Identity Ireland

Identity Ireland favoured Irish sovereignty by leaving the European Union and a return to the Irish pound.^[9] The party supported a controlled border policy in order to curtail the immigration that, it said, was putting strain on the Irish welfare system.^[10] It also supported more careful vetting of incoming asylum seekers.^[10] It supported the Irish branch of Pegida, and joined the Fortress Europe coalition.^[11] It advocated the introduction of a two-strike law for serious offences, as well as the re-introduction of penal labour.^[12] It supported keeping Ireland's neutrality. It also advocated in favour of Brexit.^[13]

Before founding Identity Ireland, Peter O'Loughlin unsuccessfully contested the 2014 European Parliament election for the South constituency, with 1.0% of the first preference votes.^[14] He also unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Carlow-Kilkenny by-election, receiving 1.4% (930) of the first preference votes.^{[15][16][17][18]}

O'Loughlin also ran in the 2016 Irish general election in the Cork North-Central constituency as an independent, where he came last with only 0.36% (183) of first preference votes.^[19][20][21] O'Loughlin later contested the 2019 European Parliament election in Ireland,^[22] receiving 0.5% (3,682) of first preference votes in the Ireland South constituency.^[23]

Another party member, Ted Neville, was unsuccessful as an independent candidate in four previous elections in the Cork South-Central constituency.^[24] He has appeared on television to discuss immigration, both as a member of Identity Ireland and as a member of the Immigration Control Platform group.^[25][26]

As of 14 May 2018^[update], Identity Ireland was recorded in the Oireachtas Register of Political Parties,^[27][1] though as an organisation that had "not yet responded to commission's enquiries" by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO).^[28]

In 2017, SIPO stated that no statements of accounts had been received from Identity Ireland, in breach of the Electoral Act.^[29] In November 2020, SIPO announced that Identity Ireland were one of five political parties who failed to provide them with a set of audited accounts for 2019, in breach of statutory obligations.^[30]

In July 2022, the Gardaí announced that Identity Ireland chairman Peter O'Loughlin was missing from his home in Cork.^[31] Renewing their appeal for information in tracing his whereabouts in early August 2022, the Gardaí and O'Loughlin's family stated that they were "concerned for his welfare".^[32] O'Loughlin was found safe and well in October 2022.^[33]

As of January 2023, the party was no longer included on the Dáil register of political parties.^[34] The party's website has not been updated since 2016. Its social media presence was erased in approximately late 2022/early 2023.

Identity Ireland was often accused of being racist. Some of its press conferences and meetings, and its launch, were disrupted by protesters.^[35][36]

The day after its launch the party claimed that membership increased by 25%, and that before the launch it had 115 members.^[9] Party leader Peter O'Loughlin was invited to speak at the first Pegida rally of 2016 in Dresden, Germany.^[37] In January 2016, the party was criticized for suggesting a local Muslim community leader be thrown into the Irish Sea. A spokesperson for Identity Ireland subsequently stated that it did not intend to advocate violence, and that the phrase "fuck him into the Irish sea" was intended as a euphemism.^[38]

• Pegida Ireland
• Irish Freedom Party
• National Party (Ireland)
• Immigration Control Platform

• Official website