‘Take back control – it’s time for IREXIT’ New Irish party calls for Ireland to leave EU

The Irexit Freedom party, which is set to be launched in Dublin next Saturday, wants Ireland to “take back control” from Brussels.

The party, which plans to run candidates in next year’s European Parliament elections and the 2021 Irish general election.

The group’s spokesman Hermann Kelly is a close ally of former Ukip leader and Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage.

Mr Kelly praised British voters for voting to “take back control of their money, their law and their borders” in the Brexit referendum.

And he accused Brussels bureaucrats of failing to stand up for the interests of Irish people.

He said: “We are less than one percent of the EU population, less than one percent of votes in the European Parliament – our interests are not served.

“And if the EU or common market were of any benefit in the 1970s and 1980s, going forward it’s not.

“Now Ireland is a net contributor to the European Union. We give them £2.44bn (€2.7bn) per year.

“That means we are paying people in Brussels who we didn’t elect and who we can’t get rid of to make our laws.

“Who out there actually thinks that it’s a good deal to pay people we can’t elect to make our laws? For me, that’s madness.”

The party, which describes itself as a “national movement”, is also calling for reduced taxation and less wasteful government spending.

It also plans to “achieve the consent of the voters in the North” for a united Ireland.

Earlier this year, Mr Farage travelled to Dublin to promote the burgeoning ‘Irexit’ movement.

Speaking at an event in Dublin in February, the Brexiteer said Ireland should be “humiliated” at how it was treated by the EU.

Mr Farage pointed to the austerity measures imposed on Ireland during its Eurozone bailout programme.

Urging Irish citizens to rebel against Brussels, he said: “What on earth is going on in the politics of this country?

“How much more humiliated can the Irish nation be than for years being run by the Troika?

“The perception of the media across Europe is that Ireland is very pro-European, very servile to the demands of Brussels.

“I don’t think Ireland is a pro-EU country, I think the political, media and big businesses in Dublin, they are the ones.

“The euro has been bad for Ireland but a total catastrophe for countries like Greece. The EU will not work and it has not worked.”