Far-right Canadians have also become increasingly focused on Ireland.
Ezra Levant, the founder of Rebel News, a far-right website that promotes Islamophobic content, traveled to Ireland to report on anti-immigrant protests in Dublin, interviewing several prominent members of Ireland’s far-right community. Shane Sweeney, an influencer from Newfoundland who regularly posts white nationalist content on social media, is also very closely linked to Butler, regularly joining him in online discussions.
Levant did not respond to requests for comment. Sweeney declined to comment.
During a number of chats in recent months, some members of these far-right groups have suggested they have connections to people in the US who may be willing to provide funding for Irish extremist groups.
While there was no evidence provided to back up these claims, one recent fundraiser for an Irish far-right group does indicate that there is at least some willingness for Americans to donate money to these causes.
Justin Barrett, a well-known figure in Irish far-right politics who has called Hitler the greatest leader of all time, recently launched a fundraiser on Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo. The money was earmarked for the National Shield, the “protection unit” of his newly created political party, called Clann Eireann, which means “Family of Ireland.”
While the effort has so far raised just €3,000 of its €10,000 goal, many of those donating money claim to be based in the US. “Much love from America,” one donor wrote, while another added: “Integration has failed in America. We can move out of the citys [sic]. You live on an island. You don't have anywhere to go. Fight the invasion.”
Irish far-right influencer Keith O’Brien, who is known online as Keith Woods, is also seeking to benefit financially from links to the US. O’Brien has spent years building up relationships with figures in the US far-right movement, including Fuentes, who has hosted the Irishman numerous times on his podcast. Woods also appeared last summer at a notorious white supremacist conference in Tennessee.
“He has a significant US audience very much focused in the same space as Nick Fuentes and the Groyper movement,” Malone said. “There isn't a large paying Irish audience for his material, so O'Brien is really US-focused.”
O’Brien did not respond to a request for comment.
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