We are pleased to present an exclusive interview with Hermann Kelly, President of the Irish Freedom Party (IFP). Born in Dublin on 25 December 1968, Kelly—a seasoned former journalist—has become a fervent advocate of Irish nationalism. After years as a press officer, he co‑founded the IFP in 2018, a far‑right, Eurosceptic party that opposes mass immigration and the influence of the EU. Known for his provocative stances—fiercely anti‑Islamist, anti‑Hamas, and a defender of traditional values—Kelly campaigns for an “Irexit,” strict border controls, and Irish military neutrality. His recent media appearances—such as an interview on OANN in April 2025 on immigration and crime, or a post on X in June 2025 on the Ballymena crisis—attest to his growing influence.
Reserved in his personal life, Kelly channels his passion into preserving Ireland’s cultural and economic sovereignty for future generations. His vision: a self‑sufficient Ireland, free from Brussels’ grip and aligned with populist movements such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Conducted by Angélique Bouchard for Le Diplomate Media, this exclusive interview is set against the upheavals of 2025: Trump’s re‑election, Farage’s rise, and Tommy Robinson’s massive rally in September. Bouchard, a Sorbonne‑educated journalist and specialist in European populism, explores how Kelly’s projects resonate with the rise of France’s Rassemblement National and Éric Zemmour’s struggles, shedding light on Ireland’s role in a fractured Europe. Expect a dynamic exchange on nationalism, immigration, and global alliances…
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Interview by Angélique Bouchard for Le Diplomate Media
International Questions (Geopolitics and Security)
Le Diplomate: On the war in Ukraine: should Ireland increase military support to Kyiv via the EU, or prioritise strict neutrality to avoid being drawn into a global conflict?
Ireland must provide no military assistance to Kyiv under any circumstances, whether through arms or financial backing via the European Union or any other mechanism. It would be far preferable for Ireland to remain—and return—to a position of meaningful military neutrality. We should not become involved in the military conflicts of other nations. Situated on Europe’s far west, we have never had a conflict with Russia and, hopefully, never will. In the grand scheme of things, we in Ireland would do better to be essential peacemakers rather than little warmongers. I sincerely hope that once the Russo‑Ukrainian conflict ends, we will not discover that Ukraine was merely a money‑laundering mechanism for the Biden family or for major American corporations. Given the cultural and historical ties between Ukraine and Russia, it is tragic to see this conflict fuelled by outside forces. Who can forget the reckless jingoism of John McCain and Guy Verhofstadt on Kyiv’s Maidan in 2013?
On the Middle East and Israel: does your party’s support for Israel in the Gaza conflict influence Ireland’s position on Palestinian immigration and Europe’s security in the face of Islamist threats?
Whatever Irish people’s views on the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict, the reality is that as a nation we have no practical influence on the situation. Ireland is not large enough—militarily or financially—to shape events in the Middle East. My position is clear: I will not fall out with any Irish person over foreign‑policy questions where Ireland has neither impact nor national interest. Sinn Féin and the Irish left in general are strongly pro‑Palestinian and, in many cases, de facto supporters of Hamas.
Our position is different. We understand well that the dominant attitude in Gaza and the Palestinian territories today is not about nationalism, anti‑colonialism, or reclaiming land—as the left claims—but about support for Hamas, an Islamist jihadist organisation. We totally oppose Hamas and its Islamic ideology. We are horrified by its aims and methods, and we recognise it as a danger not only to Israel but to the entire world. Groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, Al‑Qaeda, and Hamas share an extremist ideology that sows death and destruction wherever it spreads. The Irish Freedom Party will give no support to Hamas and its cause. We will adopt a neutral position in the conflict, focusing on peace where possible while remaining vigilant against the threat posed by jihadist groups. If Hamas were to overcome Israeli security, Europe would assuredly be its next target.
One foolproof way to change leftists’ attitudes toward Palestine and Hamas would be to fund free flights for those activists to Gaza, where they would be encouraged to arrive with their purple‑dyed hair and black T‑shirts reading ‘Gays for Gaza’, ‘Poofs for Palestine’, and ‘Homos for Hamas’, and see how long it would take before the local Hamas unit cheerfully threw them off rooftops.
There have been a few conflicts between Palestinians and trans‑queer‑furries. I think putting them in close proximity would be an educational experience for both sides. We strongly oppose admitting so‑called Palestinian refugees to Ireland under any pretext. We regard this as a real security threat. History shows it: in Denmark, for example, more than 300 Palestinian refugees were admitted in 1992. Within a few decades, 64% of them had a criminal record.
Moreover, the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah shot and killed an Irish soldier, Sean Rooney from Donegal, while he was on a peacekeeping mission in Beirut on 14 December 2022. Why would we support jihadists who want to kill our own citizens? Only cease‑fire‑baby poseurs like Kneecap would be foolish enough to do so! But to return to the idea of taking in Palestinian refugees: it would be irresponsible and reckless for Ireland to repeat that mistake. Every potential arrival from these regions must be assessed through the lens of national security. It is telling that no neighbouring Arab country wants to take in Palestinian migrants—but given their history of destabilising the countries they go to, such as Lebanon, Egypt, or Jordan, it is unsurprising that Arab states refuse entry to supporters of Palestinian jihadists.
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On transatlantic relations: amid uncertainty around the United States in 2025, how should the alliance between Ireland, Europe, and Washington be rethought to counter Chinese and Russian influence?
We in the Freedom Party are an Irish nationalist, patriotic, and republican party. Politically, we are very much in tune with the orientation of Donald Trump and today’s Republican Party. We are an anti‑war, anti‑neoconservative party.
Of course, we have different cultures and histories but also many similarities. The Irish have had a huge impact on the United States, and the United States has had a great impact on us. The deranged left in Ireland suffers from reflexive anti‑Americanism. A few decades ago, the question was often asked: ‘should we choose Boston or Berlin?’ Well, historically, Ireland has much closer cultural ties with America. Compared with Berlin, there are far more Irish people in the United States. Another factor favouring stronger relations with the US is that we export 32% of our products there.
However, it is excellent that we do not have open borders or free movement with the United States. We have no political union with the US, and our Supreme Court is not based in the US. We therefore think a relationship based on mutual respect, free trade, and cultural commonalities with the United States would benefit Ireland and America. We believe the American radical left—bolstered by radical universities and elites—has had a profoundly harmful impact on Western culture. We welcome Donald Trump’s resistance to this ideological madness.
Ireland has always had closer cultural ties with the United States than with continental Europe. Nearly a third of our exports go to the US, yet we wisely maintain our independence: no open borders, no political union, no shared courts with the United States.
A relationship grounded in mutual respect, free trade, and cultural commonalities with the US would benefit both nations—particularly in countering the growing influence of Communist China, which we totally reject. Politically, Ireland is a small country, but culturally and politically we have great influence in the United States due to our once‑abundant diaspora. Yes, as a counterweight—especially to Chinese influence—America is a powerful ally against the rise of Communist China’s influence.
On climate change and energy: do international climate agreements like COP30 weigh on the Irish economy, and does your party advocate withdrawing from these commitments to prioritise national energy independence?
In today’s West there is an irrational phobia of carbon dioxide. CO₂ constitutes only 421 parts per million in our atmosphere. It is essential to photosynthesis. NASA satellite data show that rising CO₂ levels over the past 40 years have led to significant global greening, with more trees and vegetation than before. Farmers even pump CO₂ into greenhouses to accelerate plant growth. Climate patterns, primarily influenced by solar activity, are ignored in favour of an obsession with carbon emissions.
Milankovitch cycles are long‑term, natural changes in the Earth’s orbit, tilt, and wobble that influence climate patterns over tens of thousands of years, yielding ice ages and interglacial periods. Breaking news: it’s the sun that impacts global temperatures.
This hysterical fear of CO₂—plant food—is largely misplaced. If these so‑called environmentalists had a greater appetite to tackle pollution such as plastics, acid rain, pesticides, habitat loss, and biodiversity, we would be better off. Ireland’s Fiscal Advisory Council estimated last year that by 2030 Ireland could face EU fines of up to €26 billion for missed climate targets.
We believe it is sheer madness to impoverish our nation, destroy our agricultural sector, and drive up energy prices to reach arbitrary EU emissions targets. Carbon taxes disproportionately punish young and rural people who drive to work and older people who heat their homes. We have opposed carbon taxes since the party’s founding and will continue to do so.
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On socio‑cultural divisions around the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict: given the strong pro‑Gaza support among a small part of French youth instrumentalised by LFI and the Muslim Brotherhood, and among part of Ireland’s cultural elite—illustrated by Kneecap’s controversial performance at Rock en Seine this summer—contrasted with Conor McGregor’s recent anti‑Hamas statements, what is your view of these divisions in Europe, and how does the Irish Freedom Party plan to respond to preserve Irish national unity?
Fifty years ago, the Palestinian cause was often seen through a secular lens—a matter of territorial rights and decolonisation. But things have changed radically. Hamas now dominates the Palestinian movement, replacing secular nationalism with jihadist extremism.
Western leftists chanting ‘Gays for Gaza’ would not last ten minutes in territory controlled by Hamas.
Groups like Kneecap—career protesters with no experience of the conflict beyond what they’ve seen in TV documentaries—beg for arts grants from the British establishment while claiming to be anti‑establishment revolutionaries. Kneecap is all posture and pretence, drug‑addled fools who have never seen revolutionary action in their lives.
That said, I am still pleased to see they maintained their freedom of expression in the face of legal threats in British courts.
Ireland has no significant impact on the conflict in Gaza.
We should stay out of it, support peace where possible, but not be used or manipulated as political cannon fodder for one side of a Middle Eastern conflict far from Ireland.
European Questions (Migration, Sovereignty, and the EU)
On the EU’s migration policy: how do you assess the impact of the new EU Migration Pact on Ireland, and what concrete measures do you propose to protect Irish sovereignty against quotas imposed by Brussels?
Ireland has a flexible opt‑out system first established by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997 and maintained in the Lisbon Treaty. But to be the teacher’s pet, the EU’s servile class in the Irish government decided last year to opt into this EU Migration Pact voluntarily.
It is extreme folly to join voluntarily a system where we will be fined €20,000 for each migrant we do not take. We think this is ridiculous. Already, in terms of immigration, Ireland has by far the fastest‑growing population in Europe. About a quarter of our population is now non‑Irish. That is a massive increase in just twenty years. It is a new plantation of Ireland. It amounts to colonisation without consent. We were never asked, and we never gave our consent. If this continues at this pace, our grandchildren will be a minority in their own country within a few decades. Mass immigration drains our social resources, our housing stock, and severely reduces our country’s security.
The Irish Freedom Party’s position is to oppose EU membership. First, we oppose joining this EU Migration Pact. As I said, Ireland has an opt‑out in justice and home affairs. There is every reason for Ireland to stay out of this EU Migration Pact. Then, in the long term, we believe that to take full control of our borders, we must leave the EU’s free‑movement system. And what we really need to do is leave the European Union entirely.
We believe immigration must be effectively controlled to serve the interests of ordinary Irish people. As long as we are EU members, we are subject to free‑movement rules, which means we have an open border with more than 500 million European citizens, their families, and dependants. By taking back control of our borders, we will be able to plan for a better Ireland that can provide affordable, sustainable housing for all.
On Euroscepticism: does your party plan to campaign for an “Irexit” similar to Brexit, and what would be the benefits for Ireland of leaving the European Union in 2025?
All we want is for Ireland to become a normal sovereign nation again. Irish Freedom is a national movement of the Irish people and a political party whose principal aim is to restore Ireland’s national independence and sovereignty and to restore its national democracy by leaving the European Union.
We wish to restore independence by returning control to the Irish people over our legislation, our citizenship, our currency, our trade policy, our borders and migration policy, our taxation and fiscal policy, our sea fisheries and marine resources, our human rights under the Irish Supreme Court, and our foreign and security policy—while maintaining meaningful military neutrality.
We therefore support all democratic initiatives to secure the consent of voters in Northern Ireland for a reunited and independent Ireland under the control of the Irish people, not London or Brussels. Irexit is necessary to prevent a second partition of Ireland by adding new European dimensions to the north–south border and thereby creating major obstacles to obtaining consent for future Irish reunification. We believe that leaving the European Union will enable the Irish people to achieve these objectives.
On intra‑European relations: how do you see Ireland’s role in resolving post‑Brexit border tensions with the United Kingdom while maintaining its independence from the EU?
We can only have a sovereign, independent Ireland when Northern Ireland is freed from British control and the South is freed from EU control. Until the mid‑1980s, Sinn Féin’s policy was to leave the Common Market and make Ireland a sovereign, independent country. We still hold to that policy.
We would like to see, for example, what used to be called the Éire Nua (New Ireland) policy of greater decentralisation. Not only would Ireland take back political powers from Brussels, but local councils would be strengthened and governance would be more regional. Fundamentally, there would be much more subsidiarity than at present.
We would also like to see the return of an all‑Ireland basis for immigration and citizenship. It is our duty as Irish nationals to convince people in the North that they would be better off economically and that their human rights would be fully respected in a state centred in Dublin rather than in London, Brussels, or Belfast.
Electoral Questions and the Rise of Populism
On Trump’s election and transatlantic populism: did Donald Trump’s 2024 election and his growing influence on European populist movements in 2025—despite economic risks for Ireland and the UK—strengthen your party’s chances in the next Irish elections (targeting 2029), and how do you intend to capitalise on this “Trump effect” for an anti‑EU campaign?
The Irish Freedom Party and its members are very happy to see Donald Trump back in the White House. We believe his influence on the direction of global political movements will be very strong, and we are delighted. He opposes trans ideology, fights Antifa, and tackles George Soros’s funding of political movements worldwide.
Although there is a big cultural difference between Ireland and America, there are many commonalities. We are therefore pleased that, on the world stage, Donald Trump advocates a return to national sovereignty, the importance of borders, family, biology in the face of trans ideology, and opposition to climate‑change hysteria.
All these ideas he is promoting in the United States right now will be amplified in the media and will reach Europe to be discussed further. We are therefore very satisfied with the direction in which Trump is influencing European ideas and politics, and I believe the Trump effect will benefit the Freedom Party and other patriotic national parties across Europe.
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On Tommy Robinson’s rally: the massive success of the anti‑immigration “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London on 13 September 2025, with more than a million participants and echoes in Ireland, inspires similar initiatives for your party. How could this increase your visibility ahead of Ireland’s 2027 local elections?
We are delighted to see the growth and development of patriotic parties across Europe, including in Britain. Obviously, the history between Britain and Ireland is complex and difficult, and we try not to interfere too much in what happens in Britain.
As for Tommy Robinson’s gigantic ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally earlier this month, the Irish Freedom Party has organised several large rallies in Ireland in recent years—on free speech, parental rights in education, or ending open‑border immigration.
All these issues matter. We think it is crucial to give people a voice at street rallies where well‑informed speakers analyse what is happening in the country. However, we emphasise that people should register to vote. We do not only want to protest outside the Dáil in Dublin. We want MPs inside the Dáil.
It is not glamorous, but it is hard work to go door‑to‑door persuading people to register and vote for the Freedom Party. At the end of the day, street rallies have limited impact on a country’s political direction, so we prefer to emphasise electoral politics and see more people get involved.
On Nigel Farage’s rise with Reform UK: with Nigel Farage’s spectacular rise and Reform UK preparing for potential government at their September 2025 conference—aiming for major success in UK elections anticipated before 2029 after gains in the May 2025 local elections—how does this affect post‑Brexit prospects for Ireland, and do you envisage an informal alliance with Reform UK to tackle immigration across the British Isles?
I worked as Nigel Farage’s press officer in Brussels when he was president of the Eurosceptic EFDD group in the European Parliament. I did so for ten years. I really enjoyed it; we worked very well together. I would be absolutely delighted to see Nigel Farage elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
As leader of Reform, I believe our policies are quite similar to Reform Party policies. Indeed, we have a different nationality, but a similar political philosophy—especially on immigration, taxation, citizenship security, our attitude toward climate change, and the need for energy.
Perhaps we are more environmentally conscious regarding wildlife. But then, I may not know their policies as well as ours.
At present, Reform is at 35% in the polls in Britain, while Labour and the Conservatives are at 16%. It is therefore increasingly likely that if a ballot were held, say next month, Reform would win—even with Britain’s disastrous electoral system.
The demise of the unprincipled Conservative Party is pure delight to watch, and of course Labour—trying to reconcile socially conservative migrants with woke white liberals—is a wonderful spectacle to see collapse.
I wish Reform and Nigel Farage the best possible success in the next British elections.
On the French elections and populist breakthroughs: what is your view of the current political landscape in France—particularly the breakthrough of the Rassemblement National (RN) and Éric Zemmour’s position with Reconquête—and how might these developments shape upcoming French elections (such as snap votes or the 2027 presidential), while influencing similar populist surges in Ireland and across Europe?
The only electoral system in Europe worse than Britain’s is France’s. The two‑round voting system is designed to push the final winner to the centre and to drive the far left and far right away—an incredibly unfair and disproportionate system.
That said, I am delighted to see the growth of the Rassemblement National as much as of Reconquête. I have met Marion Maréchal in Parliament a few times in recent years, and I find her very, very capable.
Once again, the increase in votes for patriotic parties should benefit and encourage other patriotic parties across Europe to up their game and increase their vote.
Personal Insights
On the death of Charlie Kirk: on a personal note, how did the recent death of Charlie Kirk on 11 September 2025 affect you, and what legacy do you think he will leave in the conservative movement?
I responded to the political or ideological assassination of Charlie Kirk in several ways.
First, I was deeply saddened, then angry. The more I learn about Charlie Kirk now, the more I see what a good man and a great debater he was. He had many facets to his character that only become apparent on closer examination, but I hope his legacy will be that of a devout Christian, using all his gifts of intellect, personality, and courage to defend what he believed in.
That is: a free people, a free country; a patriotic man who loved his family and loved his country. Let us be honest: it was a Christian and political assassination, a martyrdom. He was killed for his Christian and political beliefs.
What will his legacy be?
I hope others will take up his objectives and that his methods will continue to be propagated. I hope his legacy will inspire future generations to continue his fight for free nations and free peoples.
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Irish Freedom Party: www.irishfreedom.ie
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