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13 Facts About John McGuirk

1.

John McGuirk was born on 2 March 1984 and is an Irish writer and political commentator.

2.

John McGuirk is the editor of Gript, a website that has been described as conservative, far-right, and right-wing.

3.

John McGuirk has worked in various public relations roles and as a communications manager for Declan Ganley's Rivada Networks.

4.

John McGuirk has been the editor of Gript Media, which describes its primary aim as supporting news and debate "without the liberal filter," since 2020.

5.

John McGuirk was a member of Ogra Fianna Fail, of which he was national policy coordinator before resigning after a meeting at Fianna Fail headquarters following leaking of e-mails in August 2003.

6.

John McGuirk subsequently joined Fine Gael but resigned in 2007 after issues around a press release criticising the party leader with regard to Crumlin Children's Hospital; he later rejoined, then left again.

7.

John McGuirk was elected unopposed as Eastern Area Officer of the Union of Students in Ireland in 2006.

8.

John McGuirk was communications director for the Libertas Institute during its 2008 campaign against the twenty-eighth amendment of the constitution of Ireland.

9.

When Libertas contested the 2009 European elections with three candidates, John McGuirk issued a press release attacking the Simon Wiesanthal Centre without the approval of the relevant candidate, and later attacked the same candidate in strong personal terms in a Facebook post, before apologising.

10.

John McGuirk was spokesman for Save the 8th, a campaign from the Life Institute, which unsuccessfully campaigned against the thirty-sixth amendment of the constitution of Ireland to preserve a constitutional protection of the life of the unborn.

11.

John McGuirk has been criticised for his characterisation of opponents, such as stating that Colm O'Gorman, head of Amnesty International Ireland, was a "cretinous stain on the Irish national discourse who'll say whatever Soros pays [him] to" and the description of a pro-choice TD, Kate O'Connell, as a "catty, spiteful, loathsome twit" after the TD shared screengrabs of misogynistic tweets from a member of the Fine Gael National Executive.

12.

In January 2020, John McGuirk defended Gript's link to the firm AggregateIQ, which had been found to have broken privacy laws during the Brexit campaign, and was involved in profiling of Gript readers.

13.

In 2022, John McGuirk sued Paddy Cosgrave for defamation for Tweets posted in December 2021.