Hermann Kelly

Hermann Patrick Kelly (born 1968) is an Irish political candidate and former journalist. In September 2018 he assisted in the founding of the Irexit Freedom To Prosper Party.[1]

Hermann Kelly
President of the Irish Freedom Party
Assumed office
8 September 2018
Director of Communications for Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
In office
August 2009 – 2019
Personal details
Born1968 (age 51–52)
Derry, Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyIrish Freedom Party
EducationSt Columb's College
Alma materSt Patrick's College, Maynooth
OccupationJournalist

Early life and education

Kelly was born in 1968 and is originally from the Bogside in Derry.[2] His father was a headmaster of a school in Creggan, his mother was a nurse and he has three siblings.[2]

He studied marine biology in Edinburgh before studying theology as a lay student at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.[2] He briefly worked as a teacher in Dublin.[2]

Writer

Journalism

As a journalist, Kelly was a contributing columnist to the Irish Examiner,[2] and also wrote for the Irish Mail on Sunday.[3] He also wrote for the The Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday Mirror, The Sunday Business Post and Magill magazine.

Following the resignation of editor Simon Rowe in mid-2004, Kelly was briefly acting editor (and later deputy editor) of The Irish Catholic .[4]

Kathy O'Beirne book

In 2007, Kelly wrote a book titled Kathy's Real Story which disputed the claims made in a book by Kathy O'Beirne (Don't Ever Tell), in which O'Beirne described childhood abuse she had reputedly suffered in a Magdalene Asylum.[5] Kelly claimed that initial doubts that he had while reading her book were confirmed by inconsistencies in different accounts which O'Beirne had given, and later confirmed by various witnesses and documentary evidence.[5][6] He also claimed that false allegations were being made by those appearing before the Residential Institutions Redress Board in order to receive compensation.[5]

A review by Gene Kerrigan (who worked alongside Michael Sheridan, O'Beirne's co-author) criticised Kelly's own criticism of O'Beirne's book.[7] Kelly and O'Beirne both appeared on Ireland AM to discuss their books in November 2007, and the encounter ended in an argument.[3]

Kelly also wrote to the proposed publishers of a sequel by O'Beirne, sending them a copy of Kathy's Real Story and asking them not to publish. A Sunday Times article of July 2009 indicated that the publisher had withdrawn their initial offer to publish her book because of an "unresolved legal issue".[8]

European Union politics

Kelly has worked with Nigel Farage, and was director of communications for Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD).[9] The EFDD dissolved in mid-2019.[10]

Kelly, who is from Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, supports the Republic of Ireland leaving the European Union (an 'Irexit'), and is the President of the Irish Freedom Party, a party that advocates the same position.[2][11] He contested the 2019 European Parliament election in the Dublin constituency,[12] receiving 2,441 (0.67%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count.[13]

Political views

Some outlets have linked Kelly with alt-right ideologies, pointing to a video which Kelly recorded with far-right British Loyalist and former British National Party member Jim Dowson.[14] In the video Kelly endorsed the white nationalist "grand replacement" conspiracy theory.[14][15] This followed a similar interview, in January 2019 with LifeSiteNews, in which Kelly denounced what he called the "great replacement of our children".[16]

Kelly spoke at a free speech rally, outside the Dáil, in November 2019.

References
  1. "A party is being launched today that's calling for Ireland to leave the EU". thejournal.ie. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. McDowell, Lindy (8 October 2018). "Hermann Kelly: I believe Ireland, both North and South, is better off outside the European Union". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  3. "Derry author in live TV dust-up". Derry Journal. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  4. "Ireland's leading religious weekly appoints editor". Press Gazette. 26 November 2004. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011.
  5. "Feud between warring authors to hot up". The Irish Post. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011.
  6. West, Ed (5 March 2008). "Mis lit: Is this the end for the misery memoir?". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  7. Kerrigan, Gene (11 November 2007). "Both sides in the bad books after bust-up". Independent.ie. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  8. "Times Online". Times Newspapers. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  9. "The Group - Staff". EDFgroup.eu. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010.
  10. de la Baume, Maïa (26 June 2019). "Brexit Party misses first deadline to form political group in European Parliament". Politico Europe. Retrieved 4 July 2019. Several Parliament officials said that Farage's former "Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy" group had not been added to the official list. "Farage and 5Star doesn't have a group," said one official, referring to Italy's 5Star movement which was also part of the EFDD.
  11. Ní Aodha, Gráinne (8 September 2018). "A party is being launched today that's calling for Ireland to leave the EU". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  12. "Home". dublincountyreturningofficer.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  13. "European Election: 24 May 2019, Dublin, European Parliament". electionsireland.org. Elections Ireland. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  14. "Ireland's Alt Right: The people building an empire online". The Business Post. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  15. "How the far-right is exploiting immigration concerns in Oughterard". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019. "The first thing they want to do is kill Irish kids and [they] want to replace them with every nationality who wants to come into our country," Irish Freedom Party leader Hermann Kelly [..said..] in an interview this year
  16. "Abortion is 'stain' that 'should be removed' – Hermann Kelly". irexitfreedom.ie. Retrieved 4 November 2019. Party media release referring earlier interview in which Kelly states "we must control the quality and number of economic migrants [..] we don't want the brutal demise or 'great replacement' of our children"
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