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Malachy Steenson

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Malachy Steenson
Dublin City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 2024
ConstituencyNorth Inner City
Personal details
Born1962 or 1963 (age 61–62)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partyIndependent (from 2012)
Workers' Party (before 2012)
Other political
affiliations		Irish Republican Socialist
Republican Sinn Fein

Malachy Steenson (born 1962 or 1963)[1] is an Irish[2] politician and solicitor[3] who was elected to Dublin City Council for the local electoral area of North Inner City at the 2024 local elections.[4] Steenson has a general law practice, and specialises in family law.[1]

In the 1990s and 2000s, Steenson was associated with numerous left-wing Irish Republican groups. However, by 2012, Steenson began to be associated with more rightward political positions.[5] He was expelled sometime prior to 2012 from the Workers' Party for advocating for a hardline pro-life stance on abortion.[5] In the 2020s, Steenson became a high-profile figure in the Irish anti-immigration protests in the Dublin area.[5]

Activism and political career

Steenson was previously active in a number of republican groups, including Republican Sinn Féin, 32 County Sovereignty Movement, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, and associated with the family of murdered Real Irish Republican Army leader Alan Ryan.[5][1]

In 1992 Steenson campaigned for a "No" vote in the November 1992 abortion referendum. During the campaign, Steenson displayed graphic posters provided by the ultra-conservative Youth Defence organisation in a shop he owned.[5]

Steenson has three criminal convictions, among them a conviction by the Special Criminal Court in the 1990s for unauthorised taking of a vehicle,[6] in the course of his republican activities, for which he received a three-year suspended sentence.[1][7] His home was subject to a raid by the Special Branch in 1994.[6] He was denied a licence to drive a hackney cab in 1998 due to his convictions.

Although active in anti-drug movements during the decade, he opposed a march of concerned parents on Brendan ‘Fats’ Reilly, defending Reilly as an addict but not a dealer; Reilly was subsequently convicted of possession of £30,000 worth of heroin.[6]

In 2006 he was one of the objectors to the re-opening of a pub on the site of the Stardust fire, in which his in-laws died.[8]

Workers' Party

He stood for election for the far-left Workers' Party in the 2009 Dublin Central by-election, served as a party spokesman in the 2010 budget protests, and ran as their candidate in Dublin Central in the 2011 general election, before being expelled for attending a pro-life rally after a series of disputes with party leadership.[1][3][7][9][10] In 2024 a faction of the splintered Workers' Party publicly criticised his praise for Official IRA member Jim Flynn, stating Flynn's former comrades would not appreciate Steenson's attempt at associating himself with Flynn.[7]

Independent activism

Steenson participated in the 2010 Claiming Our Future citizen's forum where he called for a referendum on the country's economic policy, "so that government can not again construct state policy merely for the benefit of bankers and speculators".[10] He was a prominent campaigner against the children's rights referendum, which was approved in 2012,[5][1] which he characterised as an attack on parents.[11][12] Steenson served as general secretary of the Association of Combined Residents Associations (ACRA), which opposed water charges.[13]

Far-right activism and electoral success

In a 2021 interview with the conservative student paper The Burkean, Steenson stated

I know this term becomes very loaded but with population replacement, the vast majority of those people, of the 'new Irish', won’t have any loyalty to the Irish Nation, they might have a loyalty to the State but they won’t have any concept within themselves, and this is no fault of theirs, but their allegiance within themselves is to their original country. And they will have a vote because they’ve all been given citizenship.[5]

Beginning in 2022, Steenson began organising protests for far-right and anti-immigration causes.[14][15][2][16][17][18] Steenson was a guest speaker at the Irish Freedom Party's annual conference in 2022. During his speaking time, Steenson criticised the Gardaí for supporting Gay Pride events and praised Donald Trump for appointing Supreme Court Judges who overturned Roe v Wade, which legislates for abortion in the United States.[5]

Steenson was elected at the 2024 Dublin City Council election as an independent candidate with support from National Party candidates.[4] During his candidacy, a man was arrested following an incident at Steenson's office which Steenson alleged was an attempt on his life.[19] Steenson also ran in the Dublin constituency for the European elections, where he received 7,128 (1.9%) first preference votes,[20] and was eliminated from the field of 23 candidates on the 12th count.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Kelly, Fiach (10 November 2012). "Veteran republican campaigning for 'No' votes". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b O’Keeffe, Cormac (10 June 2024). "No 'revolution' but landmark result for two far-right candidates in local elections". Irish Examiner.
  3. ^ a b "European Parliament Election 2024". TheJournal.ie. 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b McMorrow, Conor (9 June 2024). "Baby & son elected amid 'revolution' - 5 late takeaways". RTÉ News.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Profile: Malachy Steenson". The Phoenix. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Sherry, Alan (19 June 2024). "Gangland killer's 'cover-up' girl now on anti-immigration campaign trail". Sunday World. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Sherry, Alan (10 June 2024). "Anti-immigrant candidate Malachy Steenson slammed for tribute to left-wing republican". Sunday World.
  8. ^ O'Doherty, Caroline (9 March 2006). "Bid to open pub on Stardust site delayed after relatives' legal move". Irish Examiner.
  9. ^ "Four candidates eliminated in Dublin South". Irish Examiner. 26 February 2011.
  10. ^ a b Millar, Scott (7 December 2010). "First of budget protests begins at Dáil". Irish Examiner.
  11. ^ O'Connell, Hugh (9 November 2012). "Varadkar: 'If the government made a mistake we accept that'". TheJournal.ie.
  12. ^ O’Brien, Paul (18 October 2012). "State 'kowtowed' to churches over care of children: Gilmore". Irish Examiner.
  13. ^ Hough, Jennifer (19 April 2012). "Group to fight water charges". Irish Examiner.
  14. ^ Mooney, John (10 June 2024). "Sinn Fein fear for Dublin seats as anti-immigrant candidates emerge". The Sunday Times. London.
  15. ^ O'Connell, Hugh (14 September 2023). "Anti-migrant campaigner defends protesters shouting abuse at politicians and calls scenes outside Dáil a 'minor skirmish'". Irish Independent.
  16. ^ O'Keeffe, Cormac; Phelan, Ciara (11 January 2023). "Gardaí assess risk from planned 'anti-refugee' protests". Irish Examiner.
  17. ^ Murray, Sean (13 January 2023). "Man charged over threats to burn down asylum hotel". Irish Examiner.
  18. ^ Clifford, Mick (13 January 2023). "Mick Clifford: Far-right effort to generate hate is a damp squib". Irish Examiner.
  19. ^ Pepper, Diarmuid (17 May 2024). "Man arrested on public order charge after incident involving European candidate Malachy Steenson". TheJournal.ie.
  20. ^ McCarron, Jack (9 June 2024). "Right on? How fringe and anti-immigration candidates are faring". RTÉ News.
  21. ^ "European Election: Dublin results". The Irish Times. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
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