The Irish Far Right and Prospects …. November 23, 2016
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Irish Politics.trackback
In light of Brexit, Trump and the recent publicity about the launch of a new Far Right Party “The National Party” (as an aside there have already been at least two different groups contesting elections as The National Party, one of which is now called The Catholic Democrats (The National Party) …), I found myself looking at some of the Irish Far Right material that I have.
A few patterns and phrases which combined can give the tell tale signs………
-I am not a politician
-We are different to other parties
-Wake Up Call
-Pro Life
-Irish People First …link homelessness with immigration.
-From Your Area , Local etc etc
– Islam
-Anti EU
Then there is the question could the Far Right have any impact here?
I still think that the Catholic Right in the guise of Coir and other fronts think that it was they that defeated Nice 1 and Lisbon 1 and that there is an army of potential voters there. It depends, in their current guises probably not, however were a more prominent individual than those currently involved come on board or drift towards them it may be a different story.
I’ve written before how Libertas were a lost opportunity for the Catholic Right, they had a presentable leader in Ganley. DDI could have done a lot better if their growth wasn’t stymied by RTE showing prominent members in a poor light.
Could there be a TV personality, DJ or someone else prominent ready to come on board with spouting “common sense solutions” and other niceties. We know elements of the Catholic Right here are connected to the Far Right in Europe, You wonder too how reticent other prominent people on the Catholic Right are in outing their real views. I can think of a few prominent people from the No Side in the Marriage Equality Referendum would only be delighted of a bit of extra publicity. It’s also worth noting that most were Trump fans (at least online anyhow).
In this era of clickbait certain elements of the media would only be too happy to fan the flames. There is also still an anti-politics mood out there.
In the US election there was in effect two choices, Brexit was a Yes/No affair, even in France should she make the run off the choice will be between Le Pen and someone else. One thing about our electoral system though is that we have a much wider choice. The scope provided by Independents is also a vent for voters. Everything can be laid at the door at “Them up in Dublin” and so on. Many of those inclined to be pissed off with FF or FG will vote Independent or AAAPBP(if there is a candidate) or SF.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are so broad churches that some individuals can lurch to the right and play the Immigrant, Muslim or whatever card they feel will give them an advantage over a colleague or opponent (Noel O’Flynn in 2002 is a good example of this).
The real danger is that the political centre will drift further to the right and some of the more extreme policies will become normal.
Electorally since 1997 ….
1997 General Election
Dean O Nuallain -Dublin South Central – Ind -80 votes
2002 General Election (ICP)
Áine Ní Chonaill-Dublin South Central – 926 votes
Ted Neville – Cork South Central – 372 votes
2004 LE
Paul Kangley (North Inner City) -Ind- 276 votes
Ted Neville (Cork City South Central) -ICP – 210
Pat Talbot (Cabra-Glasnevin) – Ind- 300 votes
2004 European Elections
Justin Barrett – Ireland East – 10,997 votes
2007
John Donnelly (Dublin North) (ICP) 286 votes
Ted Neville (Cork South Central) (ICP) 804 votes
Pat Talbot (Dublin Central) (ICP) 239 votes
2009 Dublin Central By-Election
Pat Talbot (ICP) 614 votes
2011
Ted Neville (Cork South Central) (Irish Solidarity Party) 523 votes
2014 European Election
Peter O’Loughlin -(Ireland South) Independent – 6561 votes
2015 Carlow-Kilkenny By-Election
Peter O’Loughlin (Identity Ireland) 930 votes
2016
Peter O’Loughlin (Identity Ireland) 183 votes
There were others in this period who ran anti-immigrant campaigns but would not have been classed as Far Right.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
If you are asking how could the far right come to power, you mention Declan Ganley but don’t include him in your vote tally list? why not? he has dodgey as f links to the far right, maybe even to the new National Party ? He is the closest thing we’ve had to Trump recently, with his own finances to run off, although we don’t have a system where you can leap from the “outside” into the a high position of executive power, obviously we nearly had that with Sean Gallagher, but the presidents powers and influence are limited, though the rheorical influence of a far right person in that position would be very bad. A directly elected Mayor of Dublin could be another way from somebody Trump like to gain a significant position, which is why Im not keen on it.
LikeLike
I didn’t know about Ganleys dodgy far right links but he is the type of person that could lend an air of respectability to any new Far Right venture.
Agree with you re the Dublin Mayor, I can’t see the position getting the powers that some have proposed as it would be too risky if the “wrong” person got in .
LikeLike
you need to do some google on Declan Ganley and the far right but to keep things on topic theres a James Reynolds from Longford in the National Party and James Reynolds once claimed to be chair of Libertas in Longford http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/libertas-is-the-farmers-friend-26528539.html (sign may now be required)
LikeLike
Gallagher was wrong on many counts but was’nt far right or anything near it.
LikeLike
the reference to Gallagher was about somebody who never run for public office before leaping into a high position
LikeLike
What about Northern Ireland? Any details of ‘far right’ candidates there? Who to include though? DUPers who believe in creationism, ‘cures’ for gays, that kind of thing; the like of McGeough on the mad disso side; any far right Catholic types likethe ones listed above; UKIPers; far right loyalist paramilitaries; far right unionists/loyalists (that Willie Frazier fellah?)?… Harder to define than down south, I’d say.
LikeLike
Joe,the maddest of them all up here is Susan White (west Tyrone) who polled 85 votes last May.Google her and you’ll see her manifesto which maybe you could post here to give everybody a laugh!
LikeLike
At your command as ever, Roddy. Links here to info on Ms White. Her time may be coming soon, a place in President Trump’s cabinet perhaps…
https://www.google.ie/url?url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan-Anne_White&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjZ8b-Psb_QAhXCDcAKHQdfAloQFggTMAA&usg=AFQjCNHM915fWRomCkpj_LNeJxQIbVaVzQ
http://www.google.ie/url?url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/susan-anne-white-wants-gay-people-jailed-adultery-made-illegal-and-rock-bands-outlawed-now-she-wants-your-vote-31133489.html&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjZ8b-Psb_QAhXCDcAKHQdfAloQFggZMAE&usg=AFQjCNEBSil5U_udFd0aY8AVD01MLemTuA
LikeLike
Is this the first time since the year dot that a stick has taken orders from a provie?! 🙂 fuzzy feelings all round!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Together supporting the Peace Process, Fergal. 🙂
LikeLike
🙂 lean ar aghaidh
LikeLike
I’d forgotten about her, but remember seeing the leaflet. I imagine she can be put in the ‘unwell’ rather than ‘dangerous’ category, but I suppose you never know…
The animal cruelty stuff seems incongruous (although the references to banning halal suggest some motivation).
LikeLike
Hmm…”God’s Law is King?” Sounds like she’s taken a leaf out of the R. J. Rushdoony / Gary North playbook.
LikeLike
Google “general election 2015-Susan Anne White’s manifesto” to get the actual document.!
LikeLike
of course looking for far right we don’t see the the woods for the trees of religious dominated education (and to extent health and welfare) system.
LikeLike
I see numerous Irish people have been writing pro-Trump letters to the “Irish Independent”:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:b8c6ok8sgYwJ:www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/we-should-celebrate-our-differences-not-bow-to-political-elites-35216197.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie
‘Twas ever thus. I recall seeing a long hagiography of
George Wallace from from a 1960s issue of the Indo.
LikeLike
Don’t forget Monaghan councillor Seamus Treanor – notorious for his regular anti immigrant / racist comments.
Also Garda whistleblower John Wilson ran in the last GE on a mainly anti immigrant platform – he announced himself as a Trump supporter earlier this year.
I think this kind of party has a chance if backed up by a well known newspaper or radio station and maybe a few “celebrities” or public figures – George Hook was making noises in this direction IIRC – you can probably think of some more – many from the DOB stable.
I don’t think an Irish rw party would advertise itself as overtly ultra Catholic (but they would defend local schools from “being taken away”: i.e. non denominational admission/control) – probably there would be a big emphasis on crime, lack of resources e.g. schools, hospitals, “rural” Ireland/ “ordinary people “, anti “PC”, anti “D4” / “elites”.
But I think the backing (i.e. non stop propaganda) from traditional media is vital for these kind of parties – look at the English tabloids – the daily Express has more anti immigration/ foreigner front pages every week than all the Irish newspapers would have in a whole year.
And Trump would probably not have been possible without the last two decades of Fox News and thousands of right wing radio stations.
Traditional media still has more authority than web/social media – most people still can’t go into work and say “I was reading on Stormfront… ” but they don’t need to when the same story is on the front of the Mail/Express/Sun in every supermarket, service station, newsagents and waiting room in the country.
LikeLike
“And Trump would probably not have been possible without the last two decades of Fox News and thousands of right wing radio stations.”
Aye. Don’t forget Facebook’s feeding people false news stories nad making money out of them.
Pope Frankie didn’t endorse anyone for the 2016 Presidential Election, yet large numbers of US Catholics thought he endorsed Trump:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-breitbart-infowars-alex-jones-facebook-twitter-fake-news-fact-free-a7417331.html
People in the 1930s worried about the all-powerful state dispensing false information (i.e. Bertrand Russell in “Power: A New Social Analysis”). Who would have thought it would be the market creating such sources of false information instead?
LikeLike
A problem here is a major divide. One side hark back to catholic Ireland (dead and gone) with the addition of populist demands (in many ways not easily distinguished from those on the Left). And neo-liberal Rightists with a low tax thing allied to basically secular stuff. So how to you create something that stretches from say Youth Defence to the more right parts of the Progressive Democrats.
LikeLike
I think any shift to the far-right is likely to germinate on the vacant PD wing of Irish politics, as it did in Germany. Don’t forget, the most overtly racist political campaign in Irish history – the citizenship referendum – was orchestrated and championed by McDowell. The contemporary far-right in Europe is fluid, adroit and non-dogmatic, and the brightest flag to rally around in Ireland is anti-statist populism coupled with anti-minority racism.
LikeLike