Irexit: is Nigel Farage encouraging Ireland to leave the EU?
Former UKIP leader’s Dublin visit fuels fears of “Irish Brexit” bid

Ireland has shown little indication that it regrets joining the EU in 1973, but Nigel Farage hopes to change that with a trip to Dublin this weekend.
The former UKIP leader will address Trinity College later today and is backing a so-called Irexit conference on Saturday. “Both events are stirring up controversy,” Bloomberg reports.
Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond has called Farage’s Irexit: Freedom to Prosper conference a “sham gathering” aimed at promoting incorrect information about Ireland’s role in the EU, according to the Irish Independent. Among other things, the promotional video for the conference claims that Ireland’s low corporation tax rate - incorrectly stated as 12% rather than the actual 12.5% - is under attack from Brussels, but Richmond insists Ireland has a “rock-solid veto on this area”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Farage has called Richmond an “EU federalist fanatic” and insists that the EU is preparing to “shaft” Ireland’s corporate tax regime, says the newspaper.
Eurosceptic MEP Farage, a major driving force behind the Leave campaign, also sparred with Leo Varadkar a couple of weeks ago, accusing the Irish prime minister of trying to overturn the British vote, the Irish Examiner reports.
Polls have shown that Ireland’s support for the EU bloc remains high, despite a referendum vote against the Lisbon Treaty in 2008, which was reversed the following year.
Trinity finance lecturer Cormac Lucey - who has called on Ireland to leave the euro currency and who will address Saturday’s conference - told Bloomberg that Ireland should at least think about its relationship with the EU.
“Because the EU worked so well for Ireland for the last three decades, we presume it will do so for the next three decades,” Lucey says. “I’m not in favour of leaving the EU tomorrow but we need to fundamentally reassess our relationship with it.”
There have been media reports that far-left campaigners are planning a protest against Farage at the university later today. However, according to Trinity News, Ireland’s oldest student newspaper, the Facebook page advertising the demonstration has been linked to a fake account set up by far-right trolls to confuse people.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical