Blighe asks Electoral Commission to examine process to replace him as Ireland First leader 

Derek Blighe, a construction worker by trade, resigned as leader of the Ireland First party in April. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

The anti-migrant campaigner Derek Blighe has asked the Electoral Commission to examine the process to replace him as leader of the far-right Ireland First group.

Mr Blighe resigned from the Ireland First party in April, saying he wants to “resume other ambitions” and “cannot be involved in party politics at the moment”.

Mr Blighe, a construction worker from Mitchelstown, Co Cork, said the past few years have taken a large toll on both his family and work life, adding: “I must take this step now to focus on those closest to me and work on some new exciting ventures.”

He ran for Ireland First in both the local and European elections last June, and also ran in the Cork North Central constituency in the November general election. He was eliminated in the latter on the seventh count.

Mr Blighe was replaced as president of the group by Anthony Casey, one of the key figures in the Sinne na Daoine, an anti-immigrant “patrol group”.

Mr Casey had been a candidate in last year’s local elections for the Irish Freedom Party, whose leader Hermann Kelly has described Sinne Na Daoine as a “vigilante group”.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Mr Blighe claimed that the election to replace him was invalid.

He said the election of Mr Casey had only been attended by two committee members, including himself, meaning it was invalid.

“At that point, Ireland First had five committee members, and electing new leadership required a 61% majority — four out of five votes,” Mr Blighe wrote.

“When I asked where the other committee members were, I was told two had failed to renew their memberships, and the third had said he was too busy to attend. The vote proceeded, and both myself and the other committee member present voted in favour of Anthony Casey.

In the weeks following the vote, it became clear something wasn’t right. After speaking with two of the absent committee members, I learned that the memberships of two committee members had been cancelled by the party on February 13 — just three days before the vote — and that all three absent committee members were not informed of, or invited to the meeting.

Mr Blighe said there had been attempts to resolve the matter in early May, but that the Electoral Commission had since undertaken an investigation and invited submissions from both sides.

Mr Blighe said he has “received a huge amount of abuse and attacks over the last few months” which had “got more frequent and intense every time the question of the Ireland First leadership vote was brought up”.

He said that he had made a criminal complaint in relation to this. In a subsequent post, Mr Casey said that he “will be more than willing to attend the first sit down with Mr Blighe and relevant others”.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said that an application to amend the party’s register was being considered.

“The Registrar of Political Parties has received an application to amend the Register of Political Parties in respect of Ireland First.

“The application is under consideration and a decision will be published in due course.”