One of the peculiar features of the far-right phenomenon in Ireland is its denial of its own existence. That, apparently, is a trope of the ‘mainstream media’. While it is true that the recent surge in international protection applicants has been badly handled by the government and that many decent people have been caught up in the recent protests, there’s no doubting who or what the instigators are. Check out their own social media video clips—threats of violence, misinformation, disinformation and, in the recent elections, the undermining of the democratic process itself through the intimidation of other candidates. Check out also the vile racism of the accompanying cheer-leading comments, the bulk of them from outside the jurisdiction. Consequently, the performance of far-right candidates in the recent elections is a matter for concern for all democrats and people of good will, regardless of their political orientation. While not garnering enough votes to secure election to the European Parliament, a handful of local councillers were elected and several more came close, undermining any notion of ‘Irish exceptionalism’—we are not immune to the siren calls of the far-right, so sadly evident in European elections elsewhere.
But we’ve been here before. In the local government elections of June 1945 an overtly pro-Axis, racist, totalitarian party, Ailtirí na hAiséirghe (‘Architects of the Resurrection’), won nine of the 26 seats it contested. (See ‘Ailtirí na hAiséirghe: Ireland’s fascist New Order’ by R.M. Douglas in HI 17.5, Sept./Oct. 2009, pp 40–4.) In addition, the recently elected Oliver J. Flanagan, although not a member, acted as its proxy within the Dáil. Fortunately, the autocratic and abusive style of its leader, Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin, led to the inevitable splits (echoed more recently by Justin Barrett and the National Party) and its subsequent demise. Ireland, it seems, has been lucky with the low calibre and incompetence of its would-be far-right leaders—but that’s hardly an argument for complacency.
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Was it History Ireland ‘wot won it’? (See Diarmaid Ferriter’s ‘Platform’ in HI 32.3, May/June 2024.) Hardly, but it’s good news that St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral on Marlborough Street will not now be redesignated a ‘basilica’ but will in fact be elevated to the status of ‘cathedral’—just in time for its bicentenary next year.
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editor@historyireland.com