Justin Barrett denies being ousted as National Party leader

Justin Barrett has denied that he has been removed from his position as president of the National Party.

In a statement issued on Monday, the right wing party said Mr Barrett was removed from his post in mid-July before claims emerged that gold bars worth an estimated €400,000 had been removed from a party vault.

“This decision was taken due to an overwhelming lack of confidence from active party members in Mr Barrett’s continued ability to lead the party,” the statement said.

“Mr Barrett’s hands-off leadership style over the past number of years allowed the party to go to seed. Several of his recent strategic decisions generated opposition in the party and resulted in a lack of confidence in his leadership.

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[ Give Me a Crash Course in ... the National Party’s gold bar collection ]

“At the same time as Mr Barrett’s dismissal, deputy leader Mr James Reynolds was elected to fill the presidency of the National Party.”

‘Unedifying public dispute’

Mr Reynolds said he has “no wish to enter an unedifying public dispute with Mr Barrett”.

“Despite recent events, I thank him for his past service and wish him well for the future,” he said. “As the new leader of the National Party, I intend to oversee a process of root-and-branch reforms to put the party on a stable footing during this transitional period.

“A full statement will be forthcoming at a later time.”

[ The mystery of the far-right National Party’s €400,000 gold: where could it have come from? ]

On his Telegram channel, however, Mr Barrett denied that he had been removed and said it was not possible to do so under party rules. He described the party’s statement as “farcical” and said it was written by someone who had not read the party’s constitution.

“Mr. Barrett was dismissed by whom? Mr Reynolds was elected by whom? Two of the most obvious questions,” he said.

Mr Barrett also said it was actually Mr Reynolds who had been expelled from the party.

“I was and am the president of the National Party in law.”

The schism within the party - which has no elected representatives - first emerged last week when Mr Barrett posted a statement online claiming that gold bars had been taken from a secure party vault in Dublin 4. Gardaí retrieved the gold bars and are actively trying to establish the legal ownership.

[ Michael McDowell: How did Justin Barrett’s tiny National Party amass €400,000 in gold? ]

‘Dearly gathered’

Explaining the source of the gold, Mr Barrett previously said it was “dearly gathered by the sacrifice of party members and supporters over these many years”.

The National Party has never submitted details of party finances to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), but the political watchdog says it has no power to penalise parties for not submitting accounts.

Under the Electoral Act, every political party is required to declare any annual political donations received either by the party or a subsidiary organisation of that party in excess of €1,500 from an individual or corporate donor. The limit per donor is €2,500. Foreign donations are banned.

Furthermore, every political party is also required to send Sipo an annual statement of accounts, which must be audited by a statutory auditor.

“To date, the National Party has not provided a statement of accounts to the Commission for any year in which it has had these obligations and the Commission has noted this in its reports on political parties’ statements of accounts,” a Sipo spokesman said.