Irish Voters Defy Global Trend, Reject All Far-Right Anti-Immigration Candidates in Latest Election

Irish voters have seemingly defied the global shift towards conservatism, rejecting every single far-right candidate in the country's latest election, according to a report.

The far-right political candidates had largely been leading anti-immigration campaigns as the country had seen a number of anti-immigration protests, as reported by the Irish Times.

But despite decent success in the country's local elections in June, not a single one of the more than 60 candidates was elected this time around, as reported by The Journal.

Among those included popular candidates Independent Gavin Pepper, who received just 6% of first preference votes, while Independent Councilor Malachy Steenson received just 5%, as reported by the Times. Leaders of conservative Irish political groups, including Anthony Cahill and Derek Blighe, also lost their elections.

In previous polls, immigration appeared to be one of voters' top priorities. However during exit polls, voters cited housing and homelessness as their biggest issue, according to The Journal.

Many of the far-right candidates running in this election were part of a newly formed alliance between conservative groups, including the National Party, Ireland First and The Irish People, to ensure that there was not an overlap of interests that could subtract from votes.

Sympathetic American voters, who could not contribute their vote, referred to the election as "rigged" in posts to social media, as reported by the Irish Independent. However, these numbers are still higher than votes for far-right candidates in previous elections.

Originally published by Latin Times.