Fianna Fáil MEPs have expressed their fears about a shift to the right in June’s European Parliament elections.
Billy Kelleher, one of Fianna Fail’s four MEPs, said last week that there was “apprehension” that some Irish politicians will affiliate with what he called “far-right” groups if they are elected to the European Parliament in June.
“If we vote right, we will now have a number of MEPs advocating from the ID [Identity and Democracy group] benches, which are excessively extreme,” Kelleher said in Brussels last week.
He also referenced a ‘drag to the right” which he said would likely see an increase in right-wing candidates winning seats across Europe.
“As part of Renew, we are going to have to defend our positions and explain the importance of the Europe we agree with,” he said.
Kelleher has previously condemned the “far right,” tweeting in May of last year about “hateful hysteria coming from far right groups.”
In October, during a speech in the European Parliament, Kelleher called on people to “oppose far right attacks.”
Kelleher’s party colleague, Barry Andrews MEP, also claims there has been a shift to the right, as reported by The Sunday Times: “It’s not just an issue that we will see the likes of ID growing, we will see some of the larger parties becoming more right wing, too.”
Last week, Andrews made headlines when he said that the EU migration pact “isn’t perfect” but that a change in the handling of an increase in asylum numbers was needed. Andrews, one of Ireland’s 13 MEPs, said that he “wrested with my conscience” on parts of the agreement.
“We are in dire need of a robust, efficient, and streamlined system of processing international protection applicants,” Andrews said.
“In recent years we have seen significant increases in the number of migrants seeking asylum in Ireland,” the MEP added.
His comments came as it emerged that there has been a 72 per cent increase in the number of people seeking asylum here in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year – a rise of more than 2,000 people.
Andrews, Kelleher, along with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael MEPs Diredre Clune, Sean Kelly and Colm Markey, all supported the EU migration pact when it was voted through parliament last week.
There has been a growing focus on Europe’s perceived shift to the right over the last 12 months, with Italy, Sweden, Finland and Greece all having seen their governments become more right-wing.
Portugal also made headlines last month over its general election results, which saw its centre-right Democratic Alliance Party claim victory by a slim margin in the country’s general election, concluding eight years of Socialist Party rule.
It is a development which commentators say will ultimately reshape Europe, on everything from green policies to migration across the continent.
Recent polling has consistently shown immigration to be a priority high of the lists of Irish voters. In January, one in four Irish people listed migration as their number one issue for politicians heading into 2024 as per a poll in The Irish Independent, while polling in February from The Irish Times reported that almost six in ten voters (59 oer cent) favoured a “more closed policy” on immigration.
While the last European elections, held in 2019, were characterised by a so-called Green Wave which saw climate action prioritised on the political agenda, climate activists have expressed fear that this will take a back seat, amid a backlash to green policies.
Right-wing politicians are among those who have argued that green policies adopted by the EU have gone too far, too fast, and that the costs are too high.
Anger has been seen in farmers protests right across Europe, with Irish farmers protesting such policies across the country in February in solidarity with their European counterparts.