Beyond Dog Whistles: Naming, Confronting, and Dismantling Ireland’s Far-Right

Written by Zakia Laasri, MSc Human Rights and Politics

Between the 2020 and 2024 general elections, the number of far-right candidates in Ireland nearly tripled ①. Amongst the 150 running, five secured seats – one from The National Party (NP) and one from the Irish Freedom Party (IFP). The remainder were elected as independents. While many from the Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives of the Irish parliament) ran on an anti-immigration ticket, these 5 candidates went beyond dog whistles and thinly veiled xenophobia by embracing ethnonationalism. In the broader context of the West, the threat of Ireland’s far-right may appear more limited than with Germany’s AfD, France’s National Rally or Uk’s Reform. However, the increase of far-right candidates between 2020 to 2024 shows a mirroring of wider European political trends and the increased popularity of far-right rhetoric on the island. Reflecting on the 2024 election this report introduces the actors and actions of the Irish far-right, showcasing its influence on mainstream politics.

All to ultimately ask: how do we stop it?

Actions and Actors of the Irish Far-Right

In November 2023, the far-right descended on the capital’s city centre following a knife attack on three young children and a care assistant. Several buses, multiple police vehicles and a tram were damaged or set ablaze, shopfronts were destroyed, and businesses were looted, reportedly causing tens of million in damages. This riot was the worst in modern Dublin history ②. It came following years of rising anti-immigrant sentiment across the nation. From 2018 to 2024, 31 arson attacks ③ were imputed to the far-right, including attacks on homeless asylum seekers’ tents forcing them to shift camps. In 2018 the Donegal ④ and Leitrim ⑤ hotels were set alight to prevent them from sheltering asylum seekers. In 2024, a Crown Paints factory ⑥, another location earmarked for asylum housing, experienced four separate arson attacks over four days. Far right groups gathered outside Direct Provision centres (Irish asylum seeker asylum system) threatening both workers and residents. Among the rioters was the 2024 independent candidate Fergal Power ⑦, who spread the false claim of a child sexual assault, leading to weeks of protests outside the asylum housing centre in Celbridge. Power ② was also named in the Dáil as one of those believed to have incited the Dublin riots. The weaponization of sexual crimes appears as common theme of far-right politicians, echoed by the leader of Ireland First (IF) Derek Blighe ①, urging voters to act against “foreign rapists” allegedly abusing the asylum system.

Typical to this political typology, women remain a central avenue for far-right discourse. Elected independent in the Kildare County Council, Tom McDonnell ⑧, who has since joined IF, expressed concern over Ireland’s birth rate: “If we don’t have women breeding, we die out as a breed.” Beyond his overt misogyny, this rhetoric invokes fear of erasure echoing the logic of the Great Replacement theory, a cornerstone to global far-right rhetoric. It suggests Irish identity is under existential threat and frames women’s bodies as instruments of national survival. The NP ⑨ makes this explicit: “Our purpose is to advance Irish interests. Specifically, the power and interests of our ethnic group – not those of other ethnic groups or those who believe nationality is what’s stated on a passport.”

By framing and constructing Irishness as an exclusive and closed ethnic category, the NP denies the legitimacy of birthright, self-identification, and integration. The party casts the Irish as perpetually besieged by “the foreigner,” appropriating the nation’s history as a former colony to concoct an imaginary of the immigrant as a new invader, decidedly omitting Irelands own extensive history of emigration to escape hardship or for better opportunities. While a coherent far-right bloc has yet to gain institutional traction, the cultural groundwork is clearly being laid. As the NP ⑨ recently stated: “With the winds of Western politics blowing in our direction, it’s going to be an easier road now than before.”

The influence of the far-right on mainstream politics

The far-right does not need a majority in office to have significant influence over national politics. As in the UK, incumbent parties (even those who self-prescribe as left), are not just posturing but mirroring far right stances. The Labour government enacted a flurry of anti-immigration measures since taking office in 2024, funnelling £329m into deportation ⑩ efforts. In February, the Home Office ⑪ released the first-ever footage of deportations from the UK, boasting deportation figures in Reform-style social media adverts. Labour recently announced rolling-out controversial digital IDs ⑫ in an attempt to curb undocumented immigration, despite having ruled out its introduction ⑬ last year. These methods have not gone without critiques, MPs, trade unions and rights groups ⑩ alike criticising the government for “copying the performative cruelty of failed Tory governments” in hopes to attract Reform voters.

But have any of these measures stalled the growth of the far-right? Absolutely not.

Reform ⑭ has grown in popularity since the beginning of Labour’s term in 2024, while Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s ⑮ approval rates are at a career low, spelling trouble for the his party before local and regional elections in May.

Ireland witnesses a similar although not identical case. In 2024, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris gave an interview in The Times ⑯, publicly linking record homelessness figures to immigration: “homelessness numbers are heavily impacted by the fact we are seeing many people seek protection in our country, seek asylum in our country”. This rhetoric, blaming immigrants for systemic housing failures mirrors far-right tactics of scapegoating and deflection. Harris obscures responsibility for the housing crisis, a direct result of decades long Fine Gael and Fianna Fail neoliberal government housing policies. Instead, he redirects public frustration towards the most disenfranchised despite the fact that official homelessness figures ⑰ do not even include asylum seekers. Harris ⑱ would later announce government planning to a establish more robust state infrastructure to address the “significant increase” of deportation.

Fearmongering the Irish public into believing that immigration poses such a threat that mass deportation is deemed necessary. The previous Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar ⑲, made similar points commenting: “The majority of people think that the [immigration] numbers have been too big in recent years, and they’re right”. This “populist pandering to anti-immigrant feeling” as quoted by Ireland’s Labour leader Ivana Bacik, succeeds only in giving credence to far-right talking points. Such appear to be further seeping into party practice as witnessed in the action taken in January by Mayo County Councild⑳ (predominantly Fine Gael and Fianna Fail councillors, the two hegemonic political majorities in Irish government) of suspending co-operation with the Department of Integration. This failure to reign in the far-right aligned discourse is allowing the Overton window, the topics and arguments deemed acceptable in mainstream politics, to shift right, which could impact future polices and perhaps facilitate the election of more far right candidates in the Dáil. 

Recommendations

What do we do? How do we shift politics away from the right? How do we safeguard those who may be targeted? The Hope and Courage Collective ㉑ , formerly named the Far-Right Observatory, Community Work Ireland ㉒, the Irish Network Against Racism ㉓ and Unite the Union advocate for stronger state responses to the far-right and offers counter-narrative leaflets, resources and training to support for communities, activists and asylum accommodation centres and residents. The 2022 STOPFARRIGHT ㉔ report drawing on the suggestions of 42 civil society organisations offers a four-pronged approach to tackling the rising far-right:

(1) The state must address the structural conditions, namely housing insecurity, austerity, and inequality, that far-right actors exploit to gain traction.

Participants overwhelmingly felt that the state has been too tolerant of far-right

discourse and called for stronger regulation particularly of social media

platforms, which remain key routes for hate speech and misinformation. (Most crucial point)

(2) Political parties must take a clear stance: excluding far-right actors from

engagement, denouncing their rhetoric, and upholding values of inclusion and

equality.

(3) Civil society organisations should be supported through sustained funding,

training, and advocacy resources to continue their work in demarcation,

distancing from far-right values, and confrontation, truth-telling, and

collaboration with authorities.

(4) Education and public dialogue must be central to this strategy, helping

communities build resilience against exclusionary ideologies while knowing

how to report, protect and combat xenophobia within their communities.

Conclusion

The STOPFARRIGHT report was written before the number of far-right candidates tripled during witnessed the 2024 election, and before the 2023 Dublin riots. These events underscore the urgent need for state actions against the far-right, chiefly by following the report’s guidelines. Adopting coordinated national strategy is urgent, with proactive state intervention, rooted in education and civil society support.

Government truth telling is a crucial element for right-wing pushback. In obfuscating responsibility for pressing social issues, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have set the groundwork for far-right ideologies to propagate. In the Irish case the immediate danger lies not in the far-right gaining parliamentary majority, but in the normalisation of xenophobia and the weaponisation of Irish identity for its ends. Only through early intervention can Ireland hope to mitigate, or more hopefully prevent, the far-right the far-reaching levels of influence currently witnessed across the West.

Sources 

① Stephen McDermott, « Over 100 far-right candidates stood in this year's elections: Could they become a political force? », The Journal, 15 June 2024.

② Kitty Holland and Conor Lally, « Violence erupts in Dublin city after stabbing attack targeted young children », The Irish Times, 23 November 2023.

③ Jack McCarron, Mark Coughlan and Kate McDonald, « Mapped: The fires linked to accommodation for migrants », RTE, 26 July 2024.

④ Stephen Maguire, « Hotel owner injured following arson attack on property earmarked for asylum seekers », Irish Independent, 25 November 2018.

⑤ Kieran Dineen, « How Ballinamore has fared four years after asylum protests », RTE, 19 January 2024.

⑥ Conor Lally, « Coolock unrest: Fire at Crown Paints building earmarked to house asylum seekers », The Irish Times, 18 July 2024.

⑦ Patrick O’Connell, « Childrape ‘lies’ from far-right », Sunday World, 3 March 2024.

⑧ Marie O’Halloran, « Anti-immigrant campaigner is final councillor elected after five-day count », The Irish Times, 12 June 2024.

⑨ Daeln Murphy, Elections, « Reflections: Part II », The National Party, 11 May 2025.

⑩ « Labour MPs and trade unionists accuse party of 'performative cruelty' on migrationn», Middle East Eye, 18 February 2025.

⑪ « Labour MPs and supporters ‘outraged’ by slew of harsh anti-immigration measuresn», Middle East Eye, 18 February 2025.

⑫ Alex Kozul-Wright and News Agencies, « Why is the UK introducing digital IDs – and why are they so controversial? », Aljazeera, 29 September 2025.

⑬ Becky Morton, « Labour rejects Tony Blair's call for ID cards », BBC, 7 July 2024.

⑭ Alex Kozul-Wright, « Could far-right Reform really win a UK general election now? », Aljazeera, 3 July 2025.

⑮ Holly Ellyatt, « Starmer has delivered some key wins for the UK recently, so why is he so unpopular? », CNBC, 25 May 2025.

⑯ Hugh O’Connell, « Simon Harris: I’ll talk election dates after the budget », The Times, 22 September 2024.

⑰ « Homelessness in Ireland », Novas, 2025.

⑱ Emma Hickey, « 'Election soundbites': Sinn Féin say Fine Gael's new migration policies are 'chaotic' », The Journal, 10 November 2024.

⑲ Michelle McGlynn, « Ivana Bacik: Leo Varadkar's immigration comments 'a new low'd», Irish Examiner, 28 September 2024.

⑳ Mike Finnerty, « Government policy fuelling anti-immigration protests, says Smith », Dublin People, 24 January 2024.

㉑ « How to respond to far right hate, action and intimidation », The Hope and Courage Collective, 2022.

㉒ « A Guide to Understand and Responding to the Far-Right », Community Work Ireland and the Far Right Observatory, 2021.

㉓ « The Far-Right in Ireland », The Irish Network Against Racism, 2022.

㉔ Barry Cannon, Richard King, Joseph Munnelly, and Riyad el-Moslemany, « Resisting the Far-Right Civil Society Strategies for Countering the Far Right in Ireland », Maynooth University, 2022.