FAR RIGHT ACTIVIST and election candidate Derek Blighe has withdrawn his appeal to a conviction for theft at a shop helping Ukrainian refugees in Cork.

Blighe, 44, with an address at Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was previously convicted of stealing a t-shirt from the Palyanysta Ukrainian Hub in Merchants Quay Shopping Centre in Cork city. 

Garda Shaun McCarthy had charged Blighe with a single count of theft under section four of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

He had been convicted on 14 June, 2023 and fined €150 but he had appealed that conviction. 

On Friday that appeal was withdrawn meaning that the conviction stands. 

Blighe is the President of a new party Ireland First which is focused on anti-migrant rhetoric.

He failed to be elected in the recent European and local elections.

The North Cork man has been fact-checked by The Journal on multiple occasions for his incorrect or misleading claims about migrants.

He has referred to Direct Provision accommodation facilities as “plantation centres”.

He has also claimed falsely that the war in Ukraine is a scam, and that refugees are arriving in Ireland under false pretenses, often referring to them as “illegal fakeugees” and calling for women and children seeking asylum in Ireland to be deported.

He styles himself as a far right social media personality who also bills himself as a ‘citizen journalist’.

Originally from Ireland, he previously emigrated to Canada to work in the construction industry before returning here, where he has gained prominence by appearing regularly at anti-immigrant protests.

Ireland First’s social media pages share far-right talking points and posts on various platforms that regularly target immigrants, asylum seekers, members of the LGBTQIA community, as well as sitting TDs and businesses which provide services to asylum seekers.

Posts by the party and Blighe describe the asylum system as “a massive psyop [psychological operation"] and refer to immigration as an “invasion”, a “replacement” of the Irish people, and a “plantation” – a shorthand for the ‘Great Plantation’, an Irish-specific version of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory.