Floating Protest at Killarney Global Summit Captures International Interest
Ireland South MEP candidate Michael Leahy (IFP) launched an unusual stunt to send a message to the World Health Organisation
A waterborne political protest on the Lakes of Killarney is leveraging Ireland South MEP candidate Michael Leahy some international interest. Leahy, an Ennis based architect and planner by trade, launched his protest against the WHO Pandemic Treaty from a fishing punt in front of the plush Europe Hotel yesterday.
Together with his Campaign Manager Eoghan Casey, Leahy utilised the majestic backdrop of the MacGillycuddy Reeks to deliver their message to delegates attending the inaugural Global Economic Summit, taking place in Killarney, Co Kerry.
Leahy, Chairman of the Irish Freedom Party, described the stunt as ‘a bit of a lark’ but said he was delighted to get some fishing in while getting his message across.
“There was private security all over the place and when we started making noise we could see them making their way down to the jetty,” he said.
“We got a call from the boat owner almost immediately. He wasn’t aware of what we were doing and he was quite cross about it. But from my point of view I was surprised they had identified and contacted him so quickly. There is a big private security presence there and they obviously had a high powered telescope that they could track the boat number from two hundred yards out,” he said.
The three day Global Economic Forum, featuring more than 400 attendees across politics, business and economics, continues in Killarney, featuring discussion on climate change, energy sustainability and technology.
A Kerry native (born in Listowel) with a fondness for fishing, Leahy said he believed the hotel was chosen because of its location, on the shores of Killarney's largest lake, Lough Léin.
“I’m someone who is used to strategizing and I saw straight away that the only way to get at this place was from the water. We had perfect weather and the upshot of course is that sound travels well over water and with the loudspeaker we could clearly be heard from the hotel,” he said.
The team departed Clare at 5.45am and arrived in Killarney shortly before 9am, where Casey had organised the boat rental from a local fisherman.
“It was a beautiful misty morning driving down and we had Seamus with us, an experienced, gifted fisherman who knows all the lakes in Ireland including this one. We had our fishing rods and our gear with us and it was such a stunning morning out there, the weather was beautiful, everything just went in our favour,” Casey said.
It took around an hour to navigate the 3km journey across the lake to arrive at the jetty of the luxury five star Hotel Europe. Inside, political and policy experts were just settling into the first sessions of the event. Among those set to address the conference was Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who, according to RTE News, was delivering a speech on ‘health post-Covid, covering the future of healthcare and public health systems.’
It was 10.30am when Leahy took up his loudspeaker to deliver his own message, afloat in the punt, 200 yards off-shore.
“I can assure you Mr Ghebreyesus you are not welcome in Ireland and your Treaty is not welcome in Ireland. Clear off back wherever you came from,” he said.
The noise alerted security who began making their way toward the jetty while curious delegates and guests began to gather outside, according to Casey.
“I had my research done on how to navigate to the hotel. We cruised up to the place, there were no other boats around, there was one boat on the jetty and we saw a guard coming down to the shore so we pulled out the fishing rods and once we saw him head back up to the hotel, Michael took out the loudspeaker. By his third speech, people were coming out to look and security were on their way down so we headed off to do some fishing.
“We looked the part, we had our boots, hats and rods. And it was a stunning day. Sure you couldn’t make a bad video out there on a day like that,” Casey said.
Within half an hour, a call came through from the ‘somewhat irate’ boat owner, who urged them back to shore. The trio were back on land by midday, while their campaign video was already going viral across a multitude of social media platforms.
At the time of publication, the initial post issued from Michael Leahy’s Irish Freedom Party X account had surpassed 80,000 views, while a follow up ‘Operation Fishing Line’ video issued today, has reached almost 72,000 views in six hours.
A few hours later, conference delegate Richard Colwell, CEO of research agency Red C Research and Marketing, issued a video post on X, depicting the trio on the boat drifting across blissfully calm waters in front of the hotel.
Uncannily, he described the scene as a ‘a very Fr Ted like protest’ but could he have known that the trio had indeed made the trip to Killarney from Corofin in Co Clare, where the hit comedy sitcom was filmed?
“In that tweet he posted, the CEO of Red C was slagging Michael but he actually gave us the most beautifully aesthetic piece of footage and at the same time, confirmed that the message from the boat was clearly audible from the hotel,” Casey laughed.
“It really was a gift!”
Former Irish Times Economic Editor, Marc Peter Coleman, answered Colwell’s tweet with perhaps the most important message of all, from a media perspective.
“Why not invite them in and engage with them? If there is one thing that driving a wedge between voters and elites it is fortress like enclosures. Events should blend with their surroundings and facilitate dialogue. If globalism doesn’t learn that it will lose the room,” Coleman posted.
Meanwhile, Gardai and security had gathered at the front of the hotel, where protestors against the introduction of the WHO Pandemic Treaty, had gathered to listen to Irish financial adviser and former TV presenter Eddie Hobbs launch his Killarney Declaration.
Hobbs warned of the dangers of encroaching WHO powers under the guise of the WHO Pandemic Treaty, the marks of which he said were clearly visible in the global response to Covid 19.
“We see and recognise the emblems of control and compliance; the ineffective face masks, the social distancing, the abandonment of the elderly to lonely deaths and the alienation of the Irish People from our ancient rites of grieving,” he said, urging people to sign and share the declaration.
“We declare the right of the Irish People to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. We, the Irish People, demand our legal endowment from the 1987 Supreme Court Crotty ruling to a national referendum on the continuing membership of the World Health Organisation. We do so because the WHO intends to force a Trojan Horse Treaty upon us disguised as a new ‘Agreement’ and as a complete overhaul of Regulations. We demand, in the first instance, that the Irish Government rejects these manoeuvres as a breach of WHO membership rules and which require a four-month window before any changes are adopted,” Hobbs told the crowds gathered at the road entrance to the Europe Hotel.
At the time of publication, the Killarney Declaration had surpassed 2,000 signatures.
“We see through and beyond the agency of the WHO, to a multi-front agenda determined to create a bio-digital technocracy which threatens to subvert all liberal democracies and so we reach out to all at home and abroad, now awakening to the real and present danger from it,” he said.
Watch the video footage of yesterday’s events in Killarney below:
* Thank you to readers for supporting this Substack! Buy the author a coffee
Link to sign Eddie Hobbs’ Killarney Declaration here
Read the latest WHO update on ‘Strengthening Pandemic Preparedness’ here
Ireland is speaking out at last! God bless all the participants. Thank you for the great reporting as usual, Louise.
Amazing action! Our voices matter and can be heard 😊🙏