Irish anti-lockdown conspiracy theorists are now spreading bizarre QAnon-like narratives

There were ugly scenes in Dublin on Saturday as anti-lockdown protesters were involved in violent clashes with police with many appearing to believe in QAnon-like conspiracy theories.

In comments given to the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, some of those involved in the protests told reporters that they believed in conspiracy theories involving ‘reptilians’ and children. Two women, who The Times named as Erica and Susan, worse jackets to the demonstration sporting the words ‘Save our children from the reptilians’ and also claimed that 9,000 people went missing in Ireland because of the reptilians.

The Times reports that the two have many followers and added that the conspiracy was bizarrely linked to RTE, Ireland’s state-run radio and television station, and the celebrities who work there manage to keep “looking young” by taking “adrenochrome” which the conspiracy believes is harvested from babies whose “corpses are buried under the new children’s hospital.”

This conspiracy theory has been mocked by Irish broadcasters.

The two also said they knew of a ‘secret website’ which revealed that the Irish government were “basically paedophiles” and also handed out flyers about 5G, and suggesting that Covid-19 was created in order to install a “high-tech totalitarian world.”

As reported by The Journal, adrenochrome conspiracies started to emerge in 2013 and 2014 following the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy and has managed to latch itself onto QAnon thanks to antisemitic conspiracies spread largely on Reddit. The chemical is real and made up of the oxidation of adrenaline but has there is little evidence to show of any medicinal benefits.

Another organiser from the RiseUp Eireann group that The Times spoke to was Shakti Ji, who blamed the violence at the event on ‘Antifa’ which is also apparently paid for by George Soros. She later posted on social media that “the greatest awakening is here.”

Although none of these individuals directly referenced QAnon or a Q-like figure, CNN’s Donie O’Sullian who has covered the growing conspiracy trend in the United States said that this type of rhetoric is straight from the QAnon playbook.

On the issue, Aoife Gallagher, an analyst for Institute for Strategic Dialogue, put together a thought-provoking Twitter thread on why conspiracy theories have seen a significant rise in the last 12 months.

The QAnon conspiracy theory is largely linked to hardcore Donald Trump supporters and his MAGA movement. Much of their information is fed to them by a mysterious and anonymous figure known simply as Q. Rather than one conspiracy, QAnon is a collection of numerous conspiracies that are mostly connected to the government and the Democrats.

Although many have left the following after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, many are now pinning their hopes on 4 March, where they believe Trump will be reinstated as POTUS due to a misunderstanding of an amendment made nearly 100 years ago.

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