Hermann Kelly


Hermann Patrick Kelly is an Irish political candidate and former journalist. In September 2018 he assisted in the founding of the Irexit Freedom To Prosper Party.

Early life and education

Kelly was born in 1968 and is originally from the Bogside in Derry. His father was a headmaster of a school in Creggan, his mother was a nurse and he has three siblings.
He studied marine biology in Edinburgh before studying theology as a lay student at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. He briefly worked as a teacher in Dublin.

Writer

Journalism

As a journalist, Kelly was a contributing columnist to the Irish Examiner, and also wrote for the Irish Mail on Sunday. He also wrote for the The Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday Mirror, The Sunday Business Post and Magill magazine.
Following the resignation of editor Simon Rowe in mid-2004, Kelly was briefly acting editor of The Irish Catholic.

Kathy O'Beirne book

In 2007, Kelly wrote a book titled Kathy's Real Story which disputed the claims made in a book by Kathy O'Beirne, in which O'Beirne described childhood abuse she had reputedly suffered in a Magdalene Asylum. Kelly claimed that initial doubts that he had while reading her book were confirmed by inconsistencies in different accounts which O'Beirne had given, and later confirmed by various witnesses and documentary evidence. He also claimed that false allegations were being made by those appearing before the Residential Institutions Redress Board in order to receive compensation.
A review by Gene Kerrigan criticised Kelly's own criticism of O'Beirne's book. Kelly and O'Beirne both appeared on Ireland AM to discuss their books in November 2007, and the encounter ended in an argument.
Kelly also wrote to the proposed publishers of a sequel by O'Beirne, sending them a copy of Kathy's Real Story and asking them not to publish. A Sunday Times article of July 2009 indicated that the publisher had withdrawn their initial offer to publish her book because of an "unresolved legal issue".

European Union politics

Kelly has worked with Nigel Farage, and was director of communications for Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy. The EFDD dissolved in mid-2019.
Kelly, who is from Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, supports the Republic of Ireland leaving the European Union, and is the President of the Irish Freedom Party, a party that advocates the same position. He contested the 2019 European Parliament election in the Dublin constituency, receiving 2,441 first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count.

Political views

Some outlets have linked Kelly with alt-right ideologies, pointing to a video which Kelly recorded with far-right British Loyalist and former British National Party member Jim Dowson. In the video Kelly endorsed the white nationalist "grand replacement" conspiracy theory. This followed a similar interview, in January 2019 with LifeSiteNews, in which Kelly denounced what he called the "great replacement of our children".
Kelly spoke at a free speech rally, outside the Dáil, in November 2019.