Hermann Kelly | |
---|---|
President of the Irish Freedom Party | |
Assumed office 8 September 2018 | |
Director of Communications for Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy | |
In office August 2009 –2019 | |
Personal details | |
Born | [ citation needed ] Bogside,Derry,Northern Ireland | 25 December 1968
Political party | Irish Freedom Party (since 2018) |
Other political affiliations | UK Independence Party (UKIP) [1] |
Education | St Columb's College |
Alma mater | St Patrick's College,Maynooth |
Occupation | Press officer |
Hermann Patrick Kelly (born 1968) is an Irish anti-immigration activist,politician,press officer and former journalist,serving as president of the far-right [2] Irish Freedom Party [3] since its foundation in September 2018. [4] As of late 2021,Kelly is employed in the European Parliament as an assistant to Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș. [5] [6]
Kelly was born on Christmas Day,1968 [7] and is originally from the Bogside in Derry. [8] His father was a headmaster of a primary school in Creggan,his mother was a nurse who immigrated from Australia and he has three siblings. [8]
His secondary education was at St Columb's College,Derry. He then studied marine biology in Edinburgh before studying theology as a lay student at St. Patrick's College,Maynooth. [8] He briefly worked as a teacher in Dublin. [8]
As a journalist,Kelly was a contributing columnist to the Irish Examiner , [8] and also wrote for the Irish Mail on Sunday . [9] Following the resignation of editor Simon Rowe in mid-2004,Kelly was briefly acting editor (and later deputy editor) of The Irish Catholic . [10]
In 2007,Kelly wrote a book titled Kathy's Real Story which disputed the claims made in a book by Kathy O'Beirne (Don't Ever Tell),in which O'Beirne described childhood abuse she had reputedly suffered in a Magdalene asylum. [11] Kelly claimed that initial doubts that he had while reading her book were confirmed by inconsistencies in different accounts which O'Beirne had given,and later confirmed by various witnesses and documentary evidence. [11] [12] He also claimed that false allegations were being made by those appearing before the Residential Institutions Redress Board in order to receive compensation. [11]
A review by Gene Kerrigan (who worked alongside Michael Sheridan,O'Beirne's co-author) criticised Kelly's own criticism of O'Beirne's book. [13] Kelly and O'Beirne both appeared on Ireland AM to discuss their books in November 2007,and the encounter ended in an argument. [9]
Kelly also wrote to the proposed publishers of a sequel by O'Beirne,sending them a copy of Kathy's Real Story and asking them not to publish. A Sunday Times article of July 2009 indicated that the publisher had withdrawn their initial offer to publish her book because of an "unresolved legal issue". [14]
Kelly was formerly a press officer for Nigel Farage,and the director of communications for Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD),of which Farage was co-president. [15] [16] The EFDD dissolved in mid-2019. [17] In a 2023 Irish Times article,Farage described Kelly as a "big strong strapping Paddy". [18]
Kelly supports Ireland leaving the European Union (an 'Irexit'),and is the President of the far-right Irish Freedom Party,which advocates the same position. [8] [19] He contested the 2019 European Parliament election in the Dublin constituency, [20] receiving 2,441 (0.67%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count. [21]
As of 2021 Kelly was press officer to Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, [5] who has consistently declined to show an EU Digital COVID Certificate or proof of COVID-19 testing upon entering the European Parliament. [22]
Kelly unsuccessfully contested the Midlands–North-West constituency at the 2024 European Parliament elections. He was eliminated on the thirteenth count,with 13,904 (2.04%) first-preference votes. [23] [24]
In September 2024,Kelly announced that he intended to stand in the Louth constituency at the next general election. [25] [26]
Kelly advocates for Ireland to leave the European Union and for a united Ireland. [1] Kelly is economically liberal, [27] and has questioned the financial cost of Ireland's EU contributions. [28]
His party,the Irish Freedom Party,is anti-abortion,pro-natalist and "supportive of stable families for procreation". [29] Kelly has described his views as representing "Irish Catholic nationalism". [30]
Some outlets have linked Kelly with alt-right ideologies,pointing to a YouTube interview in which Kelly appeared alongside far-right British Loyalist and former British National Party member Jim Dowson. [31] In the video Kelly stated that "[they want to] kill Irish kids and [..] replace them with every nationality who wants to come into our country", [32] a statement which several news outlets associated with the white nationalist "great replacement" conspiracy theory. [31] [33] This followed a similar interview,in January 2019 with LifeSiteNews,in which Kelly denounced what he called the "great replacement of our children". [34] In a 2019 Twitter post,Kelly stated that "those talking about a Great Replacement in Ireland have a point". [35] Later in 2019,Kelly stated that,before an Irish government could make policy changes which result in "population increases [..] immigration or otherwise,it must first consult the people of Ireland". [36] He used the phrase "abort and import" to describe Sinn Féin immigration policy. [37] In interviews and Twitter posts,Kelly has stated that he does not support the idea of separate races or racial superiority, [27] [38] while also advocating for a "mono cultural society". [39] [40]
The UK Independence Party is a Eurosceptic,right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s,when it gained two members of parliament and was the largest party representing the UK in the European Parliament. The party is currently led by Nick Tenconi.
Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 2024,having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021. He was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.
Gerard Joseph Batten is a British politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2018 to 2019. He was a founding member of the party in 1993,and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from 2004 to 2019.
Alan Thomas Kelly is an Irish politician and author who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary constituency since the 2016 general election and a TD for the Tipperary North constituency from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as the leader of the Labour Party from 2020 to 2022.
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was a far-right,Eurosceptic political group that operated in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014. It was composed of 34 MEPs and it existed during the European Parliament's 7th and 8th terms. After 2011,EFD had a loose relationship with the Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy political party.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Group is a soft Eurosceptic,anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party,but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.
The 2014 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2014 European Parliament election,held on Thursday 22 May 2014,coinciding with the 2014 local elections in England and Northern Ireland. In total,73 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation. England,Scotland and Wales use a closed-list party list system of PR,while Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote (STV).
Iveta Grigule-Pēterse is a Latvian politician formerly for the Latvian Farmers' Union. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as the sole representative for the Union of Greens and Farmers.
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament,with significant changes to group membership.
Europe of Nations and Freedom was a far-right political group that operated in the European Parliament between 2015 and 2019. It was composed of 37 MEPs and only existed during the European Parliament's 8th term. Most of its MPs were members of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom political party.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election. It was held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019,after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020;it was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018,and was the first European election in the United Kingdom since 1999 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. This was the first of two national elections held in the United Kingdom in 2019;the 2019 general election occurred six-and-a-half months later in December 2019.
Richard James Sunley Tice is a British businessman and politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Boston and Skegness and Deputy Leader of Reform UK since 2024,having previously been the chairman of the party from 2019 to 2021 and again briefly in 2024. Since 2023,he has also been Reform UK's energy and foreign-policy spokesman. He became the leader of Reform UK in March 2021,but stood down in June 2024 and was succeeded by Nigel Farage.
Euroscepticism is a minority view in Ireland. Opinion polls held in the country between 2017 and 2024 indicated between 70% and 90% support for continued membership of the European Union (EU),and a 2021 'Eurobarometer' report indicating that 75% of poll respondents had a "positive image of the EU".
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has served as the party's leader since June 2024 and Richard Tice has served as the party's deputy leader since July 2024. The party currently has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one member of the London Assembly. Following Farage's resumption of the leadership during the 2024 general election,there was a sharp increase in support for the party. In the election it was the third largest party by popular vote,with 14.3 per cent of the vote.
The Irish Freedom Party sometimes referred to as IFP and initially known as the Irexit Freedom To Prosper Party,is a minor far-right,hard Eurosceptic political party in Ireland,launched on 8 September 2018. It advocates Irish withdrawal from the European Union.
Ben Gilroy is an Irish political activist,anti-eviction campaigner and conspiracy theorist who has been leader of Liberty Republic since 2024,having previously served in this position from 2012 to 2014.
Cristian-Vasile Terheș is a Romanian politician and journalist,serving as leader of the Romanian National Conservative Party since 2023,and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Romania since 2019.
Laure Ferrari is a French politician who has worked for several right-wing political organisations and parties,including the French nationalist party Debout la France.
The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the United Kingdom was held on 23 May 2019. These were the last elections to the European Parliament to be held before Brexit.
The use of the epithet "far-right" [..] seems acceptable given the range of policies promoted by the party and by the causes party members have been associated with
I have worked as a teacher, then became a journalist, and then became Press Officer for Nigel Farage
Several Parliament officials said that Farage's former "Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy" group had not been added to the official list. "Farage and 5Star doesn't have a group," said one official, referring to Italy's 5Star movement which was also part of the EFDD.
[Kelly] says his views reflect "Irish Catholic nationalism"
"The first thing they want to do is kill Irish kids and [they] want to replace them with every nationality who wants to come into our country," Irish Freedom Party leader Hermann Kelly [..said..] in an interview this year
Party media release referring earlier interview in which Kelly states "we must control the quality and number of economic migrants [..] we don't want the brutal demise or 'great replacement' of our children"
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Hermann Kelly has advocated for a "monocultural" Irish society and been a proponent of the "great replacement", a conspiracy theory stating western governments are intentionally replacing their native populations with immigrants