The Irish political spectrum is steadily widening, slowly unshackling itself from the stifling Fine Fail /Fine Gael combo that collared the country for decades.
After the arrival of the Social Democrats party in recent weeks, a new political force has now entered the fray.
Identity Ireland, led by Peter O’Loughlin, held an official launch event in Dublin yesterday.
Identity Ireland, whose origins stem from a group of four people who walked from Limerick to Dublin against austerity, will campaign for curbing immigration and the potential return of the Punt, but only after all euro zone countries have abandoned the single currency.
In an interview, Mr. O’Loughlin said:
“Yesterday at the start of the day we had 115 members – that’s gone up by around 25%.”
“We believe Ireland should be a sovereign country in charge of our own affairs, in charge of our border policies, in charge of our monetary policy, and basically running the country in the interests of Irish citizens”.
“The EU has become intensely autocratic…the various policies it pursues have done a massive amount of damage to modern Europe”.
On the issue of the single currency, Mr O’Loughlin said: “The currency actually needs to be broken up very badly, it’s going to end in tears”.
When questioned about immigration, he stated: “It’s basically a filter system…..you take into account the economic circumstances”.
“It’s not the level of wealth they have, it’s what people can contribute to your society”.”