Controversial barrister Una McGurk has claimed there’s a conspiracy to institute a one-world government. McGurk, who until recently oversaw asylum applications for the state as part of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT), argued there’s a “transhumanist agenda” that “globalists and technocrats” have introduced as part of the conspiracy.
She also criticised the proposed updating of Ireland’s hate speech laws. McGurk insisted that the new legislation is the same as policing people’s thoughts.
The barrister caused controversy in August when she spoke at an anti-lockdown rally in Dublin. She shared the podium with the Irish Freedom Party (IFP) and downplayed the risks of COVID-19.
“Alternative commentary”
McGurk made the comments while appearing on the YouTube channel of the International Institute of Peace Studies & Global Philosophy (IIPSGP). On its website the IIPSGP says it’s involved in “laying the intellectual, ethical and educational foundations of a sustainable, global civilisation based on peace and justice”. It also offers a series of lectures on various world religions.
During her appearance on the groups’s YouTube channel McGurk spoke of the need for alternative sources of news and information. She also stated her wish to work in that area, saying “I really feel that’s my future”. McGurk pointed out that she has a YouTube channel of her own. And that she’s “very much into the whole alternative commentary about this COVID thing”.
She also opined that there’s no room for views like hers in the media in Ireland. McGurk declared that “all the bandwidths have been take up by other people, by globalists”. The result of this, she insisted, is that:
anybody who’s got an alternative viewpoint has to do it in the alternative media space which means having your own YouTube channel with the risk of it being deplatformed, which has happened so many people.
Conspiracy theories
The barrister then claimed that the media are involved in inflating the risk of COVID-19. She said this is her “strong view because of the narrative that they have been proposing here with regard to COVID”. And this “narrative” is “nothing more than mass hypnosis”.
McGurk then discussed what she believes is the “transhumanist agenda”. Both “globalists and technocrats” are introducing this as part of a “process and project which is very, very damaging for us on so many levels”. Going on, she mentioned the World Economic Forum (WEF), declaring that it’s planning on “bringing in this great economic reset which is leading to a one-world government where we will all be controlled and corralled”.
Her statement about a “great economic reset” is a reference to “The Great Reset”. This conspiracy theory, popular amongst elements of the far right, contends that the global elite are using the pandemic as a cover to take over the world. In actuality, the WEF-sponsored reset involves creating more sustainable economies and “fairer outcomes”.
McGurk also took aim at the updating of Ireland’s hate speech laws. She declared that as a result of the updated legislation, “you can’t even think in a certain way”. What’s more, she went on to compare it to Minority Report, in which “you just think about a crime and you’ll be arrested”. With this in mind, the barrister asserted:
Like, this is the world that we are heading towards if we don’t call a halt soon. And we have to stop it. I feel quite strongly about this as probably you can gather.
Under the new legislation, a hate crime is crime carried out “with a hate motive” based on a victim’s “real or perceived association with a protected characteristic”. Included in the list of “protected characteristics” are members of the LGBTQI+ community, Travellers, religious groups, race, and nationality.
Far-right rally
In August the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) called for her removal from the IPAT where she decides on asylum applications. It made the call after McGurk spoke at an anti-lockdown rally in Dublin and appeared alongside members of the far right. As result, MASI argued that McGurk’s “impartiality” was in question when “assessing appeals for international protection”.
During her speech McGurk insisted that the risk of COVID-19 was overstated. She also told the crowd there was an “agenda” around introducing lockdowns in response to the pandemic. And that it involves the “gradual erosion of our civil liberties”.
She also spoke out against the mandatory wearing of masks, calling it a “freedom of choice issue”. McGurk insisted that:
the wearing of masks has little to do with protecting your health or someone else’s. It has everything to do with testing how compliant you are.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the wearing of masks “as part of a comprehensive strategy” to combat COVID-19.
In October the Sunday Times reported that as a result of her appearance at the rally she hasn’t heard any asylum cases. The same report also revealed that an IPAT review found that her “participation in the rally was incompatible with membership of the tribunal”. McGurk is still a member of the tribunal.
MASI spokesperson Bulelani Mfaco told The Beacon he’s “concerned” about minister for justice Helen McEntee’s “inaction” regarding McGurk. He pointed out that McEntee received the report from IPAT in relation to McGurk’s appearance at the anti-mask rally. And that only McEntee can removed the barrister from the tribunal.
Mfaco also argued that McGurk’s appearance at the rally and support for the IFP “warrants her removal from office since she clearly breaches the tribunal’s code of conduct”. The code of conduct states that tribunal members mustn’t communicate with the media or publicly express an opinion on “any matter that may create a reasonable apprehension of bias”. Given this, MASI believes that:
Ms McGurk has brought the tribunal into disrepute and shouldn’t be entrusted with life and death decisions for asylum seekers in IPAT, and other vulnerable people in the mental health tribunal she also serves in. Furthermore, her belief in conspiracy theories bring her judgment into question and demands urgent action from the Minister for Justice.
McGurk has since stated that she only received a “slap on the wrist” for speaking at the rally. Her tenure with the IPAT ends in February.
This article was updated on Tuesday 5 January to include a statement from MASI.
Featured image via Screenshot
