What if Steve Bannon is right about Ireland?
April 2025 - Dublin. "Thousands" demonstrated against the Irish Government's policies.
“I’m spending a ton of time behind the scenes on the Irish situation to help form an Irish national party. They’re going to have an Irish MAGA, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump. That’s all going to come together, no doubt. That country is right on the edge thanks to mass migration.” Stephen Kevin Bannon, member of the Irish diaspora on his father’s side
Sunday’s column on how Bannon aspires to create a mini-MAGA movement in Ireland drew a few comments.
Comment one: Certainly not enough to effect change, but I can’t overlook the amount of anti-immigrant fervor in Ireland, both South and North, the last 2-3 years. Scary stuff.
No doubt about it, Ireland’s immigration numbers make some people uncomfortable. The number of people not born in Ireland who now live there has gone from 350,000 to 1.2 million. (9% to 23%) Most of them live near big cities Dublin, Galway, Cork and Limerick where the jobs are. Poland is the number one country they’ve come from followed by the UK (England, NI etc.), India, Romania and Lithuania.
In 1996 the birth of the Celtic Tiger meant a robust Irish economy. Before that, more people left Ireland (emigrated) than moved to Ireland (immigrated). But the combination of joining the European Union and attracting major employers made Ireland a desirable location. Many of those counted as immigrants are people born in Ireland who left but are now returning because of a better economy.
In April of 2025, an anti-immigration demonstration was held in downtown Dublin. It was reported that “thousands” attended.
July 2025 - Northern Ireland. The annual celebrations of July 12 took an anti-immigration stance.
Comment two: very well put... if the election is tomorrow sinn fein will win the lot
we gave 1.4b to ukraine 🇺🇦 nothing to help seniors with a blister package to help our own people
Ireland’s direct aid to Ukraine since 2022 and going forward equals about $633 million. There seems to be some kind of “special relationship” between Ireland and Ukraine. Volodmyr Zelensky has twice stopped off at Shannon Airport to meet with Irish leaders. If you add up all the aid Ireland spends on Ukraine it would come to less than one quarter of one percent of the total budget. Efforts to assist Ukrainians have sparked a violent backlash.
Ireland has committed to financially aiding Ukraine until 2030.
Comment three: Keep your filthy hands off Ireland, Steve!!!
The success of Bannon’s mission to Make Ireland Great Again will depend on the Irish voters. At this point, there’s no mesmerizing, motivating leader for the kind of change Bannon would like to see in Ireland. The one measurable indicator that a lot of voters are fed up with the current system showed up in the Presidential election, which the decidedly non-MAGA Catherine Connolly won in a landslide. In Ireland voters can register their dissatisfaction with the candidates by casting a “spoiled ballot.” (It would be as if US voters could cast a None Of The Above vote.) In most elections, about 1% of votes are spoiled. In October 13% of ballots were spoiled. In some working-class precincts, more than half of the ballots were spoiled. That’s where Bannon et. Al. will target their recruiting.
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT ON THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 2025