Bars of gold located after National Party makes complaint to authorities

Justin Barrett had posted a statement on Twitter saying the gold had been taken from the party’s vault safe

Tue, 25 Jul, 2023 - 08:57

Paul Hosford, Political Correspondent

A large quantity of gold reserves, which was reported missing by the leader of the far-right National Party, has been located by gardaí.

Justin Barrett had posted a statement on Twitter saying the gold had been taken from the party’s vault safe, without his knowledge, by senior party members.

The gold is understood to be worth over €400,000.

While gardaí said tonight that enquiries are ongoing, sources said the gold has been located and gardaí are working to establish ownership and will be updated if it is to be moved.

Mr Barrett had said the gold was held to “form the main part of the party’s reserves in case of a mishap in general - or more particularly a collapse in the value of fiat currency”. Fiat currency is one backed by a government.

Mr Barrett had said in his statement that the money was “dearly gathered by the sacrifice of party members and supporters”, though it appeared that the party’s leader had been locked out of social media accounts in the party’s name.

Instead, the statement was tweeted from the Dublin Bay South constituency organisation’s account.

The party has not furnished the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) with accounts for each of the last three years, published reports show.

The party, which has no elected TDs or senators, declared around €17,000 in spending in the 2020 election.

Mr Barrett was the party’s candidate in the 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election, where he received 187 votes, 0.7% of the overall vote. His Sipo returns declare no expenses on his campaign.

The party did not field candidates in the 2019 local and European elections but put forward 10 candidates in the 2020s general election, though Mr Barrett was not among them.