'I am genuinely disgusted' - Locals respond to Mise Éire festival as line-up revealed

Local Mayo residents have responded to The Mise Éire festival - set to take place in Castlebar on Saturday, August 23. The festival was initially to be held in Drumshanbo in County Leitrim, but the Mayflower Community Centre cancelled the event following community backlash. 

In recent days, a petition was launched opposing the festival being held in Castlebar’s Ivy Tower (formerly the Welcome Inn), and has reached 2,449 signatures at the time of writing. 

In response, a counter-petition in support of the festival has emerged with 4,511 signatures so far. 

The petition in favour of the Mise Éire festival encourages the public to “stand against efforts to cancel Irish culture and protect our cultural celebrations, such as the Mise Éire festival.”

Organiser Stephen Kerr has said online that 750 tickets have been sold for the Mise Éire festival. Here’s what Mayo people had to say about the local tensions surrounding the festival. 

Read More: 'Mayo says no': Mayo hotel receives backlash for alleged hosting of Mise Éire festival

Mayo resident Clíona Ní Dhonnghaile said: “I hate that Mise Éire is posing under the guise of Irish culture and heritage, if it was actually just an Irish culture festival I would be so happy to attend.  Even the trailer for the event only vaguely hints at the fact that the bubbling undertone is right wing.” 

Ní Dhonnghaile further noted that there was “Nothing said in the trailer that they have far-right representatives lined up to talk. That the organisers are proudly anti-immigrant, and we've seen what the right wing, anti-immigrant rhetoric can do. The burning down of dp [direct provision] centres, the riots and violence in Dublin and elsewhere.”

The Mayo woman continued: “I'd love an actual Irish culture festival. If it wasn't for the media coverage and I wasn't informed I'd have likely fallen for it and shown up. I'm glad a fuss has been made in response.”

Mise Éire organiser Stephen Kerr has repeatedly spoken against what he sees as the government’s policy on “uncontrolled mass migration".

His platform, the Irish Inquiry has approximately 196,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). The Irish Inquiry has platformed conspiracy theorists, questioned the efficacy of the Covid vaccine, and posted a video claiming that Afghan adults in their 20s are posing as children in a Dublin secondary school. 

Stephen Kerr has commented that those opposing the festival are a group "who have attempted to cause undue public panic and have deceptively posed as legitimate concern groups". 

Kerr has multiple videos on his platform of him filming at Mayo's Breaffy House Hotel - which also functions as a centre for International Protection Applicants (IPA). In the videos he is repeatedly asked by security to leave the premises.

When asked why he refuses to leave the premises when asked, Kerr replied: "I live in very small town of Breaffy and as a stakeholder, I have questions and concerns regarding the tens of millions in profits being made off the commodification of 970 asylum seekers who have been placed in what is an institutionalised like setting in the town, by those who do not in my view have any care or compassion for the either the people in their remit nor the locals in the community."

A local woman, Deirdre O Reilly, received the festival positively. In response to a call for opinions on Mayo Facebook community groups, she wrote: "I’m so happy that you get to celebrate Irish culture, I’m excited to learn about Brehon law, and it’s a great chance to discuss our ever changing landscape."

Mayo's Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon appeared on Midwest radio in the run-up to the general election in an interview with TD Rose -Conway-Walsh and Stephen Kerr. Dillon said: “I’ve seen Stephen’s platform, and I think certainly, he has a focus in relation to migration, but it is one that sows division, in my eyes, and he tries to divide communities.”

The Minister of State continued: “What I feel in relation to the immigration challenges, is that we do have an obligation under international law and human rights".

“I think it’s really important to have compassion and empathy to those who are seeking asylum here or protection.”

Castlebar’s Independent councillor Blackie Gavin said he knows very little about the views that would be expressed at the festival, and said he would prefer not to comment directly on it. Gavin did say: “I come from a county where migration has been massive.

“My grandfather was an immigrant. I myself was born in England. My family would be steeped in immigration.” 

The councillor made it clear that Ireland should be a welcoming country and that people should think about the Irish immigrants in America who may not feel welcome abroad, before condemning immigration in Ireland.

Gavin concluded that while immigration can be a matter for debate, he said it should be discussed “in a civilised, calm way, in the houses of the Oireachtas; not by screaming and shouting.”

Mayo resident Eilis Hardesty had the following to say about the Mise Éire festival: “I am genuinely disgusted that this has been allowed to continue after the first cancellation and in my home town, I am a proud Irish person but I do not believe these people have any intent other than pushing a far-right agenda under the mask of Irish pride.

“They say by trying to cancelling the event we are trying to take their right to free speech, but if you use your free speech for hate speech you have to expect pushback from the people, we are only using our free speech to tell you we don't accept this.”

Kerr has responded to the label far-right: "This far-right label is a nonsense silencing term first attached to me when I objected to citizens being ostracised from society because they did not have a vaccine pass for an injection that didn't prevent transmission of Covid 19."

When asked to give his opinion on the festival, Michael Scanlon of Ballina said: “I totally disagree with it ... I see it all the time here in Ballina, people blaming 'others' for the problems in their own lives.” 

“It is so much easier to do that, it takes the responsibility away from ourselves. If there was no immigration into this country, the problems we face would still be the same, in my view.”

When Castlebar Fine Gael Councillor Cyril Burke was asked about the festival, he said: “I’d have concerns about it.” When asked to elaborate on those concerns, Burke commented: “I’d have concerns that there would be the promotion of far-right views.”

The Councillor commented: “I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more signatures against the hosting of it. I’m surprised the people of the town haven’t come out stronger against it.”

Seán Loughran, a local trad musician, gave his perspective on the musical acts performing, and the backlash that the event has inspired. Loughran said: “There was a lot of comments saying things along the lines of ‘I didn’t realise it was considered right-wing to go and listen to trad music nowadays’.”

“These comments couldn’t be further from the truth and they ignore messages that a lot of trad musicians try to get across in their own performances. It’s clear from this that most of these people aren’t avid trad music fans.”

The Line-up

When questioned on how Kerr chose the line-up, he responded: "We sought out a wide range of speakers who have a wealth of knowledge on different areas of Irish culture and history. For example we have a modern day Seanchaí who weaves wool while discussing the history of the wool industry in Ireland."

The headline musicians who are booked for the event include Stephen Sutton and Gary Hynes. Stephen Sutton has two songs on Spotify - Ireland is Irish, and Mother Éiriú. Sutton has posted on X (formerly Twitter) about “ethnic cleansing by stealth”, how “Ireland is for the Irish”, and has also asked for support from Conor McGregor at the “National Rally for Ireland”, held last April. 

Gary Hynes’ recent song The Far Right has the following lyrics: “The far-right built this country/ and made it what it is.”

The musician sings in his song Remember the Irish: “While you’re out there giving time to what goes on in Palestine/ spare a thought for the genocide of the Irish man and the Irish mind.”

John Waters and Louise Roseingrave are billed to speak at the the Mise Éire event. John Waters - who was an Irish Times journalist - previously ran for election in a party he formed with Gemma O’Doherty. In his pre-election speeches he spoke of the “great replacement” of Irish people in their own country by immigrants, due to falling birth rates.  

The great replacement theory has been popular amongst conspiracy theorists and white nationalists. 

Louise Roseingrave recently wrote in her platform on Substack about Mayo Pride’s “anti-Catholic promotional material”. The writer was not happy with Mayo pride decorating a child of Prague statue in drag, which she inferred was “sinister”. 

In a similar vein, the day that Mayo pride organised a hike up Croagh Patrick, Roseingrave felt the need to pray the rosary on the side of the mountain, alongside a group that held a sign saying: “The month of June belongs to the sacred heart, not to homosexual pride.”

With controversy in the air and Mayo talking, it will be interesting to see how the Mise Éire festival will pan out.