By Laura Fitzgerald
The far-right are giant frauds. Wielding language to portray themselves as on the side of “the people”, they seek to tap into genuine and righteous grievances with the Government and political establishment, but derail them for their own nefarious ends. The only place these self-professed ‘warriors’ wish to lead “the people”, is backwards.
Every egregious policy of the current Government – from alignment with US imperialism; to making working-class people pay for economic crises not of their creation; to prioritising private greed over public need in housing and health – also aligns ideologically with the far-right, who would intensify all of the same and add in lashings of increased misogyny and discrimination (including abortion and marriage equality bans), and disgusting white supremacy and violence for extra measure. The far right are a giant contradiction. To paraphrase David Renton, author of numerous books on fascism, the far right wish to lead a movement of the people, to defeat the people.
Nowhere is this contradiction more glaring than the idea of a protest against the fuel price hikes, led by people who support US imperialism, Israel and the Trump regime. These are the forces responsible for the fuel hikes – not tangentially, but directly, after the US and Israel’s illegal attack on Iran sent fuel prices skyrocketing, threatening the global food supply, and pushing the world economy to the brink of a new recession.
Spokespeople of the movement embody this contradiction.
Christopher Duffy
This charming individual has a social media presence dripping in misogyny, transphobia and racism, including the glorification of the genocidal state of Israel and ICE in the US. He celebrated the murder of Renee Good. He mocked Greta Thunberg when she was detained by the IDF, and ‘joked’ that she deserved a sexual assault at their hands.
James Geoghegan
A founder of Independent Ireland, James Geoghegan is also a spokesperson who should not be next or near any genuine movement on the cost of living (photographed here, first with Independent Ireland, and secondly with unhinged transphobe, Sharon Keoghan and Elaine Mullally). Here is a screenshot of his disgusting xenophobia and racism from 2024, scapegoating refugees. He also is a supporter of Maria Steen, whose life mission is to ban abortion and institute state-enforced ubiquitous, tradwifery. James Geoghegan is a convicted animal abuser and tax evader.
James Geoghegan is a supporter of anti-choice, would be Presidential candidate, Maria Steen
Grifters
The far-right are grifters. Michael McCarthy set up a GoFundMe raising €152,965, ostensibly for food and drink for the fuel protesters. Michael McCarthy is a far-right agitator, spreading racist hate online. This beaut recently did a livestream with disgraced serial rapist, Russell Brand. What is this €150k, given in good faith by so many who were donating, going to be used for by this noxious individual?
Michael McCarthy, who got 150k in a GoFundMe for the protesters ostensibly
Well-planned far-right intervention
The fuel hike protests showed that militant action can force concessions from the Government. This has to be a lesson to the trade union movement and to working class and oppressed people across the board. However, this is only one side of the story. We have seen that within the movement, spokespeople emerged who peddle dangerous far-right ideas. Moreover, piecing together information about the genesis of the movement would indicate that from the very outset, far-right actors sought to place themselves at the centre of the movement, to control it, and to profit from it both politically and monetarily.
How did it happen that people with such abhorrent views, including pro-Trump views that are in direct contradiction to the central issue of fuel price hikes, emerge as spokespeople of the movement?
There is a lesson here. It suits the far right to hide their politics, both behind populist phraseology, but also behind claims of being ‘apolitical’, ‘not left nor right’, and a ‘people’s movement’ without politics. No doubt, hiding their politics, loudly asserting their authority and seeking to place themselves onto hastily established committees, allowed this to happen. It was a conscious usurping of a grievance and a coming together of people on an issue.
Fascist forces seem to have been working behind the scenes to further entrench far-right types as spokespeople. Known fascist, Niall McConnell (Siol na hEireann), used his considerable social media presence to boost Christopher Duffy and John Dallan as spokespeople for the protests before they broke out – including with a livestream he hosted on 5 April, two days before the first blockades.
The far-right and fascist forces are extremely dangerous actors. They will ruin any genuine movement on the cost of living that they are allowed to be involved in.
Sinn Féin did nothing
A troubling concern is that as well as far-right political forces being present, manoeuvring from the beginning of the fuel hike protests, it seems that prominent Sinn Féin reps, including TDs, were also around it. This includes the presence of Sinn Féin TDs at the two public meetings that launched the movement, in Portlaoise and Manorhamilton respectively. Local leftist activists even reported that Christopher Duffy shouted down a farmer who spoke powerfully at the Manorhamilton meeting against Trump and his war on Iran.
Sinn Féin TDs who were present apparently did not open their mouths to object. How did Sinn Féin, which knew about the launch of this movement, fail to effectively object to far-right voices being so prominent within it?
A major movement from below of trade union members, workers generally, the disabled community, students, and all the ordinary people affected by the cost of living crisis must be urgently launched — and an explicit anti-racist, pro-feminist / LGBTQ, and anti-Trump / anti-war policy must be adopted in order for any such movement to thrive. Exposing the far right as the dangerous, snake oil peddling grifters that they are, must be done hand in hand with the building of a movement against the Government, and on the cost of living.
Senator Maria McCormack of Sinn Féin with Christopher Duffy. Questions need to be asked of SF as to why their reps seem to fail to challenge the far right presence in the movement, including at the two large organising meetings that launched the movement.
