With an electric groundswell of support for nativist politics manifesting in recent years in Ireland, many eyes will be on the National Party coming into this week’s elections. Not least the eyes of Ireland’s resident crusty antifa apparatchiks, who seem to reserve a special kind of hatred for the National Party in particular.
The reasons for this are several. The National Party (NP) has good claim to have set the ball rolling in the most recent incarnation of Irish nationalist/republican politics (real republicanism, not the Nu Sinn Féin soy-based knockoff). The NP are not blow-ins new to this edge of politics; the party formed in 2016 and many of the more prominent people who have been involved were working on the nationalist project before then.
The fact that the NP lean into their republican and Pro-Life (and indeed ethnonationalist) credentials also intimidates lefties – many more recent nationalist activists have less solid footing ideologically and care too much about what liberal media says about them. The NP don’t really care, and while the current manifestation of the party avoids edgy statements, they are unabashedly nationalist.
Finally, what spooks them is the fact that the NP has a fairly young, enthusiastic, organised and well-distributed cadre of members. They have held some pretty professional events in the past and their messaging is quite slick and professional.
The NP are running 9 candidates in the local elections and 2 in the MEP elections.
STRENGTHS
- Ideological solidity: As you can see from their online presence, they hit all the right notes that nationalists should be doubling down on – connection with our past, avoiding schizo bloviating, Pro-Life and Christian overtones, patriotism, culture. They have nursed this well; over the years they say they have held philosophy, Gaeilge, and other intellectual seminars.
- Courage and commitment: Speaking to NP members, they often reference their resolve to save the nation no matter how long it takes. In 2022 this was evidenced when a bunch of druggie boomers tried to attack their Ard-Fheis with weapons and NP lads stopped them at the door at the cost of their own blood spilled.
- Organisational competence: Speaking of their Ard-Fheiseanna, these are large events at top hotels. Or look at their designer promotional material; they have consistently maintained standards and over that timeframe this is not something many other nationalist outfits can claim.
RISKS
- Leadership and legality: In the aftermath of the Ard-Fheis incident, a bitter row broke out between former leader Justin Barrett and the current leadership. This ended up in national scandal, with confusion about the party’s assets and ownership persisting for a long time (if it has been resolved at all). While Barrett has moved on to new political ventures, he is continuing (legally) to register candidates under the NP name. This could cause headaches for the continuing NP leadership at some point.
- Social media traction: The NP have a large x.com following by Irish standards, and produce good content. However they have not capitalized on some of the demand for viral TikTok-like rapid-fire content and livestreaming, something that has served many other nationalists well in recent years.
I enjoyed the video which accompanied this article. It reminded me of the strong points of the National Party. Sometimes the so-called ‘far-right’ can all blend into one and it’s hard to tell the difference between the groups. But I will say that the NP always tried its best to have good optics whilst being radical and rooting their politics in Irish traditions. They didn’t go copying what other countries were doing and weren’t excessively influenced by internet narratives. People often talk rightly about how Barrett was holding them back due to his Nazi LARP, but the bigger point here is that he was always downright lazy. The constant criticism of the NP used to be that it never did anything, it wasn’t active enough, but who can really say that now? They always put the work into campaigns. Even with these European and local campaigns now you can tell the difference between the people who’ve just put their name on the ballot but haven’t lifted a finger ( I put Rebecca and Justin Barrett in that camp) and the ones who are putting in the hard slog. Even if it doesn’t bear fruit on this occasion, I commend the NP for taking the work seriously. Because politics is hard work – it’s not firing out tweets and being a big shot on social media, it is about the hard and plodding work of getting well known in your community and then running effective and professional looking campaigns. Kudos to the National Party for that – their leaflets have always had good graphic design, they’ve always managed to get people focused on knocking doors and delivering leaflets. That’s what a political party is and what it does; a political party isn’t a Telegram Page or a cult obsessed with one dominant personality. The NP will hopefully still be here in 10 years’ time, and beyond. Unlike other parties, they weren’t formed very recently by only recently politicised people who all believe they know the winning formula after not being involved in Irish nationalism a wet week. The guys in the NP, and some of them are behind the scenes figures, have been involved in right wing politics for decades – back to projects like the Immigration Control Platform, for those who care to remember. Some day a history of the Irish right-wing will be written, and the longstanding stalwarts will tend to be found more within the NP than in the other groups, I believe that. I’ll be voting James Reynolds first preference tomorrow in Midlands North West, and Independent Ireland locally. I’ll be giving my second Euro preference to John Waters, after that I’ll have to think about it on the day – but the vote will ultimately (most likely) end up going to Peadar Toibin.
There is no reason why Irish Nationalism should not succeed as long as the focus is on unity amongst all key players in achieving main objectives that are relevant to all parties concerned.
There is no reason for division or drama amongst patriotic people,leave “The Egos “at the door,the time will come when all involved will be depended upon to rebuild “OUR NATION FOR OUR PEOPLE ”
There is no reason for failure to repair a broken system that has failed it’s Ancestors Call and the future legacy of IRISH GENERATIONS.
Look at our history,read and understand what cruelty,misery and abuse was dealt out by traitors,government,judiciary and foreign oppressors in the forms of starvation,death,slavery,servitude,pogrum and holocaust…
Especially in PENAL TIMES when it was Legal To Kill The Irish because they were classified ” BY OPPRESSORS AS NONHUMANS”.
There are No Reasons…There is only lack of will…because anything and everything PROBLEMS are solved by the WILL TO FIX…no will,no solution.
OUR DAY WILL COME