Formation On 3 February 2018 an '
Irexit' conference was held in the
Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, advocating an Irish withdrawal from the European Union. It was attended by former
UKIP leader
Nigel Farage, author and columnist
John Waters and academics
Anthony Coughlan and Karen Devine. Approximately 600 people attended. On 8 September 2018, a conference was held in the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin to launch the new party. Independent guest speakers at the launch included former Ambassador of Ireland to Canada
Ray Bassett, and Professor
Ray Kinsella, a
University College Dublin economist. Approximately 400 people attended the event. Following its launch, the party held several regional public meetings, including one in
Raheen, County Limerick during which broadcaster
George Hook spoke about the "politically correct" Irish media. A hotel in
Tralee which received multiple critical phone calls for hosting an Irish Freedom Party meeting, gave a statement to the
Irish Independent affirming their commitment to hosting the meeting, saying "If it was a racist group or something that was socially unacceptable then we wouldn't be hosting it." addresses Irish Freedom Party Meeting In late March 2019, the organisation launched a nationwide billboard campaign ahead of the European elections, reportedly funded by members of the party. Sources from the Irish advertising industry estimated that this may have cost up to €40,000. The party did not answer questions from
The Irish Times about whether the donations received are in line with Standards in Public Office (SIPO) Commission guidelines. Under those guidelines, a third party must register with the Commission if a donation exceeding €100 is accepted which is directed towards a political purpose. The party had not registered as a third party with SIPO.
Public demonstrations The Irish Freedom Party has organised and participated in a number of public demonstrations since its formation. Supporters of the group were reported to have used
4chan to organise a rally in protest of Ireland's acceptance of the
UN Migration Pact, outside
Leinster House in December 2018. The rally was noted for drawing a counter-demonstration organised by
People Before Profit, and attended by its party leader
Richard Boyd Barrett.
Gardaí estimated attendance at 250. In October 2019, it was reported that leaders of the IFP, along with other groups were assisting in the organisation of protests in
Oughterard Galway against the founding a
direct provision centre. Up to 2,000 were estimated to have marched in the protest. A similar smaller protest in
Monaghan Ireland was said to have been "endorsed by Irish Freedom Party Leaders". In late 2019, the Irish Freedom Party, along with
Renua and
Yellow Vest Ireland organised two "free speech rallies", again outside Leinster House, in protest of proposed legislation by then Justice Minister
Charles Flanagan to update laws regarding hate speech. The former taking place in November, included speakers such as
Ben Gilroy, columnist
Ian O'Doherty and Dolores Cahill. The latter of the two rallies in December saw a sizeable counter demonstration from a collection of trade unions, faith groups and anti-racism organisations. Several hundred were estimated to have attended both the rally and counterdemonstration, with three arrests being made following scuffles between the two sides. In February 2020, members of Irish Freedom Party attended another "free speech" rally. This rally drew an estimated crowd size of 100 before being broken up by Gardaí due to violent clashes with counter-protestors, resulting in three more arrests. Party president Hermann Kelly claimed none of the members of the "free speech" protest were involved in violence. In July 2020, IFP along with
Renua and
The National Party, organised and participated in a protest against the appointment of
Roderic O'Gorman as Children's Minister for the new Government. Speakers for the rally included Irish actor
John Connors and
Justin Barrett. The groups involved called the protest after a photo surfaced of O'Gorman alongside gay rights activist
Peter Tatchell, who has been forced to defend comments he made in 1997 in which he spoke about sex between adults and children. The rally was condemned by many as homophobic and for the inclusion of nooses on National Party banners and placards. John Connors later publicly apologised for his attendance to which O'Gorman accepted, clarifying that the photo in question was the only time he had met Tatchell, and that he was previously unaware of his controversial comments. Scuffles occurred with a small counterdemonstration, which was broken up by Gardai. No arrests were made. in July 2020 Further protests rallies against Irish lockdown restrictions were organised and participated in from summer 2020 into 2021. Former chairperson Dolores Cahill and current chairperson Michael Leahy both spoke to a large crowd outside
The Custom House, Dublin in August. They would return on two more occasions to the Custom House for a march through the Dublin city centre in September, and another anti-lockdown rally in November, the latter featuring
Kevin Sharkey as a speaker. In July 2021, Irish Freedom Party were among thousands who attended two protests against
vaccine passports outside the
Convention Centre Dublin, which was temporarily housing the
Oireachtas. Candidate for the party in the 2020 General Election,
Ben Gilroy was among the speakers. A protest organised by the party in
Limerick in December 2021 was reportedly dispersed after being challenged by up to 100 counter-protesters, reported to be mostly "young people with Pride flags". Gardaí dispersed the rally after scuffles broke out. The party returned to the same site in March 2022 to host another rally and were met by a counter-demonstration again, however no violence occurred. A group launched in late 2023,
Sinne na Daoine (Irish for "we the people") which has engaged in anti-immigration "patrols" across Ireland, has been associated with party members. Party leader Hermann Kelly has described Sinne na Daoine as a "
vigilante group".
Elections In March 2019, ahead of
2019 Irish local elections, several regional newspapers reported that a party-member named 'Mairead Donovan' was listed on the IFP website as a candidate to be a
Kerry County Councillor. The
Ireland edition of The Times later reported that the candidate did not exist, and that the website image was a stock photograph. Party spokesperson Hermann Kelly acknowledged the mistake and fault in allowing the placeholder profile and stock imagery to be published on the website, In advance of the
2019 European Parliament election, the party also reportedly "botched their [party registration] application" by failing to "tick its own box". Hermann Kelly admitted their application was rejected because of a mistake made by the party and that it would need to resubmit the form. As a result, it was not registered as a political party before the deadline for nominations in the 2019 European elections (15 April 2019), and so candidates it had planned to put forward under the Irish Freedom Party name had to list themselves as
independents. Hermann Kelly ran in the
Dublin constituency, while party chairperson Dolores Cahill ran in the
South constituency. Neither candidate was elected, with party leader Herman Kelly receiving 2,441 (0.67%) first preference votes, and Cahill receiving 10,582 (1.47%) first preference votes. The party's registration was subsequently completed, and the Irish Freedom Party (IFP) was included on the Register of Political Parties as of 13 June 2019. The Irish Freedom Party contested its first election as a registered political party in the
2019 Wexford by-election, running Melissa O'Neill, a former member of
Sinn Féin who served on
Kilkenny County Council from 2014 to 2019. She received 489 (1.2%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the first count. Party member Conor Rafferty ran in
Mid Ulster in the 2019 UK General Election, as an independent since the party is unregistered in Northern Ireland, receiving 690 votes (1.5%). The party fielded 11 candidates in the
2020 Irish general election, with none being elected. Candidates received a share of first preference votes between 0.19% (119 votes) and 2.06% (956 votes) in their respective constituencies. Party chairperson Dolores Cahill came second-last in the
Tipperary constituency with 0.6% of first preference votes (521 votes). In March 2021, Cahill was asked to leave her position in the party and resigned as party chairperson. In July of that year she went on to stand unsuccessfully as a non-party candidate, in the
2021 Dublin Bay South by-election, receiving 0.6% of first preference votes (169 votes). The party fielded 3 candidates in the
2024 European Parliament elections, with none being elected. Candidates received 29,709 (1.7%) first preference votes. In the
2024 Irish local elections, the party got its first elected representative when Glen Moore was elected to
South Dublin County Council (SDCC) for the Palmerstown-Fonthill area. However, in a Tweet dated to February 2025, Moore stated that he had resigned from the party citing disagreements with Herman Kelly's leadership and encouraging remaining members to join "other political parties that represent their values". As of 2026, he sits as an independent councillor on SDCC.
Position regarding vaccines and lockdown During the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Irish Freedom Party organised and had a number of representatives speak at multiple large anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown rallies. One rally, held outside the Dublin
Custom House in August at which
Ben Gilroy and Dolores Cahill spoke, was attended by "hundreds" and reported to have passed off mostly peacefully, despite some instances of violence between attendees and counter protestors, after which four were arrested. Cahill, who was then a non-lecturing professor of
translational medicine at University College Dublin, also spoke at an anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown event in London, which later lead to a warrant for her arrest in the UK. In a video, published in May 2020 but later removed by YouTube, she claimed that COVID-19 could be cured or curtailed by "eating healthily and taking vitamins C and D", that there was "no need for a vaccine" because people who recover have life-long immunity, and advocated using
hydroxychloroquine and
ivermectin as COVID-19 treatments. The party "agreed to accept [Cahill's] resignation" several days after it sent a letter to Cahill about her unsubstantiated statements, Cahill's replacement, Michael Leahy, stated that Cahill "was making certain pronouncements that we felt we couldn't stand over and [..] it resulted in her resignation". A correspondence obtained by the Irish Independent later found that Cahill had been asked for her resignation.
2025 leadership split The party split in 2025 over the issue of Hermann Kelly's leadership. In May 2025, a number of party members passed a motion to remove Kelly as president and create a three-person committee to lead unity talks with other right-wing parties. As part of these negotiations with the other political parties, British political activist Jim Ferguson chaired a meeting which included Michael Leahy (IFP), Malachy Steenson (independent) and Derek Blighe (Ireland First). In September 2025, Hermann Kelly called an
Ardfheis of the party and the IFP website was subsequently updated to state that Kelly had been re-elected as party president at the meeting. However, Michael Leahy later stated that the meeting was invalid and held without the approval of the "interim committee". Leahy moved to oust Kelly as a party member in October 2025, An article in
The Phoenix magazine, from October 2025, suggested that the matter remained contested between the Kelly and Leahy factions. == Controversies ==