On 3 February 2018 an 'Irexit' conference was held in the RDS in Dublin, advocating an Irish withdrawal from the European Union. It was attended by former UKIP leaderNigel Farage, author and columnist John Waters and academics Anthony Coughlan and Karen Devine. On 8 September 2018, a conference was held in the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin to launch the new party. Independent guest speakers at the launch included former Ambassador of Ireland to Canada Ray Bassett and Professor Ray Kinsella, a UCD economist. Approximately 250 people attended the event. In early March 2019, a number of regional newspapers reported that a party-member named 'Mairead Donovan' was listed on the organisation's website, and would be running as a candidate for local elections for Kerry County Council. The Ireland edition of The Times later reported that the candidate did not exist, and that the website image was a stock photograph. In responding to these reports, party spokesperson Hermann Kelly acknowledged the mistake and fault in allowing the placeholder profile and stock imagery to be published on the website, and clarified that the group was not planning to run any candidates in local elections. In late March 2019, the organisation launched a nationwide billboard campaign ahead of the European elections, reportedly funded by members of the party. Sources from the Irish advertising industry estimated that this may have cost up to €40,000. The party did not answer questions from The Irish Times about whether the donations received are in line with Standards in Public Office Commission guidelines. Under those guidelines, a third party must register with the Commission if a donation exceeding €100 is accepted which is directed towards a political purpose. The party had not registered as a third party with SIPO. Following its launch, the party held several regional public meetings, including one in Raheen, County Limerick during which broadcaster George Hook spoke about the "politically correct" Irish media. The party reportedly "botched their application" by failing to "tick its own box" in advance of the European Parliament election. Hermann Kelly admitted their application was rejected because of a mistake made by the party and that it would need to resubmit the form. As a result, it was not registered as a political party before the deadline for nominations in the 2019 European elections, and so candidates it had planned to put forward under the Irish Freedom Party name had to list themselves as independents. Hermann Kelly ran in the Dublin constituency, while party chairperson Dolores Cahill ran in the South constituency. Neither candidate was elected, with party leader Herman Kelly receiving 2,441 first preference votes, and Cahill receiving 10,582 first preference votes. The party's registration was subsequently completed, and the Irish Freedom Party was included on the Register of Political Parties as of 13 June 2019. The Irish Freedom Party contested its first election as a registered political party in the 2019 Wexford by-election, running Melissa O'Neill, a former member of Sinn Féin who served on Kilkenny County Council from 2014 to 2019. She received 489 first preference votes and was eliminated on the first count. Party member Conor Rafferty ran in Mid Ulster in the 2019 UK General Election, as an independent since the party is unregistered in Northern Ireland, gaining 690 votes. The party fielded 11 candidates in the 2020 Irish general election, with none being elected, and candidates achieving a share of first preference votes between 0.19% and 2.06% in their respective constituencies. Party chairperson Dolores Cahill came second-last in the Tipperary constituency with 0.6% of first preference votes.
Ideology
Aside from advocating an exit from the EU, the party claims to be a "patriotic party" and states it is "pro-natalist and supportive of stable families for procreation". Some outlets have linked party leader Hermann 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. In the video Kelly endorsed the white nationalist "grand replacement" conspiracy theory. This followed a similar interview, in January 2019 with LifeSiteNews, in which Kelly denounced what he called the "great replacement of our children".
