Who is Tommy Robinson? Gardaí closely monitoring movements of far-right agitator
Tommy Robinson arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in October 2021 for a hearing regarding the stalking of a journalist.
Security services are monitoring the movements of Tommy Robinson who has travelled to Ireland to make a “documentary” on anti-refugee protests, amid fears his presence could inflame an increasingly tense situation.
The notorious English far-right agitator, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, has posted a video from what might be a hotel or guesthouse in Dublin in which he said he has been around the city “saying hello to family members”.
He has previously spoken of how his mother was Irish and that he had family in Ireland, while at other times playing down his Irish side and stressing his Englishness.
Photographs have emerged of him posing beside the brother of one of Ireland’s biggest drug dealers, based in the Ballyfermot area of south west Dublin, highlighting the potential connections he might have.
However, some Garda sources are cautioning against reading too much into this association, saying the man he was photographed with is not involved in serious crime and this may not indicate any links with his brother.
At the same time, senior sources point out that they will monitor all associations Robinson has during his visit in a bid to draw a picture of his connections here.
The right-wing extremism intelligence unit within Garda Security and Intelligence and the Special Detective Unit is aware of his presence.
It is monitoring his social media posts, his movements and his associations, although sources suggest he would have expected this.
It is very possible surveillance is being conducted on his digital communications, but some sources also indicate that Robinson would be wise to this too.
“He can’t help but look for publicity,” said one security source.
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Some far-right agitators in Ireland, including Derek Blighe in Cork, had previously posted their support of Robinson’s work and that they would welcome his visit here to witness the protests, while others on the right have objected to his visit.
Robinson is believed to have visited some Munster-based protesters on Thursday.
In a video on Thursday morning, Robinson said he was talking from Dublin and had just been out for a run.
He said he had come over to “put together a documentary” about the protests.
He said there had been a march on Wednesday night, the East Wall protest, and that he was glad he didn’t go because he “didn’t want to put a bullet in the gun of the media or politicians” to attack the protestors.
Robinson said he, like the protesters, had been “wrongfully labelled” as racist and far-right.
He said he would be careful about revealing details that might give away where he was staying adding: “I went to meet family members, yesterday, to say hello, around Dublin.”
It is understood gardaí were trying to identify the location where he made the video.
Robinson has identified as a loyalist and professed his support for British soldiers accused of crimes in the North, but his arrival in Ireland has been welcomed by a number of high-profile "Irish patriots" who have led anti-migrant protests in recent weeks.
This has led to some disagreement in and other social media groups, with many disagreeing with welcoming Robinson as they themselves are Republicans, while others called the Englishman a "fraud".
Robinson's arrival comes as anti-migrant protesters say that they will hold a "major protest" on the streets of Dublin on St Patrick's Day.
Organisers said on social media that this protest will "counter" the St Patrick's Day parade which they say has "become Gay Pride 2". They say that they are "working on the logistics" of the planned march.
Now aged 40, Tommy Robinson has been active in far-right groups in Britain for almost 20 years.
His real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, but he took the name Tommy Robinson in honour of a football hooligan from his home town of Luton.
He has clocked up multiple criminal convictions, including for assaulting a police officer in 2005, financial and immigration fraud and contempt of court.
He joined the fascist British National Party in 2004, but left a year later.
He was a co-founder of the Islamophobic English Defence League in 2009 and led it until 2013.
He subsequently found Pediga UK, a branch of a German anti-immigrant organisation.
Between 2015 and 2017, he wrote for Rebel Media right-wing website.
In December 2017, the British nationalist party, Ukip, appointed him as an adviser.
Robinson has been banned from most social media platforms and is now active on Telegram.
In 2021, the estimated he had received in excess of £2m (€2.25m) in donations and sponsorship.
But he lost a costly defamation case that year, resulting from him falsely accusing a refugee schoolboy of attacking a girl. He filed for bankruptcy.
In October 2021, he received a five-year stalking order for harassing journalist Lizzie Dearden.
