INSIDE THE XENOSPHERE: From college dropouts to self-professed loners, we expose the far-right Irish  'influencers' who are successfully tapping into a world where racist and misogynistic content can be a highly  lucrative business

Published: 17:21, 20 April 2026 | Updated: 17:21, 20 April 2026 Irish far-right influencers are earning significant six-figure sums by promoting division, conspiracy and hate on their online platforms. From college dropouts to self-professed loners, several online agitators have successfully tapped into a world where racist and misogynistic content can be a lucrative business. Now experts who monitor far-right activity in Ireland have warned ‘much more robust and targeted action from Government’ is needed or it will ‘continue to drive real-world harm’. Senior gardaí last week told the Irish Mail on Sunday how far-right figures ‘infiltrated’ fuel protests which culminated in scuffles as officers cleared an illegal blockade of the country’s only oil refinery at Whitegate in Co. Cork. O'Keeffe has benefited from several online interactions with X-owner Elon Musk The Waterford activist has almost a quarter of a million followers on X and many of his posts – which are mostly anti-immigration – have been amplified by the platform’s owner, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. The Tesla boss and former head of Donald Trump’s controversial US Department of Government Efficiency has shared several of O’Keeffe’s posts and interacted with him online on several occasions. Last year he celebrated the temporary shelving of legislation to tackle election misinformation and disinformation. The Irish extremist wrote on his X account: ‘BREAKING. Big news out of Ireland. The new online “misinformation” law under the Electoral Reform Act has been put on ice! ‘Big-tech opposed it and even the totalitarian EU said it went too far. This is a big win for freedom of speech in Europe.’ Musk at the time hailed the news as ‘progress’, which resulted in O’Keeffe’s post being viewed almost nine million times. Uberboyo’s misogynistic views even brought him into contact with Andrew Tate Steafán Fox – who goes by the name Uberboyo – has a significant online following and is one of the few Irish far-right influencers with links to the so-called ‘manosphere’.  Uberboyo’s misogynistic views brought him into contact with Andrew Tate, the controversial American/British social media personality, businessman and former professional kickboxer. In a 2019 interview with Tate, Fox stated: ‘Even the idea of a beautiful woman at 19, the idea would be she would get the best man she could and then hold on to him because, f*** me, that’s her peak, and then time is going to slowly erode her. ‘I guess the most basic thing is that time is in favour of men.  'Time is going to reward men if they play with time well. Time is going to destroy women. It is ruthless in that sense.’ Fox registered his business, Uberboyo, in 2020 and has an address in Crossakiel, Co. Meath.  He lists himself as a ‘teacher’ and describes his business as ‘cultural education’. In a statement this week, gardaí said ‘social media activity is monitored as part of overall policing plans and investigations’. But security sources have questioned if EU and Irish legislation – which prohibits terrorism content online – should be extended to include hate and undermining the State. And they warned that while the far-right threat is ‘very real’, current legislation is ‘not up to the challenge’. One source described the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 as ‘useless’, and said the Public Order Act ‘was designed for drunk and disorderly behaviour on our streets’. Keith Woods's real surname is O'Brien Woods – whose real surname is O’Brien – has been described as a ‘rising star’ of the contemporary far-right movement who has addressed US white supremacist rallies.  The Roscommon man has spent considerable time promoting his political ideology – and it appears to have earned him significant amounts of money. In a since-deleted video posted on YouTube in 2020, Woods claimed he had ‘left his job’ to focus on far-right activity. A recent report by the Hope and Courage Collective (HCC), which monitors the far right and disinformation, highlighted how Woods was banned from YouTube after boasting about earning from the Superchats feature of his channel.  Despite being banned from platforms such as YouTube, Buy Me A Coffee, Ko-Fi, and Patreon for breaches of their terms of service, he continues to earn income via Substack, where he has an audience of 12,200 people, and ‘hundreds of paid subscribers’ who pay him $8 (€6.80) a month.  Subscribers can become a ‘founding member’ if they pay an annual fee of €210.  Woods also solicits donations in cryptocurrency and pushes books primarily to US audiences. They told the MoS: ‘There have been fewer than 50 convictions for incitement to hatred and it is an Act that is there since 1989, so there is no legislation with teeth to deal with that element.’ Concerns over the effectiveness of current legislation come amid the proliferation of Irish ‘hate’ preachers, some of whom are reaping significant financial rewards for their online content. These include Michael McCarthy, from Loughrea in Co. Galway, who has amassed 1.6 million followers across a range of online platforms. Speaking in a recent interview about how he started to make money from his content, he said: ‘It took me months to get monetised. For close to a year I wasn’t making a penny. Then I got monetised. I can’t really say what monetised me. ‘X pays and then Meta pays. Instagram doesn’t pay. [My] goal is now to start a daily show on YouTube. YouTube is where you make money.’ The 31-year-old said the only party he would vote for is the far-right National Party. Referring to the murdered US right-wing activist, he recently said younger people coming through the movement are ‘to the right of Charlie Kirk’. He also described how he has toned down his own content –which has millions of views – in order to remain on social media platforms. In another interview, McCarthy expressed his support for mass deportations. He also said some things that Adolf Hitler – who oversaw the murder of around six million Jews in Nazi death camps – did ‘aren’t too bad’, noting: ‘I think he started the Autobahn, didn’t he?’ Roscommon man Keith O’Brien, who goes by the pseudonym Keith Woods on his various social media accounts, is earning significant sums of money from his content. The published author, who is a former member of the far-right National Party and has a following on X of close to 250,000, is a co-founder of Europa.com.  The website claims it ‘monitors civilisation’ and featured in a recent article in French newspaper La Monde. It found Europa has a considerable budget, with its domain name alone worth at least €100,000.  The Irish far-right activist described himself in a now-deleted tweet in 2019 as a ‘rabid antisemite’. Podcaster and provocateur Michael McCarthy was banned from TikTok for a debate he hosted during the Conor McGregor civil trial The anti-immigrant social media personality has over 1.6 million followers and has successfully ‘monetised’ his platforms. In a recent interview, McCarthy said the only party he would vote for is the far-right National Party. The podcaster and provocateur – who was banned from TikTok for a debate he hosted during the Conor McGregor civil trial – regularly posts anti-immigration content. He recently said younger people coming up are ‘to the right of [murdered US activist] Charlie Kirk. That is what a lot of people don’t understand’. McCarthy recently admitted he toned down his own content in order to remain on social media. He told the No Buck Given podcast in January: ‘My early stuff used to show migrants in Italy videoing a cat on a barbecue.  'I can’t show those any more, but those videos still exist. But I can’t show it because if I show it, I’ll get banned.’ McCarthy also revealed how he started making money off the back of the content he posts after about a year. He said: ‘It took me months to get monetised. For close to a year I wasn’t making a penny. Then I got monetised and I can’t really say what monetised me.  'X pays and then Meta pays. Instagram doesn’t pay. [My] goal is now to start a daily show on YouTube. YouTube is where you make money.’ Another far-right figure profiting from hate content, DCU graduate Chloe Power, has almost 40,000 followers on X and is under investigation after she racially abused a woman in Dublin last month. Gardaí said of the incident: ‘No arrests have been made to date and enquiries are ongoing.’ Sheep farmer Niall McConnell, 36, also profits from racist content online for his tens of thousands of followers. He is also the founder of Síol na hÉireann, which translates as ‘Seed of Ireland’ and is described on its website as a ‘new Christian nationalist movement’. Niall McConnell claims the migrants in his videos are ‘savages’ and ‘heathens The failed election candidate posts racist footage across his social media platforms on a daily basis and urges his followers to join Ireland’s ‘only Christian nationalist movement’.  The father of two – who wants Irish women to have more babies to stop ‘replacement’ – tells members they will get a ‘framed proclamation, a beautiful membership lapel badge, a membership card’ as well as the ‘Irish Patriot newspaper’. Most of the videos he posts cut from scenes of violence to McConnell urging people to join his ‘movement’.  He claims the migrants in his videos are ‘savages’ and ‘heathens’.  In one post, he claims Ireland is committing ‘national suicide by importing third world savages’. ‘Ireland is a nation built on Christian morality. Something that is alien to these heathens. Ireland, once the land of saints and scholars. Now a dumping ground for the third world.’  McConnell describes Síol na hÉireann, which was registered five years ago, as ‘Ireland’s fastest-growing political movement’. The far-right influencer has more than 100,000 followers on social media. In 2024, he ran as an Independent in the general election in Donegal but was eliminated on the tenth count.  He received a total of 2,185 votes. The company was registered in January 2020, and its address is listed as Baggot Street, Dublin. In its statement of financial position, its ‘capital and reserves’ are listed as €44,239 for both 2024 and 2025. The 36-year-old sells ‘gold’ and ‘standard’ membership packages, with gold membership costs €119 a year.  He also pushes products, including branded jackets, Irish flags, books and a range of religious volumes in a bundle of five, including the Bible, for €199.99. Other hate preachers building substantial followings – and income – online include Steafán Fox, better known as Uberboyo who is also known for his misogynistic views, and anti-immigration provocateur Michael O’Keeffe, who has benefited from several online interactions with X-owner and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Mark Malone of the Hope and Courage Collective, which monitors the far right and disinformation online, said social media algorithms ‘actively push hateful and inflammatory content at scale’ because they are designed to maximise engagement. He said of the growing influence of xenophobic and misogynist content creators: ‘What we are seeing in Ireland is the real-world impact of that business model, from harassment and intimidation to unrest and arson.  Algorithms don’t just reflect behaviour, they shape it.’ Mr Malone said this business model ‘actively supports influencers pushing hateful and divisive content, influencers who are building up massive audience reach and multiple income money streams.  This provides an economic incentive to keep creating such content. In some cases, this is facilitated by specific platform monetisation programmes as run by Facebook and YouTube.’ Mr Malone criticised current regulation and added: ‘We need much more robust and targeted action from Government on platform accountability, as without decisive intervention, online amplification will continue to drive real-world harm.’ Meta, which owns and operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, told the MoS: ‘Hate speech is not allowed on our platforms.  'We have clear policies against attacks based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, and other protected characteristics, and we enforce those policies at scale.’ Chloe Power is part of a growing trend where agitators attempt to make money from being openly hateful towards people they consider to be different The DCU graduate – who films herself spitting on and assaulting foreign nationals and gay and overweight people – has amassed tens of thousands of followers and is selling her own merchandise to her ‘fans’. Power – who goes by the username Empathchan, The Ruthless Dictator – regularly posts a link to her ‘Loyal Fans’, a platform that allows users to ‘earn’ money from ‘fans’ and followers. Power can look remarkably different in her social media posts to how she acually looks in real life The civil law graduate, who is in her early 20s, is part of a growing trend where agitators attempt to make money from being openly hateful towards people they consider different. In December, she appeared on the Fresh and Fit podcast by Myron Gaines and has posed with the controversial influencer Sneako in an image she shared to her own Instagram account. Power performs a salute while wearing wha appears to be a Nazi uniform Both men featured prominently in Louis Theroux’s recent documentary, Inside The Manosphere. The Department of Justice said that, under Ireland’s online safety code, ‘platforms are obliged to minimise the availability of harmful online content, like cyberbullying, incitement to hatred or violence’. A spokesman noted that, under the EU Digital Services Act, online platforms ‘must take mitigation measures in relation to the availability and exposure of users to illegal online content.  'This includes, for example, hateful speech as provided for under the Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. ‘Threats and harassment of any individual are not acceptable. The bringing to justice of the perpetrators of such abuse, whether online or offline, is a matter for An Garda Síochána and if anyone is subjected to threats or abuse, they should report it immediately to the gardaí.’ Michael McCarthy, Keith O’Brien, Niall McConnell, Steafán Fox and Michael O’Keeffe did not respond to requests for comment. Attempts to contact Chloe Power were unsuccessful. When previously contacted by the MoS, Ms Power would only say: ‘Who asked?’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.