MEON Event: Our Gallant Allies: What Ireland Can Learn from Continental and American Populism

On March 1st, MEON Journal successfully hosted its inaugural event, entitled: 'Our Gallant Allies: What Ireland Can Learn from Continental and American Populism’.

With the aim of illuminating the tactics and strategies they’ve employed in their respective nations, the event featured presentations courtesy of speakers from Rassemblement National, Vlaams Belang, and the New York Young Republican Club.

Edouard Bina, the President of La Cocarde Étudiante and a member of Rassemblement National, lectured on the importance of fostering a nationalist ecosystem; he called on attendees to avoid retreating into ideologically-exclusive safe spaces. To combat this, he emphasised the efficacy of non-political, social events as a means of buttressing mainstream appeal.

Lennert Van Hauwermeiren, who works for Vlaams Belang MEP Tom Vandendriessche, delivered a talk on the rich history of Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond, a Flemish Nationalist and Catholic student organisation. His speech centred on its role in Flemish nationalism — from its genesis in the cultural nationalism of the 19th century, to its contemporaneous expression in the 21st century.

The final speech of the day was delivered by Mike Bartels, the Chairman of the New York Young Republican Club’s Advisory Committee. Bartels imparted key lessons he imbibed as a senior member in America’s largest and most successful Young Republican Club. He offered incisive commentary on the relation between principled and pragmatic actors in politics — specifically, the different functions of both in the political sphere, as well as the tension between them.

In the coming days, we will upload recordings of these speeches to our YouTube Channel. To ensure that you don’t miss out: subscribe to the MEON YouTube channel to keep up to date with our audio and video content.

We wish to express our gratitude to the speakers for their contributions. We also wish to thank those who assisted with making this event possible, as well as those who attended the event.