The Irish establishment cannot fathom Conor McGregor's popularity
Like many other gentle readers of the Telegraph, I hadn't a clue what being a world champion of mixed martial arts (MMA) really meant until Conor McGregor burst on the scene. In the White House last month, President Trump and Elon Musk were hailing him as practically a hero.
I then learned that he was a master of boxing, wrestling, jiu-Jitsu and – as we put it in Ireland – whatever you're having yourself. He has also faced charges for assault, disorderly conduct and rape. Although he was found not guilty in a criminal court, he lost a civil suit.
McGregor was, we innocents discovered, beloved by many MMA fans – the very same people who had helped whip up support for Donald Trump – from whom the Irish establishment draw aside their skirts.
The elite began resorting to the smelling salts when they heard McGregor was thinking of running for president of Ireland. Was victory really possible?
'No worries' was the message from the high moral media ground. Innumerable experts emerged to reassure the delicately minded that there was no chance of McGregor even being able to run since he couldn't win the legally necessary endorsements from serving politicians, not least because of his past scandals.
Politicians were staying well away from him and establishment Ireland could breathe again in the knowledge that the most frightening candidate was likely to be senator Frances Black, whose claim to fame is singing a melancholy ballad at Martin McGuinness's funeral.
But McGregor is appealing the civil rape case verdict against him, he has plenty of money for lawyers, and was tipped to be the first directly elected Mayor of Dublin. A working-class, Irish-speaking lad from a tough area who became a multi-millionaire, he has both charisma and nerve. He is telling truths the establishment and left-wing ideologues deny.
McGregor says Ireland is losing its Irishness. The foreign-born population is heading towards a quarter; excessive legal and illegal immigration is harming small towns all over the country; and officialdom faces accusations of concealing the scale of the violence being committed by the incomers.
The establishment seems to have forgotten that, less than two years ago, the public had rejected two woke amendments to the Irish constitution that had been endorsed by every mainstream party and was thought to be a shoo-in.
In 2016 and 2024 it did not occur to the Irish establishment that there was the faintest chance of the US electorate voting for a vulgarian like Trump. Even now, they seem to ignore any evidence that Paddy or Mary is not thrilled with the consequences of the new secular religion of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Politicians now seem set on shelving the promised plebiscite on giving Dubliners a mayor they might like. This could cause a monumental row and boost McGregor's standing. You might not choose to meet the prize fighter in a dark alley. But what the chattering classes fail to understand is that, the more they try to thwart populism and foist their progressive views on the public, the more disillusioned people become.
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