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(CNN) — Conor McGregor will run for the Irish presidency in elections later this year, the controversial former fighter said on Thursday, as he announced his candidacy for the largely ceremonial role on an anti-immigration stance.
McGregor, who in recent years has emerged as a figurehead for the far-right in Ireland, said on social media that he would run for president to oppose a long-awaited new European Union migration pact aimed at sharing the burden of processing asylum claims more evenly across the bloc.
“Who else will stand up to Government and oppose this bill?” he said in an Instagram post to his more than 46 million followers. “Any other Presidential candidate they attempt to put forward will be of no resistance to them. I will!”
The post comes just days after McGregor, 36, appeared at the White House with Donald Trump on St. Patrick’s Day, where he became the latest European ally of the US president to promote anti-immigrant sentiment – drawing controversy and censure back home.
“Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness,” McGregor said Monday, claiming the government had “abandoned the voices” of Irish people and that rural towns were being overrun by immigrants.
Irish leader Micheál Martin said McGregor’s comments “did not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.”
Once the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dublin-born McGregor was the first fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously and, according to Forbes, was the world’s highest paid sports star in 2021.
Despite several rumored comebacks, he hasn’t fought in the UFC since back-to-back defeats four years ago – and has become a hugely controversial figure in Ireland, dogged by accusations of sexual assault, which he has denied.
In a January civil lawsuit, a woman accused McGregor of sexual battery during the 2023 NBA Finals in Miami. The incident was investigated by police at the time and the Miami-Dade state attorney declined to press charges against him. McGregor said the allegations were false.
Last fall, a civil jury in Dublin awarded nearly 250,000 euros ($257,000) in damages to a woman who claimed McGregor had “brutally raped and battered” her in a hotel in Dublin in 2018. McGregor testified that the two had consensual sex and vowed to appeal the verdict.
In recent years, McGregor has also turned his attention to sparring with people on social media. Political analysts and far-right experts have told CNN that McGregor’s unique brand of Irish patriotism that won him supporters as a fighter has mutated into a strand of “far-right” Irish nationalism.
As far back as 2022, McGregor had expressed support for people protesting against immigration. Some Irish politicians have accused him of fanning the flames of discontent online, voicing his anger at Ireland’s immigration policy – a particularly sensitive issue given the country’s long history of emigration.
Ireland, a country of just over 5 million people, saw 141,600 immigrants arrive in the year leading up to April 2023 – the highest figure in 16 years with some attracted by its strong economic performance, according to the Central Statistics Office Ireland.
But for many ordinary workers, the benefits are failing to reach their pockets and they are struggling to afford high housing prices and rents.
Ireland’s next presidential election must take place by November 11.
In his Instagram post Thursday, McGregor said he would put the EU migration bill to a referendum if elected.
“Although I oppose greatly this pact, it is neither mine nor government’s choice to make. It is the people of Ireland’s choice! Always!” he wrote.
“This is the future of Ireland with me as President.”
But McGregor faces an uphill task to get his name on the ballot as few Irish lawmakers share his vehement anti-immigrant views, and many publicly criticized him after the civil case last November.
Presidential candidates must be nominated by at least 20 of the 234 members of the lower and upper houses of parliament or by four of Ireland’s 31 local councils, according to the country’s electoral commission.
The-CNN-Wire
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