The accompanying story began: “There is ‘a disturbing trend’ in Ireland, similar to the US and other parts of the world, whereby white nationalist, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant and anti-lockdown groups ‘seem to be coming together and echoing each other’s hateful rhetoric’, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has said.”

The press release from GPAHE included the warning: “Unfortunately, we expect the far-right in Ireland to continue to grow”.

The report comes from an organisation with apparently impressive credentials. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism was founded by two long-time employees of the Southern Poverty Law Centre in the US, a body which historically had a sterling reputation for defending civil rights. The report on Ireland was the first of a series on countries outside the US.

So, what did the report actually say beyond the headlines? Alarmingly, for a project designed to highlight disinformation, it’s full of disinformation.

It names 12 organisations which are allegedly spreading hate. The only group listed that has any real social traction is the Iona Institute. To describe the Iona Institute as “far right” is akin to suggesting Fine Gael are Nazis or saying that Sinn Féin is full of Stalinists. The Iona Institute espouses conservative Catholic values, which chime with a shrinking minority. 

Thirty years ago in this country, it would probably have been a powerful voice. Today in the US, it would be in the mainstream. Yet we are being told that it is “far right”, by definition a threat to immigrants and minorities, and engaged in disseminating hatred against others.

Apparently, the principal crime that the Iona Institute has committed to attract such a label is that it is anti-abortion. Similarly, two individuals named in the GPAHE report are described as being “former members of the far-right Renua party”. 

Renua was formed by a few Fine Gael heads who left the party in 2015 in opposition to any repeal of the Eighth Amendment. It quickly dissipated having received virtually no electoral support.

Renua was a conservative party, yet here it is categorised as “far right”. Again, the only issue is abortion. The GPAHE report would appear to be positing the notion that it’s not enough to disagree with conservative groups on abortion, they must also be driven from the temple of decency and categorised with bigots and fascists.

Another outfit apparently posing a threat to democracy is LGB Alliance Ireland. This group, the report states, is the Irish chapter of the UK’s LGBA, which describes its objective as “asserting the right of lesbians, bisexuals, and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted”. 

Some among this relatively small group would have been involved in campaigning to repeal the Eighth, but that doesn’t save them from the dreaded categorisation. LGB Alliance Ireland take issue with theories around gender dysphoria, and as a result they are labelled in this report as transphobic and by extension a far-right group.

One wonders what fascist organisations around the world would think of making common cause with same-sex activists. Perhaps they would consider it an Irish joke.

Elsewhere, another alleged far-right offender is the Society of St Pius X Resistance, which sounds like a few hardline Catholics for whom the Tridentine Mass is a sell-out of the Old Testament. 

The Society of St Pius X itself is a small outfit, and the Resistance represents the breakaway provisional wing — which presumably renders it a tiny outfit. Try to imagine the impact they might have on the hearts and minds of, for instance, disconnected young men looking to lash out.

The report, which credits “Ireland’s Far Right Observatory” for providing input and research, also suggests that the sinister far-right has got real traction in some quarters.

In recent years, there has been, in various towns around the country, objections to the opening of direct provision centres. The objections have been rooted in various issues, including overcrowding, the local economy, resentment from rural Ireland and anger at a lack of consultation.

Also thrown into the mix, among some, would undoubtedly have been hostility due to fear or prejudice.

For the compilers of the GPAHE report, it’s much simpler: 

In October 2019, it was reported that leaders of the IFP (Irish Freedom Party) organised a protest in which 2,000 people marched in Oughterard, Galway, against the founding of a refugee centre. 

Groups such as that mentioned certainly attempted to inveigle themselves where there was resistance to direct provision centres, but it is well documented that, in most instances, they were given short shrift.

To portray what happened in Oughterard as being organised by a far-right group such as the IFP and infer that thousands flocked to their standard is a distortion of the truth and an insult to local people.

The whole thrust of the GPAHE report is to amplify, conflate, and basically big-up the threat of far-right extremism in this country. Presenting such work to gullible Yanks who believe Ireland to be a kind of 51st state might be harmless, but it is also deeply dishonest.

The strain of political populism that feeds off hate agendas has not surfaced here, as it has in countries like the USA and others. There is practically no political purchase in promoting extremism in this jurisdiction.

Irish society is not immune to racism or bigotry, but compassion remains a bedrock value, as evidenced by recent referenda, a form of solidarity during the pandemic, and the welcome for Ukrainians fleeing war.

Right-wing extremism certainly exists, but it is confined largely to online echo chambers and a limited number of headbangers.

One might well ask who benefits by attempting to amplify the issue, particularly through smearing organisations which simply hold different views to self-styled fascist hunters.

This article was the subject of a complaint to the Press Ombudsman, which was not upheld. The full decision can be read  here.