DUP hits back at Irish wildlife activist's 'slur' in which he described the party and farmers as being on the political far right

Mr Robinson called on Pádraic Fogarty to explain his ‘slur’, in which he accused Irish farming groups including the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) of being on the far right and of becoming "a kind of DUP of Irish civil society".

In his article he said Irish farming bodies had spread conspiracy theories and were “undermining scientists" and said they had opposed most measures designed to address what he says is a climate and biodiversity crisis.

In the days after the blog was published, the IFA made a complaint to the board of the IWT after which the blog was edited to remove references to the "far-right" and the DUP.

Mr Fogarty said yesterday in a Tweet: “Last week I wrote a blog for the IWT website in which I accused Irish farm organisations of ‘lurching to the far right’. I stand over that assessment, indeed seeing the performance in the JOC [Joint Oireachtas Committee] last week, the attacks on the integrity of the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], and Tim Cullinane telling RTE that he didn't believe water quality was deteriorating, I believe it more today then I did when I wrote it.

"I appreciate many people disagreed with the language, including friends and colleagues and I respect that. This included some board members of the IWT and on Friday a decision was made to redact the blog, removing the reference to the far right and a comparison I made between the IFA and the DUP. While I was told about the decision, I wasn't involved in it. But I respect it, the board are absolutely entitled to control what's on the website. However I can't support it.

"Also, the blog was online for nearly a week and it only became an issue when the IFA made a complaint. Therefore, at least part of the decision was down to IFA bullying. For these reasons, I've decided to resign from the IWT.”

DUP Deputy Leader Gavin Robinson said: “This man should explain his argument. Tens of thousands who vote DUP and I trust someone in such a position was not suggesting those views should be ignored.

"Democracy is about respecting views rather than demeaning and denigrating those with whom we differ.

“This cancel culture will ultimately lead to bad public administration. Consensus should be the way forward rather than antagonistic slur.”

The IFA said it noted the intervention of the IWT board “to remove certain defamatory comments".

According to RTE, the IFA said it was “seeking a meeting with the board of the IWT to discuss the article and why it was allowed to remain in the public domain for almost a week."

The board of the IWT was reported to have said it acknowledges with regret that Mr Fogarty has tendered his resignation from his role as spokesperson for the Irish Wildlife Trust.

Mr Fogarty said in his explanatory tweet: “I've been involved with the organisation for 20 years, 17 of those as a volunteer. It's an amazing organisation with fantastic staff who I've been blessed to work with. Why did I choose this hill to die on? I fear many people still have a dated view of the far right; that they're skinheads in biker jackets. But these days they wear suits and have pr companies and put a lot of effort into sounding reasonable and respectable.

"Across Europe, rural communities are being especially targeted with a flood of messages that climate/biodiversity action means taking away their livelihoods, traditions and values. And it's cleverly done to protect the very large profits of a minority, and I mean large corporations, not the dairy farmers that have done well since expansion. As I wrote in the blog, farmers have genuine concerns about growing inequality, price volatility and what the future holds.

"All the while, the state still has no coherent plan for the sector and the cheerleaders for expansion a decade ago are scarcely held to account.”