Key developments
Irish senator Ronan Mullen joins the religious right and far-right at alliance-building event in Hungary
- The fourth Political Network for Values (PNfV) meeting took place in Budapest, Hungary on 18th and 19th November attracting an international gathering of religious right and far right figures. Participants included Irish senator Ronan Mullen, founder and president of Spanish far-right party VOX Santiago Abascal, founder and president of Vente Venezuela party Maria Corina Machado (charged in 2014 for alleged plot to murder opposition leader), Amy Sinclair, US senator who supports Iowa gun owners carrying arms without a permit, and PNfV president Katalin Novák.
- Novák, current Hungarian Minister for Family Affairs, was announced to lead next Hungarian Government, by Viktor Orban, whose 11 year role as Hungarian Prime Minister is notable for the massive 8.5 billion investment in a “military modernisation drive” and for establishing Hungary as the driving force in a global network restricting rights of women and minorities.
- When Mullen, who is known to admire Orban, was invited by RTE Radio One to comment on a gesture of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement taken by Irish football players in Budapest on June 6th 2021, he came out in support of Hungarian Ultras. Guests should “not provoke the host”, Mullen said, echoing the words of Viktor Orban.
- The PNfV is supported by CitizenGo and the Alliance for the Defence of Freedom (ADF), a US hate group organising for the criminalisation of LGBTQIA, the sterilisation of Trans people, denial of goods and services to LGBTQIA. The ADF, who were close advisers to the Trump administration on the restriction of rights for LGBTQIA, joined The Iona Institute, who play a key role in mainstreaming of hate against minority groups in Ireland, as co-signatories to a Human Rights Council submission advocating for restrictions on the rights of women.
Far right target parents and children with anti-lockdown propaganda
- Following record level spread of Covid strains and the re-introduction of Government restrictions, National Party members including Patrick Quinlan have escalated their community outreach targeting parents and children with anti-mask, anti-lockdown conspiracy theories.
- Groups monitoring far-right exploitation of the pandemic have warned that new actors have emerged, calling themselves ‘Irish Education Alliance’ (IEA).
- Anti-lockdown rallies in Ireland have pulled mixed crowds of people, some with genuine concerns and others who would seek to exploit the pandemic to further their politics of hate. For further reading on the far-right orientations of figures behind anti-lockdown protests see the December 2021 report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and and the January 2021 report from the Far-right Observatory.
Dublin Oak Academy has questions to answer about suspected connection to French far-right ringleader
- Dublin Oak Academy, an international, private, Catholic boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow that claims to offer “world class wholistic formation programme” has questions to answer about suspected connection to French far-right ringleader after a video of a group of young men attacking a feminist march in Paris on November 20th emerged showing one of the group ringleaders wearing a ‘Dublin Oak Academy’ branded hoody. Footage depicts a large group of young men wielding weapons against a crowd. The group are believed to be a far-right student organisation in Paris ‘La Cocarde Nanterre’ aligned with Génération Identitaire (now a banned group). Dublin Oak Academy is a Legionaires of Christ school for boys.