The Far Right in Ireland – Conspiracy theories, contagion and hate crime

Far-right activism in Ireland is often perceived as almost non-existent. However, the public opinion seems to have shifted after various anti-lockdown protests in 2020 and 2021 and a violent far-right protest in late 2023. Although far-right parties have yet to gain any form of representation in Irish government, anti-immigration and nativist protests and activism have long been present, and the Irish far-right received a boost of visibility by aligning themselves with the anti-lockdown movement (Curran, 2020; Fanning, 2021; Thomas, 2021). Building off the momentum of the anti-lockdown protests of 2020, protests across Ireland in 2021 gave platforms to prominent far-right actors and conspiracy theorists and also gave way to violence (Curran 2020; Gallagher, 2021a). Though far-right activism and violence in Ireland may seem non-threatening relative to other contexts, recent activism points to the inevitable fact that the far-right in Ireland works as an organized and influential network which has the potential to mobilize quickly and efficiently. One particular concern that has arisen is the ability for the far-right to mobilize online, and the role online mobilization and radicalization plays in the emergence of far-right activism. This paper focuses on key online influencers active in Irish far right spaces, and examines how they use exiting narratives drawn from both Europe and the USA to create a distinctly Irish far right. Through analysing the video content of the top social media influencers this paper presents the key themes and the manipulation of these themes as they exist in the online far right Irish ecosystem and how this process addresses the issue of activism that manifests in violence.