Despite record levels of asylum seekers entering the State in 2024 and dozens of anti-immigration protests, the far right failed to return a single candidate in the general election, bucking a trend seen across Europe and the United States.
After moderate success in the local elections last June, there was some expectation that at least a handful of explicitly anti-immigration candidates would be elected to the Dáil.
More than 60 candidates who could arguably be classed as occupying the extreme right of the political spectrum ran. About half of those ran under the banner of the National Alliance, which consists of the National Party, the Irish People, Ireland First and several Independents.
The alliance spread their candidates across the constituencies to avoid them cannibalising each other’s vote, something that happened in the local elections.
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But this vote management failed to yield results with even high-profile candidates missing out on a seat, typically by large margins.
All six far-right candidates elected in the local elections failed in their run for national office. The most high-profile losers were Independent Gavin Pepper who, per the bookies, was odds on to take a seat. He was eliminated on the sixth count with 6 per cent of first preference votes.
[ Election 2024 results: The winners and losers from day one of countOpens in new window ]
Similarly, in Dublin Central Independent Cllr Malachy Steenson received less than 5 per cent of the vote, despite his role as the leader of some of Dublin’s earliest anti-immigration protests in 2022.
Large social media followings also failed to translate into votes for Derek Blighe of Ireland First who received 4 per cent in Cork North-Central, and Stephen Kerr who got 5 per cent in Mayo.
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In Wicklow, Independent candidate and self-styled citizen journalist Philip Dwyer, who made a name for himself by posting provocative videos on social media, received 435 votes. This includes just one vote from Newtownmountkennedy, the scene of violent clashes between gardaí and anti-immigration protesters earlier this year.
One consolation for these candidates is that many have increased their votes substantially. In previous elections, candidates from extreme-right groups like the National Party would have received hundreds of votes. This time, that figure was sometimes in the thousands, making them relevant when it came to transfers.
The transfers of Steenson, for example, were instrumental in bringing gangland criminal Gerard Hutch close to a seat in Dublin Central.
Some other candidates not typically described as far right but who emphasised curbing immigration also did well, including Independents Carol Nolan and Mattie McGrath who topped the poll in Laois–Offaly and Tipperary respectively.
Independent Ireland, which has expressed right-wing positions on immigration, looks set to increase its TDs from three to four.
The far right’s poor showing can be attributed in part to some of the heat going out of the immigration issue in recent months. Friday’s exit poll showed only 6 per cent believed it was the most important issue.
At points earlier in the year, polls showed voters considered immigration the most important issue. But since then, the Government has taken several measures to curb the number of asylum seekers entering the country. The data show these are starting to have an impact.
Inevitably, some far-right candidates have already turned to unfounded conspiracy theories to explain their loss. Steenson, for example, has claimed Hutch was a plant to take votes away from him in Dublin Central.
