AS COUNTING CONTINUES across the country, it has been a disappointing weekend for far-right candidates, most of whom have already been eliminated in early counts.

The Journal calculated more than 70 candidates standing for five far-right parties or as part of a National Alliance, none of whom have a prospect of being elected at this stage of the weekend.

Many of the far-right hopefuls had hoped to make the most of momentum that they gained during the local elections, which saw five far-right candidates gain council seats.

These included three independents and one from each of the Irish Freedom Party and the National Party, who became the first-ever members of registered far-right parties to hold office in Ireland.

Unlike other independent candidates who have opposed asylum seeker accommodation and called for tougher immigration laws, this new wave of far-right politicians are set apart by an ethno-nationalistic outlook and ultra-conservative social views.

Over the past two years, the Government has made headway on the issue of immigration, which was regularly near the top of issues “noticed by voters”, according to polls by Ipsos.

However, in an exit poll of voters, housing and homelessness was the most cited issue in deciding how people voted (28% of respondents), followed by cost-of-living (19%) and health (17%).

Only 6% said that immigration was the biggest factor in how they voted.

So how have candidates fared in the election?

Far-right fizzle

Going into the election, three far-right parties and some independent candidates joined forces to create a new alliance that including the National Party, Ireland First and The Irish People.

Other known far-right parties, such as The Irish Freedom Party and Liberty Republic, were not part of the alliance. 

Supporters were encouraged to transfer their votes among members in the election, in a bid to elect Ireland’s first far-right TD.

However, judging by the current counts of the three leaders of the alliance, things are not going well.

Anthony (AJ) Cahill of The Irish People was the third to be eliminated in Galway West, after receiving less than one percent of first preference votes.

Derek Blighe, the president of Ireland First, was eliminated in the seventh count for Cork North-Central.

Patrick Quinlan of the National Party, and the only member of the party to hold office since being elected as a councillor earlier this year, is still running in Dublin West.

Glen Moore, another elected councillor with the Irish Freedom Party, was eliminated in Dublin Mid-West on the seventh count.

Gavin Pepper, an anti-immigration agitator and independent Dublin city councillor, was eliminated in the sixth count for the Dublin North-West constituency.

A former election candidate for the Workers’ Party, Malachy Steenson is now best known as an anti-immigrant campaigner who came to prominence during protests against asylum seeker accommodation in East Wall in November 2022.

Running in Dublin Central, he was also eliminated in the sixth count.

Tom McDonnell, another councillor who achieved notoriety over comments ahead of the local elections that Irish women were not “breeding” enough, was eliminated on the third count in Kildare South, after receiving about 1 percent of first-preference votes.

Other high-profile names include Philip Dwyer, a self-styled citizen journalist who has been a regular attendant at anti-immigration protests, ran in Wicklow as a member of Ireland First. He currently stands in 14th place for the remaining three seats after the first count.

Responding to reports that he received just one vote in a box of votes in Newtownmountkennedy, a town in Wicklow where anti-immigration protests took place earlier this year, Dwyer suggested this might be the result of “election interference”.

Stephen Kerr and Susanne Delaney, who front The Irish Inquiry, a self-described news company that regularly spreads misinformation about immigrants, the environment, vaccines and Covid-19, are running in Mayo and Dublin West respectively.

Kerr was eliminated on the fifth count.

Delaney remained in the 11th place in Dublin West after the second count, with two seats left in contention.

Ben Gilroy had attempted to reboot Direct Democracy Ireland, now rebranded as Liberty Republic, by running in three constituencies: Dublin Fingal East, Dublin Fingal West, and Meath West.

Gilroy has been eliminated in all three constituencies without hitting a quarter of the quota in any of them, the number needed to get his election expenses reimbursed.

Most of the far-right candidates tracked by The Journal received less than 2 percent of first preferences, though some of the figures above did manage to get above 4%, including Gavin Pepper (5.5%), Malachy Steenson (4.9%), Stephen Kerr (4.6%), and Derek Blighe (4.2%). 

In the last general election, no far-right candidates got over 2% of first preference votes.

Some far-right candidates remain in the race, though few of them are likely to hoover up enough votes to qualify for a return of a nomination deposit (if they are independents) or their expenses (if they are part of a party), let alone a Dáil seat.

Update: This article was amended on 2 December to clarify that only independent candidates pay a €500 deposit to stand in an election. The article was also updated to state that, if a candidate fails to meet a quarter of the quota, they are unable to re-claim their €500 deposit if they are an independent, or cannot have their election expenses reimbursed if they are a member of a party.

With reporting by Stephen McDermott and Órla Ryan.