in all Dáil constituencies
Parties look to gain from anti-immigrant sentiment in next election
THE leader of an anti-immigration party has said they will run candidates in every constituency in the next election as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar comes under growing pressure within his own party over the Government’s asylum policy.
The revelation comes as the politically thorny issue of immigration threatens to move centre stage ahead of the next general election.
Mr Varadkar this week said Ireland should take a ‘fair, firm and hard approach’ to migration.
However, sources within Fine Gael said the Taoiseach is in danger of losing the confidence of his party over the Government’s handling of the asylum crisis.
Confirming the Coalition fears far-right groups will try to ‘weaponise’ anti-immigrant sentiment for political gain, the leader of the Irish Freedom Party, Hermann Kelly, revealed they plan to run candidates in every constituency in the country at the next general election.
When asked how the party would fund such an ambitious campaign, Mr Kelly, who works as a press officer in the European Parliament, said they would rely solely on the donations of its ‘members’.
The former journalist said the issue is no longer a ‘fringe’ one and has moved into the mainstream.
Mr Kelly told the MoS: ‘For many years, the Irish Establishment has tried to prevent any discussion about the issue of immigration. Well, now the matter is being discussed, and it will continue to be discussed just as it always has been in mature democracies.’
However, mainstream parties have been urged not to lurch to the right because of rising anti-immigrant sentiment.
Dr Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, associate professor in sociology work at University College Dublin, told the MoS, ‘It’s so important the mainstream parties come together on this and devise a cross-party strategy to deal with protests.
‘They have to communicate with communities and they have to listen to their fears and concerns. I don’t believe everyone who attends those protests is on the far-right. We have to listen to people to keep the far-right out’.
She said she could only imagine the terror that asylum seekers living in a hotel on Talbot Street in Dublin felt when a mob gathered outside this week roaring, ‘Get them out, get them out’.
She added: ‘I felt scared, and I wasn’t even there. Imagine how children inside there felt?’
When asked about the incident, Mr Kelly insisted none of his party members were involved.
Meanwhile the prospect of thousands of Ukrainian refugees being left homeless when hotel contracts end in spring is causing mounting concern among backbenchers.
One Fine Gael TD said: ‘At least half the party have raised questions – yes, it’s the half without ministries – over the State’s capacity to deal with this crisis.’
Another party source warned: ‘It now often appears that Leo is closer to [Immigration Minister] Roderic [O’Gorman] and the Greens than our own side. He is losing the Fine Gael dressing room.’
This unease was exacerbated in the wake of a recent sobering Cabinet security briefing which indicated immigration will continue to be a major European issue for the foreseeable future.
One senior Government source told the MoS: ‘The Ukrainians will soon be a side issue. One billion are expected from Africa alone as a result of climate change.
‘Ireland is coming to this late. We are already perceived to be a back door into the UK on top of being an attractive country of choice.’
Separately far-right Irish National Party – whose leader has been linked with neo-Nazi groups in Europe – also said it also plans to boost its candidates for the next general election.
Party leader Justin Barrett said: ‘Our membership has tripled in recent months. In an exit poll after the last general election, just 1% of voters said immigration was their top concern. I certainly don’t think that’s the case now.
‘Immigration is right up there with the economy, the health service and inflation as a top concern for voters. I’ll admit that we didn’t do well last time out. There’s no denying the 2020 results were disappointing. But I can guarantee you we’ll do better this time.’
The National Party ran only nine candidates in the 2020 election, earning just 4,773 votes (0.2% of the total vote) and failing to win any seats. Mr Barrett himself contested the Dublin Bay South byelection in 2021 but received just 183 first-preference votes
The Irish Freedom Party fielded 11 candidates, who could only muster a share of first-preference votes between 0.19% (119 votes) and 2.06% (956 votes) in their respective constituencies.
Mr Kelly predicted his party will perform better next time around and said recent anti-immigrant protests had been ‘a beacon of light for the rest of Europe’.
He told the MoS: ‘It shows we’re a people proud of their history and culture who are very worried about the security of their country. And they’re very willing to stand up and hold peaceful protests in their community to say they’re worried about the safety of their streets and they’re willing to stand up and make a noise about it, and so they should in a liberal democracy.’
He said he agreed with comments made by the former justice minister Michael McDowell this week that Ireland is a ‘soft touch’ for people seeking asylum.
Mr Kelly added: ‘When Michael McDowell first made his remarks in 2004 about the cock-and-bull stories of asylum seekers coming into Ireland, he was right.’
He also claimed Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are responsible for the recent anti-immigrant protests.
‘They are standing up and making noise about it’
‘Leo is losing the Fine Gael dressing room’
Mr Kelly said: ‘They created a right-wing in Ireland because they have refused to stop a huge number of unvetted males coming to the country, which is a security risk.
‘Another problem they have created is that they are in the process of destroying the Irish tourism industry, with one in four hotel beds now taken up by – and paid for – by the Government.’
Meanwhile, a security source has claimed far-right groups here are being funded by politically aligned groups in the UK, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and France.
The source, who has infiltrated far-right meetings and protests in Ireland over the past five years, said recent protests here have been meticulously planned and funded with the help of overseas groups.
He told the MoS: ‘The far-right here is looking to Europe more and more. And the average protester isn’t just a young, disaffected male. What’s striking is the number of women now getting involved and it’s across all ages.’
Mr Barrett said the Irish National Party has links with political organisations in Europe that ‘some people would classify as far-right’.
He said: ‘But what is far-right? I’ve never really had a satisfactory explanation of that.’
Mr Kelly insisted his party has ‘no links with any far-right movement in Europe’.