The National Party () is a minor far-right political party in Ireland. The party was founded in 2016 and, as of 2026, the party's leader was Gerry Kinneavy. The National Party, which has no representation at local or national level, is the largest far-right party in Ireland.
History Formation The party was founded in 2016 by Justin Barrett as party president and James Reynolds as party vice president. The National Party had planned to hold its press launch in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin but the event was cancelled by the hotel, which subsequently said it had done so for "public safety reasons". There had been much adverse reaction online to the announcement of the launch.
Barrett, who was raised in County Tipperary, has a background in anti-abortion and anti-immigration politics, formerly being a leading figure in Youth Defence and campaigning against the Treaty of Nice. Barrett attracted media attention due to his participation in events in both Germany and Italy organised by far-right parties, the National Democratic Party and Forza Nuova, respectively, in the 1990s. Barrett denied sharing their far-right views and said he attended these events in his capacity as an anti-abortion campaigner. In 2016, in an interview where he incorrectly overstated the levels of migration to Ireland by a factor of three, he called his attendance at these meetings "a mistake".
Reynolds, from County Longford, was the County Longford affiliate for Youth Defence in the early 1990s. He was associated with the Libertas Ireland political party in 2009, and campaigned for a No vote in the Fiscal Compact referendum in 2012 as chairman of the small Farmers for No group. Reynolds was previously the Longford county chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association, and national treasurer of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association. He was suspended from the IFA in 2012 for "bringing the county executive into disrepute". In March 2017 he secured a temporary High Court injunction preventing his dismissal as national treasurer of the ICSA, but the High Court upheld his dismissal from the role in June 2017.
The party held its first Ardfheis in November 2017, at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland in County Clare. Approximately fifty delegates attended. Barrett criticised Fine Gael in his speech for not calling its annual conference an ardfheis. John Wilson, a guest speaker from County Cavan, challenged homophobic comments made by deputy leader James Reynolds. Barrett defended Reynolds' comments and reportedly answered in the affirmative when asked by Wilson whether the National Party was "only for straight Irish people". Wilson then walked out in protest.
Referendums The party has been involved in campaigning in Irish referendums. It formed Abortion Never in March 2018 to campaign for a 'No' vote in the 2018 referendum to legislate for abortion. Abortion Never presented itself as "an Irish nationalist anti-abortion campaign." At the launch of the campaign, Barrett stated that if the abortion referendum passed, it would lead to euthanasia for the elderly; "It doesn't just begin with abortion and stop there. It ends in euthanasia, because they already have a plan. You see discussions in the newspapers sometimes, 'What are we going to do about the pensions crisis?'". At the same event, he called for the abortion referendum campaign to be "as divisive as possible". The referendum was ultimately approved by 66.4% of voters.
In November 2020, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) announced that the National Party were one of five political parties who failed to provide them with a set of audited accounts for 2019, in breach of statutory obligations. SIPO later reported that the National Party had never filed any audited accounts or details of party finances, despite a legal obligation to do so.
The party supported a 'No' vote in the March 2024 referendums on family and carers. The party's application to become an 'approved body' during the campaign was rejected by the Electoral Commission due to the contested nature of the party's leadership.
Protests
In September 2019, party president Justin Barrett had a milkshake thrown over him when he along with other members the National Party were confronted by counter-protesters after unfurling a banner reading 'Ireland belongs to the Irish' in Galway.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland, members of the National Party participated in several anti-mask and anti-lockdown protests. There were violent clashes at several events promoted and attended by party members in October 2020 and February 2021.
In July 2020, the National Party organised a protest against Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman, who they accused of being sympathetic to paedophiles. During that protest, members of the party unfurled a banner and signs depicting a noose. Actor John Connors, who had attended the protest, subsequently issued a public apology (which O'Gorman accepted) in which Connors stated that he had allowed himself "to lead and be part of an online frenzy that cast hurtful and false assertions" on O'Gorman's character.
At an anti-mask protest held on 12 September 2020, a National Party member, Michael Quinn, assaulted LGBTQ+ activist Izzy Kamikaze with a wooden plank wrapped in the Irish flag, while she was observing the protest. In June 2021, Quinn pleaded guilty to assault using a weapon under Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensives Weapons Act, 1990. The party leadership has made no public comment on the assault or conviction. In the wake of the original assault, far-right social media accounts had claimed the victim had faked her injuries.
Representatives of the party attending the 2022–2023 anti-immigration protests across Ireland has been widely reported.
Members of the party were involved in an "anti-government" protest, held outside Leinster House, in September 2023. The party has featured prominently in protests, including leading street blockades against buses of refugees.
The party described the November 2023 Dublin riot as "spontaneous", "organic", and an eruption of "righteous anger". A party spokesperson stated: "Whilst the National Party does not endorse any illegal activity, yesterday evening's events were an outburst of passion in response to overt injustice... Ireland's open borders immigration policy has allowed the dregs of foreign countries to settle in Ireland, often being entitled to housing and welfare whilst Irish people struggle."
Councillor Patrick Quinlan spoke on behalf of the party at the April 2025 anti-immigration 'National Protest' in Dublin, held to commemorate the Easter Rising. He spoke alongside Dublin councillors Malachy Steenson, Gavin Pepper, and Philip Sutcliffe. Quinlan spoke against what he described as "the den of rats inside Dáil Éireann". He continued, "They fear not chaos but our awakening... the holy fire that blazed in our patriot dead lives on here today. The heroes of 1916 triumphed, and so shall we.” At a June 2025 protest, Quinlan accused the Irish government of being "traitors akin to the former British colonial overlords".
2022 Ard Fheis The party's annual Ard Fheis held in the Lough Erne Resort, County Fermanagh was disrupted by a group of far-left protesters who arrived by minibus, some of whom were armed with hammers and covered their faces with scarves and balaclavas. A fire extinguisher was also used by a member of the anti-fascist group as a weapon. Two people were treated at the scene for their injuries and four others were taken to hospital following the incident. One protester, Daniel Comerford from Dublin, was arrested and charged with having a hammer as an offensive weapon, causing criminal damage to a glass door, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and affray.
The party Ard Fheis continued shortly after the disturbance. In his speech, the then deputy leader, James Reynolds, condemned the attack on the conference by "red communist thugs". In a subsequent statement, the party said: "The far-left in Ireland feel entitled to bludgeon people...Why? Because the NGO sector and media establishment give it moral sanction. The same people demand 'hate speech' legislation to create a two-tier justice system where they are on top."
2023–2025 leadership dispute In late July 2023, Justin Barrett made public allegations on social media that "gold reserves" valued at €400,000 owned by the National Party had been "stolen from a vault" by party members including deputy leader James Reynolds. The matter was reported to An Garda Síochána, however Gardaí did not commence a criminal investigation as they sought to establish legal ownership of the gold. It was reported that Gardaí had determined the location of gold. A Garda source described the matter as "an internal party dispute" and as one for the civil courts. The Gardaí later dismissed Barrett's allegations of theft. Barrett stated that the gold "formed the main part of the party's reserves in case of a mishap in general or more particularly a collapse in the value of fiat currency". He claimed to have expelled Reynolds and the other members. It was later reported by the Irish Times that "only a fraction of the gold" was owned by the party, with the remainder belonging to "senior party members".
The origin of the gold raised concern from politicians such as Senator Michael McDowell and Fine Gael councillor Emma Blain. Blain’s complaint, on the source of the party's funding and its failure to publish accounts, prompted the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) to pledge to investigate, stating that concerns "will be followed up to ensure proper compliance with the requirements of the Electoral Acts. All matters relating to possible noncompliance with the requirements of the Electoral Acts that are brought to the attention of the Commission, are followed up and enquiries made as appropriate". SIPO further stated that, if they were of the opinion that an offence had occurred, "it may refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions".
The National Party issued a statement on 31 July 2023 on its official social media channels in which it stated that Barrett had been removed as leader in mid-July, before "claims emerged that gold bars worth an estimated €400,000 had been removed from a party vault". The Electoral Commission received a request from the Reynolds-led faction to remove Barrett's name from the register of political parties and to change the party's headquarters address ten days before Barrett contacted the Electoral Commission. The party's statement of 31 July claimed that Barrett was dismissed "due to an overwhelming lack of confidence from active party members in Mr Barrett's continued ability to lead the party" and that Reynolds had been elected as leader. It criticised Barrett's "hands-off leadership style" which had "allowed the party to go to seed". Barrett denied being removed as leader and claimed the statement was "farcical" and blamed it on "social media password possession" by the faction which had ousted him. He further claimed it was issued by someone who "never read the National Party Constitution or... does not know it is lodged with the Electoral Commission and is legally enforceable" and said he was still "President of the National Party in law". Since July 2023, both Reynolds and Barrett made further submissions to the Electoral Commission. A decision on which faction could use the National Party name in elections was reportedly expected in February 2024.