Hermann Kelly Interview

14 May 2018

Can you explain a bit about who you are, and what your job is?

I’m Hermann Kelly, I’m from the Bogside in Derry, I have worked as a teacher, then became a journalist, and then became Press Officer for Nigel Farage. I’d worked for the Eurosceptic Group during the Lisbon II Referendum in Ireland, and after three months he then asked me to come and work full time for him in Brussels. I’m currently Director of Communications for the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament. I’ve been here for over eight years.

You’re a prominent figure in C4’s new documentary series about the European parliament. Why did you say yes to taking part?

As press officer for the last eight years, it was my job to promote the views and the personalities of the MEPs, and I would always stay out of camera shot. But Channel 4 asked Gerard Batten if he’d do it, and he asked me if I’d come along with him, so they could see me and him interacting. I thought ‘Why not? We’ve passed the referendum, I don’t mind people taking shots at me.’

What kind of reassurances did you seek with the programme makers that this wouldn’t be a hatchet job?

I just asked them to be fair, and told them if I sensed any time they were going to do a hatchet job, I was out of there. At one point they organised a meeting between Gerard Batten and a journalist without me knowing about it, and I told them that if it happened again, I’d be out. But once we came to a clear understanding, everything was fine, I think they’ve been very fair to everybody involved.

You’re in a very peculiar position, whereby you’re campaigning to do yourself out of a job. Does that ever strike you as odd?

Yeah, you get MEPs saying we’re the turkeys who are voting for Christmas. We’ll be leaving here in March 2019. Having got the result we wanted in the referendum, leaving the European Union, is something to be proud of, and yes, the consequences of that are that all British MEPs and staff are out of the European Parliament.

How did you find the experience of being followed around by cameras?

Having been a journalist before in Ireland, and having done quite a few TV interviews, I think I’d become more confident with the cameras and microphones. I think I was pretty relaxed, I didn’t mind it at all. Christian is quite a convivial figure, very chatty and friendly and genuine. I didn’t see the cameras as a threat.

In the programme, Nigel Farage talks about working in an institution where everyone hates you. Do you ever feel like that?

I know for sure, because Nigel is at the forefront, that he gets a lot of hatred from MEPs and staff and people who work in this institution. I’m in the background, so I don’t get the same level or volume of hatred, but yeah, we’ve all experienced it. After we came back from the referendum, there was a really heightened sense of anger and antipathy towards UKIP MEPs and staff and British MEPs and staff. So we’ve experienced the visceral hatred of people very disappointed that their little project has been called into question.

Does it get you down?

No, because it’s not universal. It kind of came in a wave, and it’s died down a bit. It’s becoming more accepted, I think, that the consequences of the referendum are going to work out. But I also have many friends here from UKIP and other parties and other staff. The Eurosecptic group in parliament consists of eight different delegations and nationalities, and I have friends in other parties and other groups all across the politics spectrum from left to right, nationalist to globalist. I don’t have a problem finding friends here at all, no.

Do you have any remainer friends?

Yes! I know MEPs that I’m friendly with who have very different views from myself. From the extreme left to people on the right. I like to judge people on their character rather than the perceived purity of their political views. Many of my best friends at home also have views that are the complete opposite of mine. But they’re good people and they’re trustworthy and they’re fun to be with, that’s more important than whether their political views align with my own.

How did you end up getting involved in politics?

I was a journalist, I was recommended to Declan Ganley, who was leader of Libertas, a pan-European party who campaigned in the European election of 2009. After that, Nigel Farage rang him up and asked him who he would recommend as press officer in Ireland for the Eurosecptic group, and he recommended me. I was a committed Eurosceptic, and so we shared those views. I worked for him in Ireland for three months, and he was happy with the coverage and the advice he was given, so he asked me to come and work for him in Brussels, and I’ve been here for over eight years.

When you leave Brussels, what will you miss about life there?

I will miss the interaction with a lot of well-educated, well-travelled people. That’s been really nice, on an intellectual level, to meet with people, sometimes you might disagree but you can have a good debate. I think it’s beneficial to be challenged, and also to hone your arguments with people who are capable and knowledgeable.

What are the best and worst things about your job?

The best things is I get some personal satisfaction in the part I played in getting the referendum, and getting a leave vote. It gives me satisfaction to have had an impact on European history, and the future direction of Europe. The thing that I don’t like is having contact with slimy, unprincipled political types, for whom it’s all about accumulating power and money and influence for themselves.

What do you make of what’s happened to your party since the referendum?

The general perception among the public was that UKIP’s job was done. But hopefully, with Gerard Batten now as leader, he’ll steady the ship after some of the fiascos of the last 18 months, and he’ll give the ship a clear direction in terms of what we want to achieve through Brexit, how we deal with the problem of radical Islam in Britain, what to do about immigration, and a whole host of other issues which affect the lives of ordinary people.

Is there anything, in your opinion, that the European Parliament has got right?

Because we live on a continent, things to do with marine water quality, fisheries, air quality, it’s common sense for countries to get together on those issues and to form general standards to protect the environment. I think that is a good thing. But the downside of that is the growth into virtually every other area of political life, where because the EU is a political union, it’s very uncomfortable for people for any nation who have laws made by people they can’t elect or get rid of. That’s been very damaging for democracy.

So if the EU had stayed as the EEC of the 1970s, would you have still felt that you didn’t want the country to be part of that?

I think if it had remained as a common trade area, most people wouldn’t have had a difficulty with it. But it morphed into something else, without people really being consulted. People felt they’d been misled. They found that EU membership and national democracy were incompatible. Hopefully Brexit will help bring a rebirth of national democracy across Europe.

What will you do next?

I’d like to go back home to Ireland, spend more time with my kids and my family, maybe get involved with an Irexit party in Ireland, and doing what I think is best for the country. But I’ll end up back in Ireland for sure.