Shock jock Niall Boylan launches bid for European Parliament, pledging 'common sense politics' against woke culture

After thirty years on the radio taking calls from listeners, Niall Boylan says he has decided that listening is no longer enough. The Classic Hits FM presenter, a 60-year-old Dubliner often labelled a "shock jock" for his provocative style, is leaving the airwaves to run for the European Parliament in June, standing for the new Independent Ireland party.

Boylan told the Irish Mirror he is sad to give up his radio career but confident he will be elected. He is not, he says, part of the establishment, but he argues that hundreds of thousands of callers over three decades have taught him about people and their problems. On air, he explained, he gives people a platform and listens, but cannot get anything done. Politics, he says, is how he hopes to change that.

His views are outspoken and, by his own account, not politically correct. He voted No in the recent referendums on family and care, has criticised Ireland's immigration policy, and questioned the country's approach to hard lockdowns. He opposes what he calls woke liberal ideology, which he regards as anti-freedom. He said he would not have entered politics five years ago because people like him were being cancelled. Now, he believes, cancel culture has faded, woke is dying across Europe, and people are no longer afraid of what others will think of what they say. He describes it as a phase pushed by a loud minority, and sees many voters moving to the centre-right. He distances himself from the extreme right, saying he has no time for extremists on any side, nor for racism or bigotry.

Independent Ireland was founded at the end of last year by independent politicians Richard O'Donoghue and Michael Collins. Boylan said he chose it because it stands for common sense and fairness. As an example, he said its members are not climate deniers but want a fair deal for farmers.

Why Europe rather than the Dail? Boylan said about 75 percent of directives originate in the EU, and issues from migration to agricultural policy come from Brussels. By the time legislation reaches the Dail, he argued, it is too late to change, and Ireland is stuck with it. He calls the EU a great idea in need of reform, originally a co-op of countries working together as individuals, which he says is now eroding sovereignty and the right to make Irish law. He used the word "dictatorship" and predicted it will change, arguing that those in the centre want a co-op instead.

Boylan, who was born in a mother and baby home in Dublin and campaigned for a redress scheme, was emphatic on immigration. He said he favours it and called diversity and multiculturalism Ireland's biggest strength, crediting nurses, doctors, hospitality workers and others from abroad for the strength of the economy. But he wants legitimate routes. Asylum seekers should be helped, he said, and the country has plenty of money to do so. If economic migrants and undocumented people with no identification keep arriving, though, he warned, there will not be enough money or supports for genuine cases.

He claims the debate is effectively shut down in the Dail, where "everyone's a racist." Of the protests around the country, he said he feels sad, believing most participants are concerned citizens. They see the population of a small town rising quickly with few services, hotels closing and tourism hit, and they want answers and a fair system but are ignored and called right wing, which he says deepens division. He called the recently rejected referendum a turning point in Irish history, saying the public had been given a voice and needs new politicians willing to represent real people.

What to watch now is whether Independent Ireland, a party only months old, gains traction in June, and how its messaging on immigration and EU sovereignty plays with voters.