If you were running for mayor, they'd vote for you.
Towards the end of 2019, one of most beloved online groups that we have ever seen on social media announced that it was
set to become a political party.
Perhaps to the surprise of those behind the
Ireland Simpsons Fans page, it was met with a rapturous welcome, with the party gathering enough members to form a legitimate political party recognised by the state in under three hours.
Since then, the ISF Party has gone quiet, while the Facebook page itself continues to thrive, and in light of the news that a General Election will be held in February, the party has made an announcement.
The ISF Party will not run candidates in 2020 Election, stating that "in all honesty, the party was an inside joke that somehow got international attention."
A statement released on Thursday read: "It's a rather damning indictment of Irish politics at large that a proposed political party spawned from a Simpsons meme group on social media could garner such excitement and media attention."
It continued: "Irish politics has been dominated by two centre-right parties for so long that a left-leaning political party spawned on social media gained more than 1000 members in a month and got news attention as far a field as Australia, Mexico and Hungary.
"The demand is there; but we're not the people to carry that torch.
"And while we were as excited as all of you about the prospect of a meme group getting memers into the Dáil, the Irish public deserves better.
"We will keep the spirit of 'sound politics' firmly engrained into the public zeitgeist on social media. The excitement around the group was a warning shot to whoever gets in at the next election; we have longer memories than you think."
The statement finished by saying: "Let the ISF Party be a punchline in Irish politics; like Aontú or Peter Casey."
Ouch.
You can read the ISF Party statement in full here:
https://twitter.com/TheISFParty/status/1217090198238126085?s=20
